Carter and Shayne edge forward and from the looks of it, they’re ready for round two. Coach’s voice, deadly low, spits, “Unless you want to be kicked off my team, this shit ends immediately.” He works his jaw back and forth as he eyes the whole room. “Whoever is responsible for this pandemonium, line up outside of my office.” When none of us move, he thunders, “I mean now!” His angry gaze sweeps the room, which is a mess of scattered equipment and some blood spatter. “The rest of you fucking idiots, clean this up!” He turns, slamming an open locker shut on his way out.
The entire room is quiet for a moment, and then I nod to the door, signaling Griffin to follow me.
We’re already in the hallway outside of Coach Roland’s office when I hear Xander’s voice ring out. “You’d better man the fuck up, or I will knock both of you out and drag your sorry asses over there.”
Keeping an eye on them as they stumble out of the locker room and stand farther down the hall to wait, I touch my fingers to my cheekbone, shaking my head. “Sorry, man,” I murmur.
Griffin side-eyes me and shrugs. “It’s all good, bro. I was already in Carter’s face when you grabbed Shayne.” He works his jaw around, sighing deeply. “I’d love to know what the deal is, though.”
I press my lips together for a few seconds. “I’m sorry you got caught up in the middle of everything. Things have been crazy lately.”
“Well, I don’t want any problem with you, so if she’s yours, I’ll back off. But I’ll say this—if she is yours, you should hang onto her. She’s”—his eyes widen as he shakes his head—“just fucking … wow. I don’t know where the hell she’s been all this time or why I never noticed her before.”
“I’m going to be the possessive asshole now and make things perfectly clear. She’s mine.” The last two words come out more growl than words. I glance over at him and notice he looks a bit crestfallen.
He nods, then clears his throat. “Got it.”
“And she’s no slut.”
He puts his hands up palms out. “I never said she was. I was pissed Carter said it. And the shit that douchebag Shayne said was fucked up.” After a few seconds, he continues. “I wonder how long Coach is going to make us wait out here.”
“As long as it takes for him to calm down. He’s pissed, and I can’t blame him.”
Turns out, a while. Almost thirty minutes go by before Coach calls for Shayne first. When he comes back out, he flips us off as he passes and mumbles something unintelligible. Carter goes in next. That asshole has the nerve to argue with Coach and practically gets booted out the door.
“Griffin. Get in here.”
Griff pushes off the wall and holds up a fist to me, complete with knuckles that are turning bluish purple.
I knock his fist with mine. “Thanks for standing up for her.”
“Yeah, man. Anytime.” He bobs his head and walks into the office, closing the door behind him.
Hearing something from the direction of the locker room, my head whips around to find Xander and Beau standing there showered and dressed.
I’m still shirtless in my practice pants, but wearing a fine coating of sweat, blood, and grime.
My voice low, I ask, “Everyone else gone?”
They nod and come out to wait with me.
Xander grimaces as he takes in the swelling under my eye. “Everyone knows they’re full of shit and the shit they said about her isn’t true. You should let it go.”
I suck in a breath. “She’s going to hear about it.” And, unfortunately, no one understands exactly what that’s going to do to her but me.
Beau cringes. “Probably.” He shuffles a bit on his feet. “You gonna to go talk to her?”
“Yeah. I have to. She doesn’t deserve any of this. Fucking Alora. This all comes back to her.”
Xander huffs, “Could you please fill me in? I don’t like fighting blind.” He levels his dark eyes on me, and I know it’s time.
“Fine. I’ll tell you everything, but I need you to wait to say anything to Scarlett until I’ve had a chance to talk to Daphne about it.”
“You got it.”
Beau mutters, “Thank God. It’s about fucking time.”
A few minutes later, Griffin exits the office and Coach Roland calls me in.