Page 57 of One More Chance
Chapter 22
BANG.
Logan was breathing heavily as he pulled back for another slapshot from the blue line. He missed the net but didn’t care, all he wanted to do was blast pucks as hard as he could. Each time the puck ricocheted off the boards, he imagined it taking out one of the many people on his shit list: tall skinny kid, his agent Ray, Serena Cruise. But number one on the list was impossible to hit, himself.
He turned and skated as fast as he could to the other end of the ice, spraying the boards with a thick layer of ice as he stopped, his sharp skates cutting into the fresh sheet of ice. Practice was like therapy. For two hours Logan was able to think about something other than Charlotte. That’s what sports did for him. When his mom was on one of her benders, he could make that all disappear the second he stepped onto the ice. The arena smells: gasoline, nachos, sweat, and rubber, all smelled like home to him.
“Yo.” He heard a voice echo through the arena and saw Freddie’s red jacket by the main door. He dropped his stick in the team box and skated down to the far end of the ice.
Freddie leaned against the boards, “You coming home anytime soon? Practice ended four hours ago.”
“Just working on a few plays for the boys.”
“Mmhmm,” Freddie replied. “Any luck with Stacy?”
“Kind of.” Logan shook his head and laughed weakly. “I’m giving her ten grand for the video footage.”
“What footage? I thought it was deleted.”
“Kids these days,” Logan muttered. “Turns out one of his buddies filmed the entire thing. Charlotte and I ahem, you know,” he felt his face redden at the memory of seeing the high definition cell phone footage of him going down on Charlotte in the woods, the Chance Rapids Bears’ hockey team hat on backward, its logo clear as day between Charlotte’s creamy thighs. “And me threatening a kid – buck naked.”
“Shit. What an idiot.”
“I know, we were just so wrapped up in the moment.” Logan kicked his leg and rolled over the boards, he landed on the rubber to stand next to Freddie.
“Nah, man. I meant the kid. That footage has got to be worth way more than that,” Freddie laughed.
Logan knew that his brother was trying to cheer him up, and he wasn’t wrong. He would do anything to keep Charlotte’s name out of the tabloids, especially with the recent Serena Cruise incident. “Ray is sending a non-disclosure form, with another 10k payment to each of those punks to keep their mouths shut.”
Freddie whistled. “Is it really that big of a deal?”
Logan leaned his elbows on the boards and sighed. “I couldn’t let that happen to Charlotte.”
“She answering her phone yet?”
“Nope, and I can’t get through her assistant. I guess the next time I see her will be at the rehearsal dinner for the wedding.”
Freddie cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably next to Logan, “Yeah, Lo. About that...”
Logan laughed and hopped back on the ice. He turned to face Freddie, “I’m not in the wedding anymore, am I?”
“They don’t think it’s a good idea. And by they, I mean Megan.”
“Did you explain to her what happened?” Logan asked. If someone would let him explain himself, maybe they would understand his predicament.
“Not my place,” Freddie mumbled.
Logan groaned and laughed. “Right, I forgot all about small town rules. You people have no problem talking behind everyone’s back, but as soon as it’s time to man up, you pull out the ‘mind your own business card and wave it in everybody’s face.” He pushed against the boards and drifted backward away from Freddie.
