Page 90 of Puck Lust

“Oh, we are so far from done,” she says. “See, I’m going to publish this video. It’s going to ruin you. And I’m going to love watching you fucking unravel.”

My stomach drops into my sneakers. “Livvie, don’t. Please don’t. You’re pissed at me and I get it, I should have been honest with you, but I’m begging you to delete that video.”

“As if I’d listen to you,” she taunts. “And for the record, I didn’t come here to hear you beg me not to post it. I only came here because I wanted you to know it was me who leaked it, you bastard.”

THIRTY-TWO

jack

“Jesus, Jack,”Rex says when he comes into to the reception area of his office. “What the hell happened that you needed me to get all these guys together?”

I step out of the elevator and scrape a hand down the front of my face. “Is everyone here?”

He nods. “Yeah, in the conference room. Marcus Taylor, Coach Enver, Bob Marshall, and Eli Davidson. Everyone’s waiting. Are you going to tell me what happened with that reporter? Was it about the kid? The dad? What was so urgent that you needed all of them in one place?”

“It’s bigger than the assault.” I square my shoulders. “Let’s go to the conference room. We have a lot to talk about.”

Everyone stands up from the table when I walk through the door. Marcus, my lawyer, speaks up first. “Jack, I just got off the phone with the father’s lawyer. He’s not dropping the assault charges. Says you have no proof and now he’s accusing you of defamation of character.”

I shake my head. “Not good, but there’s another reason why I had Rex call this meeting. Look, I know I caused the team a lot of headaches when that video leaked. And for all I know,you might be thinking of cutting me because of the bad press you’re getting. I don’t blame you if that’s the case. It was stupid and I didn’t think it through, but I had my reasons.”

Sinking into a chair, I lean forward with my head in my hands. “But there’s something else I need to tell you about. Something that happened a long time ago and it’s coming back to bite me in the ass. I’m only telling you because we need to get ahead of it.” I raise my head to look at them. “If you decided to keep me.”

Coach and Bob, the GM, exchange a look.

I know they’re probably flipping out at what I might say next.

But they need to hear it from me.

“Fuck,” Rex mutters. “We have the press conference scheduled for tomorrow. Do I need to update the statement?”

“I’m thinking that might be a good idea.” With a deep sigh, I drop my hands on the table. “Years ago, back in my junior hockey days, there was a short period of time I took PEDs. Very short, like a week. But I stopped because I didn’t want to get caught and screw up my career.”

Bob scrubs a hand down the front of his face and Coach Enver just shakes his head.

“It was too late.” I take a deep breath. “After a surprise drug test, my coach, Alex Dalton, told me he’d keep my secret under one condition. He blackmailed me. Made me do things…” I squeeze my eyes shut for a long minute, trying to forget, and press my fingers to my forehead. “I was desperate. I needed to make it into the AHL and I figured PEDs were the only way I’d get there for sure. I couldn’t go back home after junior hockey. My father…he was abusive. Things were bad. He'd kicked me out of the house. Tried to…kill me one night when he was drunk.”

“Jesus,” Eli, the team publicist, mutters.

“I’m not telling you all this because I want your sympathy or your pity. That’s the last thing I want. But you need to know because this story is gonna come out and I have to own it, no matter what. I’m tired of worrying and wondering when the rug’s gonna be pulled out from under me. I made stupid, desperate choices and I have to live with them. But it’s gonna be on my terms, nobody else’s.”

“Wait,” Marcus interrupts. “I actually just heard some things about Alex Dalton. Apparently, several players from past teams he’s coached have come forward with stories about how he blackmailed and sexually assaulted them. Supposedly he falsified drug test results to use as leverage against the guys.”

“That motherfucker,” I mutter. “But in my case, I’m pretty sure the evidence is real. He pulled some strings to get me into the AHL, held it all over my head and said if I ever spoke a word of what happened between us, he’d crush me with those test results. He must have known that these people were coming forward because he approached me at an event recently, threatened me again after having me beaten up by a bunch of thugs as a warning. He wanted me to keep quiet. I didn’t know there was anyone else. Figured I was the only one.”

“Yes, there are several others who’ve spoken out and likely many more who were also threatened. Obviously there’s power in numbers. He would have wanted you to keep quiet because of your celebrity status,” Rex says.

“This is gonna cripple my career,” I say, raking a hand through my hair. “But I’ve gotta come clean about it. Gotta own it. He’ll expose me if he’s charged because he’ll assume I came forward as a whistleblower. And I want to be in control of the narrative. I fucked up. Big time. And maybe nobody will care why I did what I did. But I can’t hold onto this any longer. It’s part of the reason why I went after the kid’s father. I won’texcuse the behavior, but it’s what I dealt with myself. I know deadbeat fathers because I have one.”

“Are you sure you want to come out with that whole story, Jack?” Eli asks. “It’s a lot and there will be consequences.”

“I know. But it’s gonna come out anyway. And I get it if you want to remove me from the team. I know this is gonna be a media nightmare for everyone.”

“Jack, the team stands behind you,” Coach Enver says. “I’m sorry you had to go through all that, but everyone makes mistakes and you’re a hell of a player. We don’t want to lose you.”

“Enver’s right,” Bob says. “We stand behind you. It’s not the ideal situation and Eli will need to work with Rex to craft a statement, but team management and ownership is in agreement.” He sighs and sits back in his chair. “It’s not right to turn your back on your players and crucify them for decisions they made under duress. The assault…” He shakes his head. “We do not approve, regardless of what may have triggered you. But we’ll do whatever we can to appease all involved. We may need to take some action, but we have no intention of cutting you from the team.”

“With the assault charge on you, I’m not sure how tolerant or understanding the public will be,” Marcus says, stroking his chin. “But if anyone can spin it, Rex can.”

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