That was the idea, anyway.
“You want another hit of Advil?” Silas asked.
“Good idea.”
Silas disappeared into the bathroom and returned a minute later. “Heads up.”
Leo raised his hand just in time to catch the bottle sailing toward him.
“Nice. I can text the doctor that your reflexes are top notch.”
Leo popped the top off the bottle and poured out two pills. He capped it again and then dry-swallowed them.
Silas handed him a glass of water, which he drank gratefully. “Thanks, man. Really.”
“No big. Can I ask you something?”
“Shoot.”
“What’s the coach’s problem with you, anyway?”
Wasn’t that the question. “I think it’s the usual protective father crap. Georgia and I started up pretty young. I mean . . .” Leo chuckled to himself. “That man has no idea.”
“Or maybe he does.”
Leo lay back on the pillow and closed his eyes. “Maybe. We broke all the rules he set. Not just me, either. Georgia was a party girl. Sometimes I’d be tugging on her hand, saying, ‘We have to get you home.’ And she was the one saying, ‘One more dance.’”
“Huh.”
“What?”
“I’ve never seen Georgia party.”
“What do you mean? You danced with her yourself tonight.” Shit. He hadn’t meant to say that.
Silas laughed in the dark. “You noticed that, huh?”
“Maybe.”
His roommate laughed again. “I was as surprised as you, man. That girl doesn’t drink, she doesn’t party, and I’ve never seen her dance. I only asked her because we were both standing there, bored. Couldn’t believe she said yes.”
Leo didn’t like the sound of that. “Maybe it’s because she’s always working when you see her out.”
“Maybe.” Silas didn’t exactly sound convinced. “So Coach hates you because you broke curfew? That’d be a hell of a grudge.”
No kidding. “Nah, something changed. He used to like me a lot. We got along great. He was this big college coach and I kind of idolized him. He’d come to our rink sometimes and run workshops for my high school team, and it was because I asked him to do it. When recruiters started showing up to watch me play, that’s when he really supported me. He made a lot of calls to those guys. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have made it onto the Harkness team without his help.”
Silas gave a low, appreciative whistle. “That’s pretty awesome. So what the hell happened?”
Leo wasn’t sure what he could say without violating Georgia’s privacy. “Spring of senior year is when it all went to hell. The college deposits were in, and life was good. But then Georgia went away to tennis camp over spring break, and she was the victim of a crime.” That was all he would say on the matter, but even that sounded like too much. Just mentioning it felt like uncorking an old bottle of bad juju. Shit. Perhaps that’s why Coach Karl was coming unglued. Maybe he and Georgia hadn’t had to think about this for a long time. And then Leo showed up and stirred up all the old anguish . . .
That was something to think about when he was less tired.
“A bad crime?” Silas asked.
Leo sighed. “Yeah. And nothing was ever the same. Georgia kind of lost it for a little while, and I did everything I could for her, but it was just a really bad time. That’s when Karl started giving me the evil eye. He’d come home from work and see me sitting there with Georgia, even though we weren’t supposed to be alone together at his house. I knew I wasn’t welcome anymore. But at that point Georgia really needed the company and I just didn’t care what he thought. But it was like he woke up when someone hurt his little girl. And he didn’t trust anyone anymore. Not even me.”
Silas was quiet for a long moment. “That’s a hell of a history, dude. And then you two broke up?”
“She dumped me after all that. She said she wanted to start fresh in college.” Leo relaxed in the bed, his head sinking into the pillow.
“Ouch.”
“Yeah. Ouch. But Karl has no legitimate beef with me. I was good to Georgia.”
“Except when you were breaking rules and keeping her out late in your lovemobile.”
Leo snorted. “I drove a Ford F-150 with a pimped out stereo. Thought I was a total stud.”
“I drove a battered hearse.”
“What? An actual hearse?”
“Yeah.”
Leo was feeling really sleepy again. “Could you get girls to climb into the back of a hearse with you?”
“You’d be surprised.”
He fell asleep mid chuckle.
TEN
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7TH
22 DAYS BEFORE THE NHL TRADE DEADLINE
TOP TEAM HEADLINES:
“Brooklyn Bruiser Bruised by Coach? Tuxedos and Trouble at Benefit for Brooklyn Arts”
—Pucker Up Blog
“Do you have your cell phone charger?” Becca prompted.
“Got it.” Georgia zipped her carry-on bag shut. The car she’d hired was waiting downstairs.
“I’m not even going to ask if your gym stuff is in there. I know you wouldn’t forget that. But how about your round brush? This road trip is no time for flat hair.”
Honestly, a burka sounded like a better choice. Georgia would just as soon go into permanent hiding after last night’s fiasco. She was surprised there wasn’t a message on her phone telling her not to bother to show up at the airport this morning. Georgia peeked at her messages one more time. Nothing from the GM. Everything in her inbox was from news sources asking for a statement about last night’s rumored scuffle between a player and the new coach.
It was going to be another long week.
Becca loomed over her in her bathrobe. While Georgia always traveled with the team, her roommate usually stayed behind to man the office. “Do you have condoms?”
Georgia looked up quickly. “God, why?”
“Duh!” Becca grinned. “Don’t you want to see where that kiss could lead?”
“It led to a punch in the face! God, I don’t even know if his jaw is broken.”
That last bit came out in an anguished squeak, and Becca’s face softened. “He’ll be okay, honey. If it was that bad you would have heard already. You could call him, you know.”