Page 36 of One Good Puck
“After they broke up, he published her nudes withouther permission.” A pained look flashes across Dakota’s face. “She tried to sue him to get him to take down the photos, but legally she didn’t have any standing. She didn’t have a contract saying the photos belonged to her. So by default, since he was the photographer, legally he owned the right to the photos.”
“But that’s wrong. She was the model in the photos. She should have had control of them,” I say.
Dakota nods. “Yeah, but I guess at the time, people didn’t look at it that way. They almost always defaulted to the photographer.”
“That’s so messed up.”
“It really was. Sophie said her mom spiralled when that happened. She was depressed and couldn’t get out of bed for weeks.”
I didn’t even know Nicole, but I feel so angry and sad for her. Her ex betrayed her trust in the most disgusting way. He profited from her private photos meant only for him to see.
“She was dating Sophie’s dad when this all happened, and Sophie said he was enraged about the whole thing,” Dakota says.
“I can’t even imagine how upset he must have felt watching her endure all that.”
“I guess Gavin ran into Nicole’s ex at some charity gala, and he kicked the shit out of him.”
I gasp. “Are you serious?”
Dakota nods, her big brown eyes wide. “Yeah. He beat him to a pulp. And he threatened to kill him if he didn’t take down the photos.”
“Oh my god…”
“Pretty badass, right? He was in the prime of his hockeycareer too, which means he was in amazing physical shape. That photographer jackass didn’t stand a chance.”
“Wait, did Gavin get in trouble for beating him up?”
“Yeah. He got arrested and suspended from his team for two games, I think,” Dakota says. “But the fans went crazy in their support for him. Sophie told me that sales for his jersey shot up right after he got arrested. Fans made signs supporting him during games. Everyone thought it was so romantic how he stood up for his lady.”
“Yeah, wow.” I stand there, speechless and in awe as I think about just how far Gavin was willing to go to defend and protect his wife.
“Did Nicole’s ex take the photos down?” I ask.
“Yeah. He tried to sue Gavin, but there was so much public support for Gavin and a ton of backlash against him because people thought he was a creep for printing private photos of his ex-girlfriend. The judge threw out his case. Gavin ended up getting community service for the physical assault on him, but that was pretty much it.”
“I didn’t realize he had been through all that,” I say. “I guess it makes even more sense why he wanted to get rid of McCoy over that revenge porn crap he pulled.”
Dakota nods. “That’s probably why he was a little off when you mentioned what McCoy did. It might have triggered his memory of watching Sophie’s mom suffer as a victim of revenge porn.”
I sigh and shake my head while processing everything Dakota told me.
“Thanks for explaining all that to me.”
She pats my arm. “Of course.”
The bell rings, signaling the end of recess. Dakota and I line up our classes and take the kids back inside to our respective classrooms. Gavin lingers at the back of my mind.I don’t want things to be weird between us the next time we see each other, but I don’t want to bring up something that upsets him again.
I push aside the dilemma and refocus on finishing out the school day.
Chapter 16
Gavin
“Thanks for coming tonight, Coach,” Del says when he shakes my hand.
“Of course. Wouldn’t miss it.”
I glance around the swanky, two-story wine bar in north Denver that Del and Ingrid have rented out for their engagement party. There are white decorations everywhere. All the dining tables have clusters of fluffy white flowers on them. Even the long table of hors d’oeuvres has small vases of white flowers dotted between the serving platters. At the entrance, there’s a big sign with “Congrats, Del and Ingrid” written in swoopy, cursive gold against a rose-gold background.
