Page 74 of Cheap Shot
I need to get away from Cooper, out of this locker room, before I do something crazy. To escape the pain, the soul-crushing sorrow that I’ve never truly been able to get rid of. My hands itch with the need to wrap my hands around Cooper’s neck and squeeze. Watch the life drain from his eyes as he’s punished for what he did. He took him away from me. The only one who cares. The only one who gave a shit about me.
No. No. I don’t want him to die. I want him to pay. Pay for what he did to me. To Dad.
“I don’t care, Cooper. Whatever you have to tell yourself to sleep at night.” I feel like I’m vibrating out of my skin. The need to get away from this conversation and Cooper is high on my list of priorities. “If we’re done here, I’m gonna shower before Coach comes to have our chat.”
“No, you need to hear this, Cole.” Cooper shoots to his feet, his hand gripping my elbow and pulling me to a stop. “Now it all makes sense. That’s why you left, isn't it? That’s why you’ve been so angry at me and everyone in our family.”
“Yes. You all lied to me.”
“No one lied, Cole. Dad died from a heart attack.”
“I heard you. I fucking heard you, Cooper. You told them you killed him.” I throw the water bottle in my hand across the room. It hits the wall with a thud, water spraying everywhere.
My chest heaves as I remember that day in vivid clarity. Through the years, everyone said it was a freak accident, could have happened to anyone, but I had no idea what really happened until that night.
“I didn’t kill Dad. I know that now in my soul, but only recently. I used to blame myself for his death. I knew there was something off about him before we left that day. It was my birthday, and my word was law. All I had to do was speak up and say that I wanted to stay home. That I wanted to go to a Timberwolves game and have Momma make my favorites for dinner. Anything that stopped us from going up that trail, because if we had just stayed at home, Dad would still be here.”
Cole grips my face between his hands, forcing me to look at him. I want to shut my eyes, block out everything around me as I wait for the pills to take effect. To bring me the numbness I so desperately need right now.
“I know what you’re doing right now. You want to run away and hide from all of this bullshit. Begging for all these emotions to be shoved back into the box you’ve kept them locked in all these years, but it won’t help. It’s only a Band-Aid. The box will explode open again, and maybe next time, you won’t be able to bring yourself back.”
“Fuck you, Cooper.” I turn and bend down, snatching my duffle off the floor. “Tell Coach he can kick me off the team, fine me, ream me the fuck out, or whatever the fuck else he wants. But he can do it later. I need to get the fuck out of here.”
It doesn’t matter whether Cooper physically pushed Dad off the side of the mountain or if he really had a heart attack, because I’ll never forgive him.
ChapterNineteen
Michele
“Your nose is broken, and we had to stitch up that cut above your eye,” Parker tells Jensen as he shines a light in his eye, checking for a concussion. “Your pupil size is normal, but you’re going to need to sit out of practice for the rest of the week just to make sure.”
I expected there to be some injuries during training camp, but nothing as bad as this. I had to partially beg Parker to sit in the box during practice, claiming we should be close in case someone needed something, but he saw right through my bullshit. He never said anything, but I’m sure he noticed me paying more attention to one particular player than the others.
Today was the first day I cleared Cole to get back on the ice with limited contact since he joined the team. I couldn’t stop watching him skate around the ice, chirping at his teammates. Cole and I have been working closely with each other to get his shoulder back into tip-top shape. If he managed not to strain his shoulder and continued on our treatment plan, I could’ve guaranteed that he’d be off the injured reserve by the beginning of the season, but now, not so much.
“This is bullshit,” Jensen swears, leaning his head back on the training bench. “Hendrix needs to put his fucking little brother on a leash.”
“I don’t think you want Cooper or Beau to hear you talking shit, Jensen. Don’t you think your mouth has gotten you into enough trouble today?” Parker mumbles as he types something into his tablet.
“What the heck happened, anyway?” The question slips out of my mouth before I can stop them.
What can I say? I’m nosy. To anyone else, it looked like two hockey players getting into a fight about something stupid, but since I didn’t take my eyes off Cole for a minute during practice, I noticed when his demeanor changed, and not in a good way. At first, I thought he was in pain, making a note to check in with him at the end of practice. He was favoring that side of his body for sure, but then I noticed how his once-relaxed posture became rigid, all warmth draining from his face. His face turned murderous when Jensen started mumbling something to him before he sprang into action. If I’m being honest with myself, I probably wouldn’t have noticed the change if I wasn’t watching him so closely because no one else did. Dad stood in front of the group of them, giving directions for the next drill they were going to run.
He went after the rookie like a man possessed. Cole did everything he could to get to Jensen, going through both his brothers and other members of the team. Cole was shouting something at Jensen, but I couldn’t make it out over everyone speaking at the same time. I tried to get closer, but Parker grabbed my arm to stop me before telling me to head into the training room for some bull shit piece of equipment. I wanted to protest, but judging by the look in his eyes, Parker wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“Nothing for you to worry about,” Beau responds, winking at me as he slides onto the bench across from Jensen.
“Who are you to decide what I need to know?” I snap back, tossing a roll of tape at Beau’s head, but he quickly reaches up to bat it away. To my surprise, he completely misses, and it smacks him right between the eyes.
His eyebrows pull down in confusion as he slides off the table and bends down to grab the roll off the floor. I turn toward Parker, wondering what the hell is going on, but he shakes his head slightly and mouths, “Later.”
“You’re showing your age, netminder. You aren’t getting slow on us, are you?” Parker says, a hint of concern in his voice.
“Gotta keep you on your toes.” Beau stands to his full height and drops the roll onto the now-vacated table, his eyes focusing on Jensen for a moment before turning toward Parker. A forced smile spreads across his face. “What’s the verdict, Doc?”
“He’ll live.”
“Good. I really don’t want to bail my brother out of jail.” Beau reaches for Jensen, gripping his arms tightly, causing him to wince. His eyes swing toward me, ready for me to jump in and stop him, but I say nothing. Instead, I focus on the tablet in front of me.
