Page 206 of Call the Shots
“Your dad’s downstairs. I guess if I’m suing you, I should let him know?—”
“You’re a cunt.”
“—considering it’ll be his lawyers I’m contacting,” I finished, opening the door.
Xavier’s voice stopped me. “June.” He stared daggers, his lips curled, and I could see him resisting his position. His eyesburned into mine, furious, before he finally resigned. “You’ll regret this.”
“I’m not letting you stomp me out anymore,” I said. “If you fuck with Bear again, I’ll hurt you. Trust me, you’ll be the one to fucking regret it.”
CHAPTER 76
BEAR
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOY
Honestly,the broken nose was the worst of it. My fault. When Fridge and Nick were pulling us apart, Xavier kicked me in the face. The rest of the damage was minimal, and after I was handcuffed to the bed, the cops and nurses pretty much left me with the pain and my thoughts.
I felt a lot of things, but regret wasn’t one of them. Well, a little regret. I should’ve beat his ass sooner.
The door creaked open—Coach Sémajuste.
Ah. Shit.
In North Dakota, beating my teammates had been a locker room incident. A private episode with the team involved. This was way beyond that. I saw so many people with their phones out, they could’ve cobbled together a three-sixty view of the fight.
Sémajuste folded his arms over his chest. “Bear, I thought you were serious about hockey.”
“I am?”
“I thought the FHC Defenseman of the Year finalist and the winner of the Kennedy Reville Hat Trick award would’ve been. You were drafted to the Bulldogs and would’ve played for them if?—”
“Sir, there’s more to it?—”
“It’s an open secret about your pictures, Bear. I just thought you would’ve learned your lesson. Public fights have consequences.”
My stomach churned. “He’s been terrorizing my girlfriend all summer. What was I supposed to do?Nothing?”
“By all means, kick him down in broad daylight.”
I flinched. “I wasn’t thinking.”
“No, you weren’t listening," Sémajuste corrected me with a pointed look. "Your teammates told you what to do and you chose to ignore them. You’re lucky they were there to stop you.”
It was quiet and I took steadying breaths, feeling like shit, and not just because of the splint keeping my nose together. “Yeah. I am lucky.”
“Because you’ll be charged with assault, I have every right to cut you from the team.”
Liquid ice poured through my veins. Cut from the team. Cut from hockey. Regret hit me full-force, I made a mistake. Not throwing down Xavier but doing it in front of an audience. Who was I without hockey and what did this actually do for June?
“I could cut you from the team,” he allowed. “Or…”
My eyes darted to his. “Or?”
“As long as you’re not booked on aggravated assault, you’ll be pulled from practice for the rest of the summer and the first three games of the season. The program will require community service and anger management classes for six months, a public apology to your brother and your team, and you’ll have a curfew starting with the fall semester.”
It was an ostracizing punishment, and it stung, but it was tame compared to getting cut. “I…don’t understand.”
“Do you know who's in the waiting room?”
