Page 84

CHAPTER 84

WILLOW

NOW IS FINE

The comms building was busy for the first class of the day. I leaned against the wall while people filed inside. I wasn’t going to class. I was waiting for the classmate I had a short list of demands for. I spotted him at the door.

Elijah Contractor looked like hell.

His left eye was swollen, and the collection of bruises would’ve made me sick any other day. Once he saw me, his face cleared.

"Okay." He took his place in front of me. "June got me up to speed. I didn’t know. Time for the apology."

"No. Time for you to listen."

"Pruitt—"

"I thought you were my friend."

His eyes flashed in surprise. "I am."

"No. A friend wouldn’t do that to someone."

"I wanted to protect you?—"

"If you really thought I was in danger, we would’ve skipped the party. But you didn’t. You did what Ruthless does, have a pointless fucking fight in front of everyone—and now King has a head wound. Do you understand the severity of this?"

"King’s a gorilla. You’re coddling him."

"Just because you get fifty concussions a day doesn’t mean it isn’t serious."

He fell silent.

"And in front of everyone I know. The hockey players aren’t just your friends, they’re mine too. Do you know how humiliating the last twelve hours have been?"

He didn’t say anything.

"You didn’t do this for me. You did it because you wanted to flex for Sloane, and you hurt me in the process. What the fuck, Elijah?"

"Pruitt…I’m—I’m sorry, I fucked up?—"

"No, you will be sorry. If you mention this to Lawson, if any of this gets back to him, it’s like my dad says—I will come down on you like wrath itself. I will tell Sloane everything. Do you understand me? She won’t get within forty yards when I’m done. You’ll be lucky if she spits on you."

Slowly, he nodded.

"I defended you against everybody. Even your own teammates. I guess that was my mistake because you’re not my fucking friend." I took a shaky breath. "How could you fuck me over like this? Go out of your way to hurt me?"

It was a rhetorical question, I wasn’t interested in an answer. I brushed past him. I never skipped class before but there’s a first for everything and there were plenty of firsts to go around. I shoved open the door on my way to the training center.

There were two more people I had to find.

It was easy to locate them. Ryan and Adam were in the main gym, squeezing in an early gym slot. Both looked up in surprise.

"Willow?" Ryan asked, concerned. "What is it?"

"Have you seen King?"

"Nope," Adam muttered. "Why would I?"

Ryan shook his head.

If they didn’t know, that meant the hockey team was keeping their word, even if I was a little surprised June didn’t tell them yet. But at least that was something. The fight would stay at June’s old house and only there.

"Eijah goaded King into a fight and King’s hurt and I don’t know where he is."

Adam shoved the weights off and Ryan straightened up.

"What are you talking about?" Adam demanded. "King’s hurt?"

Even if we were away from everybody else, I dropped my voice as low as I could. "There was a hockey party last night. A bottle broke over King’s head. I know he can take care of himself—he texted me he’s fine—but I’m freaking out."

"Oh, shit. The last thing I told him was to fuck off," Adam swore and took off for the door. "Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me?—"

Ryan stopped long enough to nod to me. "It’s okay, we got him."

"Ryan!" Adam shouted. " Move! "

I had a lunch scheduled with my mom but that wasn’t for a couple of hours. I lingered outside her office, fighting the urge to head inside, because she’d have questions about my schedule.

My eyes flickered to Dan’s office down the hall. People always marched in and out, today was no exception.

Hesitantly, I made my way to the door.

Dan was surrounded by a dozen people in suits, all listening intently. He was clearly busy. I should’ve left. But I stayed by the door, out of place.

He glanced over. "Willow?"

"Hi."

"Are you—are you lost, kid?"

"Can I talk to you?" I asked quietly. "Not now but—um—whenever you have a chance?"

"Now’s fine."

One of the men in suits arched an eyebrow. "Now is not fine."

"Now is fine, " Dan insisted, and with his thumb towards the door, everyone filed out of his office. I hung back, feeling pretty awkward as a couple of them struggled to hide their dismay.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Absolutely. Take a seat."

Slowly, I shut the door and took one of the two chairs in front of his desk. I didn’t even know what I wanted to talk about. My insides were a twisted mess. But I couldn’t think of anyone else to go to.

"How’s…um…coaching?"

"Uh, fine. Fall’s around the corner, everybody’s running like chickens with their heads cut off." Dan cleared his throat. "How’s the classes?"

"Good."

"That’s good."

There were a couple of seconds of silence, the awkwardness smothering both of us. But I could deal with the awkwardness. I couldn’t deal with everything else.

"I want to ask you about King."

"King?"

"About his dad."

"Oh." Dan slipped off his Romans cap and thumped it against the desk. "I gather that King…told you some things?"

"Yes. I know about the…retired cop."

"Mm."

"King is…such a good friend and I’m…I don’t know."

"I didn’t have King his freshman year," Dan said slowly. "When I signed on, their last coach told me if there was any trouble, I needed to cut him. That simple. But King is a steady, constant force, kind of a buoy in an ocean. He calms down people plenty, very reliable, very loyal, and he does everything you ask. Rare to find."

"What did the cop threaten with?"

"Threatened to talk, including details nobody else knew. I had a choice to make. I called King in the middle of the night to come to the house, with a bus full of lawyers, and we got to work. It was probably the first time he ever really spoke to me. Told me everything."

"Oh."

"He said, if I let him go, he’d understand, but we went to the police about the blackmail, brought King’s image up, and I told him, if he took this for granted, I wouldn’t hesitate to drop him, but he never has. He’s a good kid."

I rubbed the inside of my wrist. "He is a good guy."

"Mm."

"I want to ask you something personally, not professionally. What do you think about…?"

I struggled with my question but Dan took the reins.

"I grew up in the same neighborhood King did."

"Oh."

"Only in my high school years, but I was there. That's why I tried to talk to him at the camps."

Surprise was the only thing I felt. I knew Dan’s family background was military, but I didn’t know much beyond that. I never bothered to ask. I shifted forward. "I didn’t know that."

"I can…understand King. Sometimes, we’re in positions and we don’t know what else to do. Life can deal you a hard hand. King did the only thing he knew how."

"Where’s his dad now?"

"East Texas somewhere." Dan shrugged. "Bennight used to keep tabs on him. Last I heard, he’s beyond Odessa, but don’t quote me on that. If he’s smart, he’ll keep his head down for the rest of his days. King did a number on him."

"Dan?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you for giving King that chance. He’s my best friend."

Dan gave a crinkly smile. "Glad to hear that."

"I know you told him to keep an eye on me. I know he gives you weekly reports on how I’m doing."

"What?" He cleared his throat. "He—uh—told you that?"

"It doesn’t matter." I shook my head. "He’s still my best friend. He still means a lot to me. So…thank you. That’s all I wanted to say."