Blake reaches out, opening the door, then steps back, allowing me and Chase to enter first.
“Hey guys. Looks like you’re not the last ones here for a change.” Henley lets out a boisterous laugh. “Okay guys, this is a phone free meeting. I want to ensure there are no distractions, so I need you to drop your phones into the bag on the table and head inside the locker room. As soon as everyone is here, we’ll get started. Carter, I need to speak with you for a moment,” he looks toward Blake and Chase before adding, “in private.”
“Sure. Save me a seat?” I ask Chase.
“Yeah.” He lowers his head, stopping at the table long enough to drop the phone in the bag, followed by Blake. As soon as they both step through the door and into the locker room, Henley and I dart toward it, swinging both sides shut, locking it from the outside.
The sound of fists slamming against the heavy doors echo through the empty rink, the sharp, furious thuds reverberating off the walls. Each pounding strike is followed by a shouted curse, the raw frustration in their voices cutting through the air like a blade.
“What the hell is this?!” Blake’s voice roars from the other side of the door, his rage unmistakable. “Let us out of here!”
Chase isn’t far behind, his tone just as livid. “What the fuck, Carter? Open the damn door!” Another loud bang rattles the frame and I almost fear they're going to be able to burst through the door with their combined efforts. “This is bullshit!”
I stand firmly in my decision to do this, crossing my arms over my chest as I step back slightly from the door. I call back, my voice calm and unwavering. “This is for your own good.”
A brief, stunned silence follows before another furious round of fists slamming against the metal begins.
“You have this whole weekend to work your shit out,” I shout, raising my voice over their protests. “Get everything out on the table and fix your relationship. Both of you are being stubborn as hell, and this is the only way that I can see you working it out.”
Blake lets out a sharp, humorless laugh. “You expect us to sleep on the cold-ass floor, freezing, starving, for a whole fucking weekend?”
Chase speaks next, his voice dripping with disbelief. “You left us withnothing? Trapping us like caged animals.”
I can’t help but smirk, knowing that part isn’t entirely true. “You have food. The fridge has everything you need. And there’s an air mattress.” I pause a moment for dramatic effect. “You’ll be fine.”
There’s another furious slam, followed by what sounds like something being kicked over inside the locker room.
“I’ll be checking in on you,” I add, amusement creeping into my voice. “Just don’t kill each other.”
Another bout of cursing follows my remark, but Henley and I are already turning away. I glance over, meeting Henley’s gaze, as we both exchange a silent moment of understanding.
“Thanks, man,” I tell him, glancing once more at the locked door, the only thing keeping the two of them in the same room to sort out their shit with no one interfering.
“No problem,” Henley replies, voice low. “I just hope this works.”
Without another word, we both stride out of the building, locking the doors behind us and out of range of the furious shouts of Chase and Blake.
God, this plan needs to work. I need my brother and best friend to be able to be around each other again and all this tension to dissipate. I need them together and for all of us to be with Ginny.
Chapter 18
Blake
“I’m going to fuckingkill Carter for this bullshit.” Chase growls as he storms away from the door, heading further into the locker room. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
I follow behind him, trying to determine what exactly has him throwing up his arms in frustration. When I pass by the row of lockers blocking my view, I see it. An air mattress, as promised. But only one, and it looks to be either a king or queen size, inflated and resting flat on the floor.
Carter is really wanting the most out of this weekend, pushing us as close together as he can. I knew I had a time limit to spill my truth to Chase before he took it upon himself to tell him himself. Guess this is his not so gentle nudge to do it so he doesn’t have to.
I let out a deep sigh, knowing that once I’m done telling him the truth, Chase is either going to hate me forever or hopefully forgive me and not cut me completely out of his life.
“Yeah, but I think us being locked in here is more about me than you,” I tell him, blowing out a breath of air before makingmy way over to my locker and sitting down on the bench. I rub my palms on my pants, wiping away the sweat building from my nervousness.
“What do you mean?” he asks, opening his locker and rummaging inside of it, as if he’ll find something that’ll get the two of us out of our current predicament.
“Because he gave me a deadline to tell you the truth about that night. The truth about how I really feel about you before he takes that choice away from me and does it himself.”
Chase freezes with my words, slowly turning around to face me. “He knows what happened?”
