Page 105 of Code Violation

I nudge my elbow into Mason’s side, and he rejoins the room. He was in a daze for most of the night and barely said a word during the game, where he played pretty well and we secured a shutout.

“Huh?” He looks up at me and then at Tristan before his eyes fall to the half-full soda glass in front of him. “Nah, I’m good. Thanks.”

When the girls all make their way to the restroom, I take the opportunity to check in with my teammate. It’s been a while since we spoke that time in my apartment, and it feels like he’s becoming more distant, even if his drinking has seemingly calmed down.

“What’s the latest?”

He immediately knows what I’m referring to, his face contorting with anguish.

“Sorry I’ve been quiet tonight, man. I woke up this morning to paperwork on my doorstep and a text message from Eloise.”

I pull back, and Will shuffles along the booth so he’s sitting opposite us.

“What type of paperwork?” my alternate captain asks.

Mason blows out a long, defeated breath. “The type of paperwork I never expected to receive when I slid that diamond onto my wife’s finger and we called it forever. She wants a divorce.”

I swallow hard and glance over at Will.

“And what did she say in the text?” I ask.

If I thought Mason looked low before, it has nothing on the slump in his shoulders now.

“She said that she wants a fast and simple divorce and she’s not interested in anything more than fifty percent. That she’s dating someone else back in France and it’s getting pretty serious really fast.”

Will shakes his head and sits back in his seat as Tristan returns with drinks.

He sets them down on the table and looks between the three of us. “What did I miss?”

Mason just smiles, but it’s futile, and honestly, my heart breaks for him. Here I am, all loved up and excited to start a family with my girl, and I’ve got a brokenhearted teammate sitting to my left.

“Nothing much. My wife wants a divorce and is fucking a guy she knew from her childhood.”

Tristan slides his beer across to Mason, and I throw him a warning glare. The last thing I need is Mason drinking himself into the ground tonight.

“Like I said … relationships and love aren’t worth it. They all end in failure, and for those that do stay together, it’s only because they’re too stubborn to admit it’s over and how unhappy they are. Welcome back to freedom, Mase.”

Will scoffs right as Drew appears from the restroom. Will’s got his back to her as she heads straight for our booth, eyes wide with panic and her cell in hand.

My heart trips out when her attention fixes on me.

“What’s wrong with Vesper?” I choke out, already rising from the booth.

She can barely form words, waving her phone around like we can somehow decipher what’s happening just by looking at it.

“Silas …” She sounds as frantic as she looks, thrusting her phone into my hand. “I’ve got Colton on the line for you.”

I look at her blindly. Drew’s my publicist, but why the hell is her boss asking to speak with me late at night?

Drew must read my thoughts, lips twisting in anguish. “It’s Kane. He’s been talking to the media.”

Fuck.

I take the phone and make my way to the exit in search of somewhere quieter, where I can hold a decent conversation.

“Yeah, this is Silas,” I finally say as I push through the door and into the night air.

It’s mid-January and fucking freezing, although I don’t feel the chill through my black dress shirt, only the rapid beat of my heart rate.