“So humble,” Tessa teases, trying to lighten the mood.
“I’ll call you after I meet with him, I’m sure it’s nothing,” he says, giving another kiss and placing his hand on the door. “Better yet, just go straight to my house after you get your stuff together.”
“Okay,” she says with a shy smile, loving the fact that she already knows the codes to get in and that he wants her around so often. In fact, they’ve barely spent a second apart if they can help it, and definitely haven’t spent a night away from each other, with the exception of that first night, since he had to sneak back before he got caught violating curfew.
“Coach,” Tristan says, stepping into the large office and looking around the room. “You wanted to see me?”
At first Tristan wasn’t too worried about why Coach Rice needed to see him urgently, but as soon as he walked into the room and saw who was awaiting him, his stomach immediately dropped.
Coach Rice was sandwiched between the general manager, head doctor, and head of PR is sitting slightly off to the side.
“Take a seat, Tristan,” Coach Rice says, the disappointment in his voice making Tristan’s skin crawl.
“What’s going on?” he asks, taking a seat and leaning his elbows against his knees, bracing for the impact of whatever they are going to tell him. He’s racking his brain trying to think about if there’s anything he did or said recently that would get him into trouble, but he’s genuinely coming up blank. Then his mind goes to if something bad happened to a family member and he really starts panicking. But it wouldn’t be them to deliver that kind of news, would it?
“Your monthly PED test came back this afternoon.”
“Okay?” Tristan looked at his coach confused. The thought of the monthly Performance Enhancing Drug test didn’t even cross Tristan’s mind. This was so random he almost felt like he was dreaming. “What about it?”
“It came back positive, Tristan,” Coach says.
“Positive?” Tristan sits up straight and looks at the doctor. “That’s impossible. Positive for what?”
“It’s positive for Test, specifically Nandrolone,” Dr. Hines speaks up immediately, tone dry and unamused.
“That’s bullshit!” Tristan exclaims. “I’ve never touched testosterone in my life!”
“Tristan, we need to know the details on who else you’ve been using this with so that I can get ahead of the press,” Natalie says, stepping forward. She’s head of PR for the Titans and usually stays quiet, but the look on her face right now is anything but nonchalant.
“I haven’t been using that shit and definitely haven’t been using it with anyone. It’s a mistake. Test me again, right now!”
“We tested both samples you dropped that day multiple times,” Dr. Hines says, leaning back in his chair. “Screaming at us about how it was a faulty test or a false positive won’t change anything.”
“Coach,” Tristan says, standing up. “Come on, man. You know damn well I’m not using that shit. I never have and you know it! You know me.”
“I can’t argue with the results, Tristan,” Coach Rice says regretfully.
“Well what do I have to do to prove-”
“We have to suspend you, Tristan,” The general manager, Brett, says. “We don’t have a choice.”
“Suspend?” Tristan rears backwards and feels his whole body start to tighten up from stress. “No way! This is the best season I’ve ever had, and I’ve done it without any kind of Testosterone. Give me another test right now! I’ll prove it!”
“That doesn’t change the fact that the test was from last month,” Brett says. “Even if you test negative today you still tested positive previously, and there needs to be consequences for that.”
“Consequences for something that I didn’t do?” Tristan asks in disbelief. “How long am I suspended for?”
“Four games,” Coach Rice says, and Tristan nearly passes out.
“I’m fucking sorry, did you just sayfour games? As in I won’t play in wild card week? And potentially not even the first championship game?”
Coach Rice hangs his head and rubs at his eyes, the stress and disappointment evident all over his face.
“You think I’m enjoying any of this, Kelly?” Rice says, slamming his fist against the table. “My best player, my most loyal player, someone who is like a goddamn son to me, popping hot on the PED? Fuck!”
“I swear I didn’t do anything!”
“You’ll still be practicing and traveling with the team,” Rice says. “And sitting on the bench during games. You’re still the heart of this team, Tristan. But I can’t let you play with a positive test, I just can’t.”
