Page 222 of Call the Shots
After all of the recent changes Sémajuste made for the Colo, it was so weird to see the place quiet and deserted. The only ones who arrived for the meeting were my teammates. We headed into the locker room together, silent. Nobody looked at each other, nobody said a word.
I leaned against the lockers, arms crossed. I didn’t want to sit down. My teammates kept stealing looks my way, everyone was on edge. I knew they were waiting for me to do something.
Denali cleared his throat. “We need to talk about the party.”
The silence was deafening.
“It’s unfortunate what happened,” he said carefully. “June’s one of us. She’s a Gladiator. That makes King ours by proxy. What happened at the party,staysat the party, because if his coach finds out…he could lose his spot on the football team." Hisgaze flickered to every player, his words ringing. "No one beyond this room hears about it. Everybody nod.”
It was a sea of nods, and I nodded slowly. At least we could agree on something.
“There’s—uh—something else we need to…” He gestured to the office behind him and the door opened.
Elijah.
My muscles clenched, the anger paralyzing me, keeping me rigid against the lockers. It took everything in me not to jump him. The benches creaked as heads swiveled my way and a few other guys shifted closer to me, waiting. It felt like the spotlight was on me and I exhaled through my nose.
The space was too cramped. If I went after Elijah, I’d be stopped in seconds. I sloped against the lockers, biding my time.
At least his appearance made me feel better. King had done a number on him, his body was splattered in dark bruises, and his voice cracked when he spoke.
“I—I want to apologize for my behavior.”
What?
I’d seen Elijah fucking with people all summer, he didn’t care. Elijah didn’t apologize. This didn’t make sense. My frown slipped away and I stared, confused, as he wiped at his eyes before he spoke again, sputtering out words. “I—I didn’t mean to hurt him that badly, I—I didn’t think. I—I’m sorry.”
Denali put a hand on his shoulder. “That’s enough.”
Elijah stumbled away and the door closed behind, the only sound in the locker room.
I was suddenlygrateful for Sémajuste’s ostracizing punishment. While the rest of the team got ready to hit the icefor practice, I ignored the pointed questions from Fridge and took to the hallways. Memories hounded me, Elijah grabbing the bottle by the neck. The blood gushing to the floor. The way June sobbed, curled up against me on the couch.
Montoya, I’d deal with later, but I had to find Elijah.
Denali was missing from practice too and I knew the friendship bracelet motherfuckers were together. If I had to hit my captain to get to Elijah, fine, so be it.
King didn’t beat him nearly hard enough. Not even close.
Towards the inner gyms, I heard the first sound outside of the whir of the AC units. I listened intently, trying to place it. With the Colo’s winding hallways, sometimes things sounded weird and out of place, and I’d never heard this before in our arena. I stalled, finally realizing what it was.
A broken sob.
I followed it, pushing the door open to an empty gym.
Elijah was a stocky guy, broad shoulders with heavy muscle, a standard build in hockey. He could take a punch and keep going—thatwas Elijah. Except…there he was, sitting on one of the benches, hunched over. Head in his hands, his body wracked with sobs. Denali sat next to him, quiet.
I’d seen players get messed up from knee injuries that had paramedics swearing. The kind of injuries that ruin your hockey career. But this was different. I’d never seen anything like it.
The door creaked and Elijah glanced back, his eyes puffy and red, shining with tears.
I had a plan, but I didn’t think I’d stumble upon this.
Denali sighed. “Bear, can you shut the door?”
“I didn’t mean to hurt him that bad,” Elijah croaked. “I—I didn’t, I wasn’t trying to kill him, I swear. I thought Willow was going to get hurt and—and—” He took ragged breaths. “Willow’s one of my best friends, she blocked me on everything?—”
He wiped away the tears while I remained silent.
