Page 6 of Roughing
I gripped both hands until my circulation was almost cut off and waited for them to reveal my fate.
Jeffs’s frank gaze focused on me for several excruciating seconds before he laid out the terms of my sentence. “Briggs, you’re one of the most talented defensemen in this league. I don’t need to tell you why a guy with your ability was left exposed in the draft. This team took a chance on you because I requested they do so. I pride myself on my ability to break through the toughest of the tough, but I haven’t been able to crack that hard shell of yours. You weren’t always like this. I don’t know what’s happened to your attitude, but I believe that eager, talented kid I coached in college is still buried under there somewhere.”
“He isn’t,” I growled. That kid had died a little at a time until the final blow was dealt two years ago.
“I think you’re wrong.”
I clamped my mouth shut before I said something that I’d regret. I’d find a way to control my anger and hope for a trade before the deadline if I could get my act together enough that I wasn’t considered too high a risk by another team.
“I may live to regret this, but I’m giving you another chance. You’ll be on the team plane tomorrow.”
“Thanks.” I nodded. They both stood, effectively dismissing me. I rose to my feet and walked the few steps to the door, ready to get the hell out of there.
“And Briggs?” said Coach Jeffs.
I paused with my hand almost on the doorknob and turned.
“If you cause one ounce of trouble or dissension among my team, you’ll be a healthy scratch for as long as I see fit.”
“Understood.” I left before they pounded another nail in my rickety coffin.
I ignored the accusatory glare of Werkle’s assistant. The guy outwardly displayed his disdain, but he wasn’t alone. I’d earned such glares from everyone in the organization.
Now what? I considered working out or skating by myself, but neither of those options appealed to my current state of mind. I returned to the parking garage and sat in my car, debating what to do next.
Tomorrow, I’d be on a team plane flying back east for a long road trip. Eight days stuck with teammates who ran the gamut from disliking to outright despising me.
I wasn’t sure how I’d survive this trip unscathed or, even worse, without being permanently benched. Beating myself up for countless reasons, my self-loathing had reached a breaking point. I’d caused my current situation.
For the next few hours, I wanted to forget about hockey.
I only knew one way to do that.
ChapterThree
MUDDY WATERS
~~Michella~~
Filing endless paperwork was so freaking dull I began to doubt my most recent career choice. This wasn’t what I’d imagined when I’d taken on this job. But then, what had I envisioned? Chasing bad guys, capturing murderers, helping friends and family members find their missing son or daughter? Whatever I thought I’d be doing, this wasn’t it.
I could hear my mother now, “Stop being such a princess.”
I was the only girl in a family of boys, and I was a princess and proud of it. I could’ve gone either way, try to be one of the boys or become family royalty. I chose royalty. My oldest brother bought me a tiara for my twelfth birthday, and I still had it in a place of honor in my tiny living room.
I’d recently moved, having previously shared a larger place with my besties. Everly now lived with her boyfriend, Dashel Bates, the captain of the Portland Icehawks, and Inez, who worked for the Icehawks, wanted to be closer to her office. I’d had a hell of a time finding an apartment I could afford by myself until Briggs pointed me toward a unit available in his complex for a shockingly reasonable price. I hadn’t wanted to live that close to him, but I couldn’t pass up a bargain. So far, I’d managed to avoid Briggs.
And why was I thinking about Briggs right now? I knew why, but I fought it. I was attracted to that man and had been since the first night I’d laid eyes on him. I’d been hanging with friends at the Puck. They’d left early, and I’d moved to sit at the bar. Briggs, in all his grumpy gorgeousness, was hunkered over a whiskey and gave off this stay-away vibe. I’d had a few and was operating on liquid courage. I sat down next to him and struck up a conversation. I talked, he grunted occasionally.
One grunt led to another. Before I knew it, I was in his apartment, grunting for a very different reason. I wasn’t a “pick up a guy in the bar and hump him” kind of girl, but I was with Briggs. After that, we met up for booty calls and pretended we didn’t know each other the rest of the time. The arrangement worked out for both of us for a while. He’d given me the incentive to free myself of Gordon for the last time. I wasn’t ready for another heavy relationship, and Briggs didn’t plan on being in Portland longer than necessary. The arrangement had been perfect for both of us until it wasn’t. I’d grown increasingly concerned regarding his controlling nature, which reminded me too much of Gordon.
I sighed at the thought of Briggs. I didn’t know what to do about him, so I did nothing.
I stood and stretched. My shoulder and back ached from bending over the file cabinet and fishing through the piles of paperwork. Hadn’t Carla ever heard of going paperless? Obviously not.
The family member we’d been meeting earlier never showed up, even though we waited for a half hour, nor did she answer her phone. Such callous disregard for the value of our time irritated me, even though I had to admit I’d been late once or twice, maybe several times.
Much to my disappointment, Carla drove to the office and dropped me off rather than taking me to interview witnesses for a different case.
