28. Grey

Grey

" M r. Aldine, you must listen to me," the NHL official begged. "The league is calling for a full investigation. They may suspend you until it's complete, which may not be for months."

I glowered at him, a man named Todd Billings. "I haven't done anything wrong."

"That's what we need to find out," he went on, slightly breathless. "We must clear your name before the Stanley Cup. Therefore, we must talk with the young lady."

"Absolutely not. I don't want her dragged through the mud."

I met Coach's grim gaze and read his mind. Billings was right. In order for me to be cleared of this bullshit scandal, he must interview Ellie. Her age must be proven, and right now. We both needed to come clean so Colton's story of me sleeping with an underage girl could be diffused.

But what will that do to Ellie?

"Is Mr. Teasdale planning to cut me?" I asked Coach.

He shrugged, helpless. "I don't know, Grey. All he said was for us to meet with him."

We stood in his jumbled office at the rink, me, Billings, Coach, and his assistant. I walked to the window, my hands stuffed in my jean's pockets, scared to my bones. If Colton's allegations weren't proven false, I stared into the ashes of my career. Mr. Teasdale couldn't afford to have a scandal-ridden jock on his team. It brought bad press.

"You're not looking at jail," Coach said quietly. "Your lady's age can be proven easily."

I barked a hard laugh, not turning around. "I'll still be vilified. I cuckolded my own son, slept with his ‘fiancée'."

"Were they planning to marry?" Billings asked.

"No. Colton carried on with Ellie's friend, dumped her flat. Even the friend decided she didn't need the risk of him cheating on her and kicked him to the curb."

"A soap opera," Coach muttered. "Christ."

I finally turned and leaned against the window's sill. "How can this be salvaged? Is my career toast?"

"It depends on Mr. Teasdale," Coach answered. "He'll probably jettison you in order to save the Vipers' name." He shook his head. "The internet has already burst into flames; ESPN can't talk about anything except you. Everyone and their brother wants an interview with Ellie. Where is she right now?"

"I took her home," I replied, "and hopefully no reporter knows her address."

"She is in fact pregnant?" Billings asked. "Yes? Are you the father?"

Angry at the question, knowing it was one that sat on the lips of everyone behind a computer screen, every talking head in the nation, I didn't want to answer. It was one that had to be answered, and to say I didn't know sounded lamer than a three-legged goat.

"She is pregnant," I said slowly. "We need a paternity test to know who the father is."

"This just gets better and better," Coach snapped. "Why couldn't you have kept it in your pants, Aldine? Or at least wrap it up! A girl young enough to be your daughter, are you for real? You couldn't find someone your own age to stick it into?"

I spun away, furious, mortified, and, unbelievably, hurt. Of all the people I worked with I thought would stand by me, Coach was the one I expected would do so. He knew me. He trusted me.

Or so I thought.

"This is not getting us anywhere," Billings said. "We need to focus on Ms. March's age, that she wasn't a minor when all this took place. Then we prove Colton Aldine's allegations are false."

"In other words, I need a great PR guy," I grumbled.

"We have to convince the league that you're not a pedophile, and that you're an asset. Not a liability."

"When Mr. Teasdale cuts me loose, that won't matter." I stared out at the frosty, gray day, feeling as cold and dismal inside me as it was outside. It wasn't an opposing player who ended my career. My own son took it from me through spite, jealousy, and a sheer streak of meanness I never knew he possessed.

"The league may fine you," Billings commented. "Even if they don't, your name will go into history for all the wrong reasons."

"Because I fell in love," I murmured.

"They can't and won't look at it that way," Billings snapped. "You're locked in a love triangle and brought embarrassment to the league. They won't forget that easily."

"And what if he's vindicated?" Coach demanded, his swings between support and vilification of me making me dizzy. "His name cleared?"

"Then this will be swept behind us, forgotten." Billings hesitated; I turned to find him gazing at me. "If the Vipers win next month, this will be forgotten within hours."

"Ah." I smiled bitterly. "My name hinges upon not just proving my son is a catastrophic liar, but also winning the Cup. Is that it?"

"In a nutshell, yes."

Coach eyed his watch and sighed heavily. "The big man is upstairs. Time to meet with him and find out if Grey's career ends right now."

Thanks a bunch for the confidence and support, old man.

He led the way from his office, followed by the assistant, then Billings. I trailed the pack, my heart a heavy lead ball in my chest. There's no way Teasdale can keep me on. The contract for next season―the tremendous salary―would be burned to ash in his trash can. All that remained was the formality of giving me the axe.

Teasdale's personal assistant, a youngish man in his late twenties, opened the door to his office for us. Was that a look of pity he sent my way? I ground my teeth. I didn't need pity. I needed what I wouldn't get―Colton admitting he lied.

Owen Teasdale stood up to shake hands, even mine, his face a neutral mask. Coach and Billings took the chairs in front of his massive desk while the assistant and I stood like soldiers at parade rest. When he finally sat, without having said a word, his eyes rested on my face.

"Well, Grey," he said at last. "Is the girl underage?"

"No, sir," I vowed. "She's twenty-two."

"Your son lied?"

"Yes, sir."

"They weren't engaged?"

"No."

My voice halting, I explained how I met Ellie on that winter night when I'd missed the plane to Boston. His face gave me no idea as to his thoughts as I spoke of the blizzard, our mutual attraction, Ellie's hurt that Colton had cheated on her.

"We fell in love," I said. "It's true we have a big age difference. I'm not sorry about that. I am, however, sorry that I've embarrassed the team, you, and the league."

"I see." Mr. Teasdale, still with no readable thoughts crossing his face, gazed into the distance.

None of us spoke. The clock on the wall ticked the minutes by, the only sound in the room. I glanced at the inscrutable expressions of both Coach and Billings, and my heart dropped even further into my boots.

As long as he doesn't humiliate me when he gives me the chop. I can go out with dignity, retire, live with Ellie and our kids in privacy. Or so I hope.

I read the headlines within my mind. Star Viper, team's MVP, retires before Stanley Cup. Aldine's departure shrouded in scandal. Aldine's son exposes the truth…

"Well, then," Mr. Teasdale said at last, rousing me from my imaginings, "there's only one thing I can do."

I stared down at my feet, my stomach in knots. "I won't make a fuss in the press, sir. Thank you for the years you've given me."

"Do you mind if I finish before you jump to conclusions?"

I glanced up, my thoughts wild, and found Teasdale smiling. "Uh, sure. Yes."

"I'm not stupid enough to cut you now, Grey," he went on. "I'm standing behind you a hundred percent."

"You're what ?" Billings demanded. "The league will demand an investigation."

"Let them. What's going on between Grey and his lady is private. She's an adult, she can make her own decisions. Once it's known she's not underage, this will all blow over."

As Billings blustered, stammering his remarks on the face of the NHL, scandal, and how he cannot possibly see how I should remain on the team, I felt my feet grow numb. I wasn't going to be axed. My career was still intact. I still had the chance to win the Stanley Cup, my name gold once again.

"Now look," Mr. Teasdale snapped, impatient. "We do have to prove Grey is on the right side of morality. That's a given. The sooner the better. If the press continues to gnaw on this like an old dog with a bone, it will get worse. Grey, would your lady be willing to step up and show the world she's not underage?"

"I- I don't know, sir," I replied, still taking in the fact that I haven't been sacked. "I can persuade her, I think."

"Good. Now we have to consider an offensive tactic," Mr. Teasdale went on. "That means suing your boy for slander, defamation of character, all that rot. I'll get the team's lawyers working on that. Now, Grey, it's time to work on your image in the public's eye. We need to turn you into a hero."

***

For the next hour, we talked over ideas on how to sway the public opinion away from Colton's lies. Suing him appeared at the top of the idea chain, and a quick investigation from the league came second.

"If the league finds you innocent," Mr. Teasdale explained, "then it's all over. We win the Cup, and this will be forgotten."

"There will still be naysayers," Billings argued. "People who will scream cover up."

"No matter the outcome, there will always be someone to scream cover up," Teasdale replied. "Those opinions won't sway anyone. Gentlemen, we can't let ourselves be intimidated by the uneducated few. I have enough faith in Grey to tell you that my contract with him for next season still stands. Cup or no Cup, Grey Aldine plays for my team for as long as he wants the job."

My gratitude for his faith in me, his confidence in my ability and in my innocence, reached my lips and got no farther. Mr. Teasdale's assistant entered the office before I spoke, gathering the attention of everyone in the office.

"I'm in a meeting," Mr. Teasdale said, annoyed.

"I know, sir. But there's something you have to see."

The young man reached for the flat panel television's remote and clicked the screen on. Excited, grinning, he glanced at me before scrolling through channels. Pausing on a local news station, he stepped aside, clearing the way for us to watch.

"What is this?" Mr. Teasdale asked.

"A news conference, sir," the assistant explained.

"Who the devil is that?"

I locked my knees to halt them from giving way and tumbling me to the floor. "That's my lady. That's Ellie."

"What?"

Teasdale stood, walked around his desk to stand beside me. "What is she doing?"

"She's clearing Mr. Aldine's name, sir," the assistant said. "She's telling everyone the truth."

In shock, in vapid disbelief, I watched as Ellie, smiling, confident, utterly beautiful, stood behind the podium and fielded questions from the press. The purple streak in her hair shone brilliantly under the lights and gave her the illusion she was much younger than she was.

"As you all see," she said, gesturing, "that's my birth certificate. Proof I'm not underage. Remember, after you pass that around, I need it back."

A general chuckle rose from the big room.

"Ms. March?" someone asked.

Ellie pointed at someone behind the camera. "Yes? What's your question?"

"Who is the father of your baby?"

My heart sank despite the sudden surge of hope and pride. What would she answer? That she didn't know? That could be as bad as naming either Colton or I as the baby's father.

Ellie's smile blossomed. "I'd really rather not say at this time."

I jolted as Mr. Teasdale's fist thumped my back. I glanced askance at him and witnessed his grin.

"Vindicated, son. You're gold."