Reed: Answer your damn phone.
Reed: Rowdy, you alive? Call me back, dammit.
I fire off a quick response telling him I just got his messages and I have to head into practice, but I’ll call him after.
The “off” feeling continues throughout practice. Coach keeps resetting drills. Running us through the same sequence multiple times. Blowing the whistle longer than necessary, something you’d think he’d do if he thought we were showing up hungover, but to my knowledge, none of us are.
It isn’t obvious enough to anyone to call him out, but I notice.
“Rowden,” Coach calls from the doorway after practice. “Hit the showers, then come see me in my office.”
I nod. Kade and Talon both glance at me, trying to read my reaction.
“You talk to Reed yet?” Talon asks.
“I’ll call him when I leave.”
He nods, like there’s more he wants to say, but lets it go.
The locker room fills with noise—guys talking, music blaring, and showers kicking on.
I strip out of my gear and step under the hot water, letting it hit my shoulders for a second before shutting it off. The tension doesn’t go anywhere.
I dry off, throw on my clothes, and head out.
The hallway’s mostly empty now.
I don’t slow down as I walk straight to his office.
He’s already sitting behind his desk when I step inside.
“Close the door,” he says.
I do, then take the seat across from him. The same one I sat in the last time he called me in here.
He settles back, folding his hands together.
“We need to talk about your priorities with playoffs coming up,” he says.
“My priorities haven’t changed,” I answer.
“Is that so?”
My phone buzzes in my pocket. I grit my teeth knowing it’s probably Reed, and whatever he wants to talk to me about must be big.
He keeps going, droning on and on about outside distractions and my commitment to the game.
My phone buzzes again.
He pauses, glancing toward my pocket. “This is what I’m talking about distractions.” He shifts slightly. “You can check it.”
I hesitate, almost expecting this to be a challenge. He tilts his head toward me, nodding for me to do it, and I pull it out.
It’s Reed again. I open the message.
Reed: Call me. Now. This can’t wait.
Before I can respond, another message comes through.
