Chapter 23

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

C harlie Is the Best

Finn

My brother is in a particularly bad mood this morning during morning skate. Coach Bailey is running drills with the sophomore, juniors, and seniors on half ice while my brother is running drills with the freshmen. Apparently, they all partied hard last night and Jacob is teaching them a lesson to ease up on the alcohol during the season. It’s a lesson we’ve all learned at some point. I like to drink and even party, but I don’t do that shit when I know I have to be up for morning skate or we have a game to play.

At the end of practice, Jacob calls the team together and tells us to meet in the media room, except for me. The fact he is singling me out in front of the team tells me this isn’t a family issue.

“Don’t get changed. Come straight to my office,” my brother orders.

Shit! This doesn’t look good.

“What’s up?” I ask my brother as he walks over to his desk.

He doesn’t answer. He bows his head and weaves his fingers behind them.

“Jacob, what is going on?” I ask, my nerves building.

“The Dean is investigating you for having an inappropriate relationship with our social media coordinator,” he scoffs.

“Alice?” I laugh.

“This isn’t funny, Finn,” he says dryly, giving me a knowing look. He’s obviously talking about Charlie. “I asked you if there was something going on when you took her home and you lied to my face.”

“I didn’t lie, Jacob. There isn’t anything going on,” I deny, trying to keep a straight face. I am not a liar and this feels really shitty.

“Look, I know what you went through with Chelsea and I, more than anyone, want you to get over her and find the right girl, but why does it have to be someone who is unavailable to you?” he asks and, damn, his words pierce the center of my chest.

Resigned, I close his door and take a seat across from him.

“Look, I met Charlie before she was working for the team. Her boyfriend cheated on her and she was a mess, and she kind of crashed into me. Like she literally wasn’t looking where she was going and she crashed into me. I saw this beautiful girl who looked broken and I identified with that pain, with that feeling of being an idiot or not good enough, that someone had to look elsewhere.” I pull my gaze from Jacob because I never really spoke about my breakup with Chelsea, but I went through the stages of not only losing the girl I loved but a friend I had most of my life.

“Shit, Finn.” Jacob sighs, his voice dripping with compassion. But he isn’t only my brother now, he is also my coach, and he has a job.

“I’m not with her. I’m keeping my distance from her, but her psycho ex who cheated on her was harassing her. There was no way I wasn’t going to watch out for her. The dude wasn’t taking a hint. She has a night class with him and he was following her out every night and asking her to hear him out. Now he’s spreading rumors about her being a cheater, and I guess this is his new bag of tricks.”

“Fuck, Finn, I obviously respect you watching out for Charlie and I would expect nothing less from you, but keep your hands to yourself. This is the most important year of your college career. The NHL is watching you. Are you a responsible guy who can handle playing at that level? Or are you a fuckup who is going to make the team look bad?”

“I get what you’re saying, Jacob, but I didn’t do anything wrong. I met her before she was working for the team. We’re not together. I meet her after class to walk her home. That ex of hers is fucking crazy. He needs to take a hint.”

“The Dean is investigating, so as of now I’m not going to do anything, but I’m begging you, keep a low profile. Stay the fuck away from her. Ask one of the guys in the house to look out for her after class or something, but you stay out of trouble.” Jacob points a finger at me and the look in his eyes is determined. “I’m serious, Finn, don’t fuck this up.”

“Where is Charlie this morning?” I ask out of curiosity.

“She had a morning practice. She has a meet tomorrow and that should be none of your business,” he reminds.

“Right.” I nod. “Thanks for giving me the heads-up.”

“Yeah, right. This is just an investigation, but if something comes up there won’t be anything I can do to protect you,” he warns.

“I know, Coach,” I say, and walk out of his office.

When I was young, Jacob and my brother, Jack, taught me everything about hockey. Then when I got older, they pushed me to be better and better. It was my ticket out of Tennessee, and they were right. I’ve landed on a top-notch team in an Ivy League school, but maybe my aspirations have changed. I could’ve left the lab last night at five o’clock with the other two seniors who are under Professor Stratford, but I stayed with the grad students until after 2:00 a.m. because I couldn’t get enough of what they were doing. It’s a molecular genetics lab that focuses on inherited cancer syndromes. The team was doing some DNA testing, and I couldn’t rip myself away. It would be crazy to give up on an NHL salary to work in a lab or continue my degree, but sometimes I feel like that is where my true passion lies.

When I’m leaving the sports complex, I power on my phone. I turned it off in the lab last night because I didn’t want to be the odd one out, who had a phone that pinged in the middle of a PCR test.

I have numerous text messages from Charlie saying she needs to speak to me. They get more desperate the later into the night it gets. She clearly wanted to warn me about the investigation. This whole thing is a crock of shit. Her ex is a nut who needs to mind his own business.

I text her back because I don’t want to be a rude asshole.

Me: My brother filled me in on the Dean’s investigation.

Charlie : I’m so sorry I dragged you into this.

Me: You didn’t drag me into anything. We can talk at home later.

Charlie: Ok

By noon I meet the guys in the corner of the student center, and we grab lunch together.

“I heard what happened,” Hayden says. “I didn’t want to say anything this morning because it didn’t seem like Charlie got a hold of you, but when Coach Heaton called you out, I was like oh fuck .”

“What was that about?” Cade asks.

I look over at Macklin. “Dude, are you in some kind of trouble?”

I am their captain, but I don’t feel like much of a leader. I was chosen for the role last year by the outgoing coach because I was the best player on the team.

“I need to confess something to you guys. I should’ve done it sooner and I’m sorry. I’m your captain and I should be leading by example.”

“Bro, you’re a damn good example,” Aaron assures.

“Thanks, bro, but please hear me out,” I say. “I met Charlie before she was working for the team.”

“I knew it,” Macklin blurts.

I give him a pointed look.

“Sorry, bro, go on,” he says.

“She had a situation with her ex, and I helped her out,” I explain.

Suddenly, Macklin’s eyes turn round. “Holy shit. She was the reason you were late for practice?” Macklin may come across as a little ditzy at times, but the dude notices everything around him. Probably what makes him one of the best defensemen in college hockey.

“She was the reason I was late, but not in the way you think. She ditched me on the beach,” I mutter.

“Damn, bro.” Cade chuckles. “How did I not notice any of this?”

“When Charlie came to work for the team, we clearly kept things platonic, until we didn’t. The first night we met, she didn’t know who I was. She didn’t give a shit about hockey, and she saw me as a person. I haven’t had that feeling in a while.”

“Bro, Charlie is the best. You don’t need to explain,” Hayden says.

Those words coming from him are surprising because if anyone looks at Ruby the wrong way, bro is having a fit, but I guess Charlie isn’t his sister, only her friend.

“Charlie is the best,” Cade agrees.

Macklin mutters the same thing along with Aaron.

“Fuck, bro, you’re a lucky bastard,” Aaron says.

“Sorry, bro, I know you were into her. I didn’t want to overstep,” I say to him.

“You saw her first,” is his response. He doesn’t seem upset, so I’ll take it.

“We aren’t together, guys. The reason I’m telling you is because her ex went to the Dean to complain about us, and she’s opened an investigation. Charlie’s job with the team is on the line, and I am under threat of suspension or probation if this goes south.”

The guys all mutter some form of curses.

“This is on me. I just wanted to let you know that going forward Charlie and I will only be friends. We will act in a professional manner,” I assure. I haven’t spoken with Charlie yet, but I don’t see that she would disagree with me.

“That isn’t fair, bro. Especially since you two met before she was working for the team,” Macklin states.

“I need to follow the rules like everyone else, and I plan to. I don’t know if the Dean is going to ask any of you questions,” I say.

“Bro, we got your back,” Cade guarantees and the guys agree.

“I wouldn’t feel comfortable asking you guys to lie.”

“We could keep the facts to a minimum and only say what is true,” Aaron offers.

“Spoken like a real politician,” I say to him.

“Funny,” he retorts since he is a political science major.

Luc, our goalie, who is usually the quiet one and doesn’t like to say much says, “Sometimes the less you say the better.”

The guys all agree with his statement.

“Thanks, guys. I appreciate you having my back,” I say to them.

They all give me some sort of hug or tap on the back, and then we all grab lunch and eat together. I realize how lucky I am to have these guys as friends. When I left home, I was sour. My girlfriend cheated on me with my best friend and I felt like I couldn’t trust anyone, but these guys have proved me wrong. They are good men. I can’t let them down.