17. Barnett

seventeen

Barnett

" W hat the fuck is going on out there? First, Teagan is in the penalty box for fighting with some guy from the other team, and then the rest of you pile it on that same guy. We'll never win if we don't have any player on the ice." Coach Davis slams a nearby locker shut. "You got something you need to say, Billings, since the guy you're all ganging up on happens to have the same last name as you do."

Before I can answer, the locker room door flies open with an angry Colt, Beck, and Jensen striding in, "What the fuck is going on out there?" Colt yells, "We've got the hockey commissioner in the stands with us tonight, and he's been up our asses all night about the team's reckless behavior on the ice. The fines are racking up."

I look at my teammates, my eyes landing on each one as they nod their approval for me to tell the owners and Coach about my brother Brock. "Number sixty-nine is my brother, Brock Billings. I disowned him and the rest of my family a long time ago. He, um, used to date Gemma." growls from Colt, Beck, and Jensen disrupt my confession.

"Why didn't she tell us he was her ex-boyfriend?" Jensen looks hurt by this revelation—in fact, all three of them look upset.

Teagan pushes her way to where her uncle and his two best friends stand. "Because she loves you and didn't want to see you get in trouble for beating him up."

"But she told you about him," Colt asks.

"Well, not directly, but someone had to teach that asshole a lesson, and what better way than on the ice. Besides, I'm the least obvious anyone would expect to get into a fight." Teagan wiggles her eyebrows with a slight smirk on her face, a little too sure of herself. "I can afford to get in trouble with the coach for once."

"There has to be more to it than just teaching him a lesson," Beck questions looking to each of us for an answer.

"Brock, he, um has a video of what appears to be Gemma servicing three guys at the same time, but the guys aren't the three of you."

Colt, Beck, and Jensen's heads snap back like they've been slapped. "If it's not us in the video, then who was she with?" Jensen's face falls into disbelief.

"It was us," I say as Holden and Caspian raise their hands.

"What the fuck!" Colt, Beck, and Jensen yell at the same time, lunging for us as Torin, Talen, and Tarek hold them back.

"It's not like that," I say. "Yes, It's Caspian, Holden, and me receiving blow jobs from someone, but it's not Gemma. Brock had the video modified to look like it's Gemma."

After realizing nothing happened between us and Gemma, Colt, Beck, and Jensen seem to calm down. "Then who is the mystery woman in the video, and how did Brock get the footage?"

"That's a good question, Colt. The video was taken in a private room of a restaurant in town, and the woman is Hadley. Brock threatened to ruin me and the people close to me if I didn't help him get back together with Gemma."

"And you're just now telling us this?" Beck slams his fist into a locker.

I cringe, "We thought we could handle it without involving the three of you or Gemma."

Beck visibly relaxes, "So Gemma has no idea about the video?"

"No, sir. We thought it was best to keep it from her and handle it ourselves, but we were too late—Brock said he already released the footage before the game started since I didn't live up to my side of the bargain."

"That mother fucker, I want him hurt and hurt bad." Jensen snarls.

"Wait, I have an idea," Teagan says, grabbing her phone from her locker. "I need to talk to my girls. I'll meet you on the ice for the third period." She takes off out the door and down the hallway.

"Now what?" Caspian asks what we are all thinking.

"We're going to go out there and win this game, and whoever hurts Brock the worst doesn't have to run suicides in practice all week." Coach Davis says.

"But what about the fines?" Caspian asks.

"Don't worry about the fines—we'll cover any amount as long as Brock pays for hurting our girl." Colt nods at Beck and Jensen, and they leave the locker room, presumably to sit in Gemma's cheering section like they always do.

"Alright, team, let's go out there and kick some ass!" Coach Davis yells as we rush out of the locker room and onto the ice.