Page 86 of Keeping it Real

“How many of your jock straps did they pull from Hattie’s belly?”Henrik asked.The assistant coach was icing his back.

“None,” Alek replied, feeling triumphant.“It was a pair of Sheridan’s thong underwear.”

Laughter and a few wolf whistles filled the room.

“Oh sure,” one of the guys scoffed.“Are we supposed to believe that?”

“How do we know you’re not wearing women’s underwear?”another teased.

“Har, har.”Alek flipped them all the bird.

“Were they the gold ones?”

A hush fell over the room at Merriweather’s odd question.The guy was leaning against the wall sipping a water.Alek felt his blood begin to boil just by looking at the insolent smile on the douchebag’s face.

“What did you say?”he demanded.

Merriweather had the gall to shrug.“The shiny gold ones.I doubt they are the same pair she wore back when she was trolling the bench in Boston.But those are the ones I remember.”

Gus came from nowhere to stand beside Alek.“Don’t listen to him.He’s lying.The asshole is simply stirring the pot,” he said.

His words made Merriweather chuckle.“Cobert didn’t believe me, either.Thought his little sister was pure as the snow.When really she was a sl?—”

Alek’s fist landed on Merriweather’s mouth before he could finish the word.Water arced across the room when his water bottle went flying.Gus and Picard tried to shoulder themselves between the two men.

Blood trickled from the corner of Merriweather’s mouth, but that didn’t quiet his maniacal laugh.“Whoa.You’re awfully protective of your friend’s little sister.Something going on that we don’t know about?”he taunted.“I mean, it looks like you’ve already screwed things up with the cute little teacher.What makes you think you can hold on to a fast one like Sheridan?”

“Oh no, he didn’t,” Picard said as he loosened his grip on Alek’s waist.

Not that Alek heard him.He had Merriweather pinned to the floor in an instant, his fists slamming into the other man’s body.The roaring in his ears was slowly drowned out by the sounds of his teammates yelling at him to stop.Multiple pairs of hands reached in to tug him off the other man.Merriweather landed a punch to Alek’s mouth right when Picard squeezed himself between them.Valentine and Gus yanked Alek to his feet.

Merriweather sat up and sneered.“She’s not worth it, man.Sheridan is very chummy with one of the doctors at the hospital.He claims to be a therapist, but a home-wrecker is what he is, if you ask me.Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Nobody asked you.”Valentine kicked him in the ribs.“You wrecked your home all by yourself.Not some doctor.”

It was the first time any of them had seen Merriweather move that fast.He had his hands around Valentine’s neck before anyone could stop him.

“Fuck you, man,” Merriweather shouted.

The players and the trainers all scrambled to break it up.Valentine had red marks around his neck and was gasping for air when they pulled them apart.Picard was in the midst of yanking Merriweather away by his hair when Coach rushed in.

“Hey!”he yelled while one of the assistants blew his whistle.

Everyone was breathing heavy as they dropped their hands to their sides.Henrik handed Alek a towel for his bloody lip.No one made a similar gesture to Merriweather, however.

“What the hell is going on in here?”Coach demanded.

A charged silence fell over the room.No doubt one of the trainers, or even Henrik, would be pressed into recounting the events to the coaching staff and management.The players, however, kept their lips zipped.

Coach swore violently.“This is what I get for not staying home and helping put up the Christmas decorations.”He stared Alek down.“Don’t leave this building without having someone look at that lip.”He redirected his gaze at Merriweather and sighed heavily.“You.Come with me.”

He turned on his heel and stormed off without even waiting to see if Merriweather would follow.Everyone stood still for a long moment wondering if their teammate would have the balls to disobey, until he snatched up a towel and pressed it to his mouth.He took his time, strutting from the room, shoulders back and head high as if he’d been selected to captain the team.None of his teammates bothered to make eye contact with him on his way out.

One of the trainers guided Alek over to a chair while another checked out Valentine.The rest of the guys picked up the items that ended up being collateral damage.

“He split it pretty good,” the trainer said.“A squirt of Dermabond will fix it right up.Sit tight while I go grab some.”He handed Alek an ice pack.“Hold this on it while you wait.”

Picard and Gus made their way over to him as soon as the trainer left.

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