“You cleaned out my bank account.” His tone was icy. “I’m laid up in a hospital bed. You picked a piss poor time to fuck me over.”
“You fucked yourself over.” I looked up and met Dell’s eyes across the locker room. “Don’t try to reach me again.”
“I’ll never forgive you for this, Luke,” he said in a threatening tone.
I laughed bitterly. “That makes us even, ’cause there’s a hell of a lot I’ll never forgive you for.”
I snapped the phone closed and carried it back to Tanner. Niko was dressing at his locker, and I walked over to him.
“Yeah, let’s get that beer, man.”
“Cool. Gimme five minutes.”
Dell was still here, though I couldn’t bring myself to look her way. I felt her presence. The guys were required to cover themselves because of her, but still, the fact that she was in a room of half-naked guys waiting for rubdown requests poked at me like the sharp tip of a sword.
I didn’t know what to do with this dark, unsettled anger. I’d lost hold of my game – again. My dad was a drunk who’d hurt other people. Why had I waited so long to turn my back on him? I wished I would’ve done it while my mom was still alive.
This kind of mood was rare for me, and I knew the tension of being near Dell but not being able to touch her would only worsen it. My instinct was to drink away the anger before it boiled over, and then fuck a woman whose name I’d forget by morning.
And Dell’s name … I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to forget it. Tonight, I needed easy. And nothing about Dell was easy.
I avoided her gaze as I buttoned my white dress shirt and slipped into my dark suit. I grabbed my bag and followed Niko out of the locker room, tying my tie on the way.
We hit a downtown bar with a thick crowd. Before we even got our asses onto stools at a tall table, two women had approached us.
“You boys just leaving the office?” the blonde one asked.
“Something like that,” Niko said with a grin.
“What do y’all do for a living?” asked the other one, a redhead.
“Play hockey,” I said.
“Oh, really?” It was practically a purr, and she slid onto the stool next to me. She told me her name was Ava, and then a steady stream of shit I didn’t care about came pouring out of her mouth. What she did for a living, what turned her on, blah, blah, blah.
Half an hour later, I only knew two things for sure about the chick: her red hair was fake and she’d spread her legs for me in the alley out back if I asked her to. Her eyebrows were black and so were her roots. And she’d grabbed my dick under the table a couple minutes ago.
“I’ve always wanted to see downtown Chicago,” she said. I glared at Niko, pissed he’d told them where I lived.
I was finishing my third beer, and my anger had receded. If I got laid, I’d be my old self by morning. But I had no desire to screw Ava. Maybe I needed to ditch her and find someone less annoying.
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out, looking at the screen.
Dell: Are you okay?
A surge of guilt shot through me. What would she think if she saw me right now?
Me: Pretty much. Just a little drunk.
Dell: Good. Glad you went out. Have fun.
Was this fun? As I looked at the fake smiles on the fake women we sat with, I realized it wasn’t.
Me: Want to meet up with us?
Dell: I’m already home in bed. Thanks, though.
Me: I’m going home to bed soon. Guess playing like shit wears me out.
Dell: No one’s on every day. Just relax, get some sleep and tomorrow will be better. I promise.
Her words made the corners of my lips curve up in a smile. She was the kind of person who picked people up when they were down. I’d been an asshole not to go to her when I was feeling out of control earlier.
Me: I wish u were here.
Dell: Be good. See u in the morning.
I shoved my chair back and stood up, clearing my throat. “I’ve gotta go.”
“No,” Ava whined, laying a hand on my bicep.
“Yep. I can cab it, Niko.”
His eyes widened into an expression that said what the hell, wingman?
“Nah, it’s cool,” he said, rising. “Great to meet you girls.”
We left the bar and he punched me in the arm before we made it to the street. “Were they not hot enough for a major leaguer?”
I rolled my eyes at him. “I’m just fucking tired.”
“Was that Dell texting you? Are you going to her place?”
“I haven’t touched Dell.” I glared at him. “Don’t even say shit like that. That’s how rumors get started.”
“So that wasn’t Dell, then?”