Page 58 of Broken As Puck

Delacrue dropped back onto a chair. “You asshole.”

Matt glanced at me, grimaced, and focused on Mr. Robertson. “I think we should wait.”

I stared at him in disbelief. Wait? Had he lost his mind? I knew he liked to avoid confrontation, but we couldn’t sit on this. We had to do something. And also, where the hell did he get off undermining my recommendation to the team manager? He wasn’t a PR specialist. This was my area of expertise, not his.

“We don’t know that Tia will find out what happened,” he went on. “The guys know to be careful. If we release a statement, then we’re admitting what was said publicly, which might be the last straw for the commissioner.”

Mr. Robertson handed the phone back. “Send that to me.”

“I will.” Matt swiped away at the screen some more. “Anyway, my point is, it might be better if we wait and see if it actually comes out before we decide how to respond. We could avoid a media circus. In the meantime, you guys can look through my notes and think about whether you might want to act on them somehow.”

Mr. Robertson nodded. “I agree.”

“But, sir⁠—”

“I appreciate your advice, but the decision isn’t yours to make,” he said firmly. “I’ll run the options by Mr. Trent, but I’m certain he’ll see things my way.”

I wanted to argue because, if this went public and they were caught on the back foot, it could be devastating. Not to mention that Delacrue ought to be held accountable.

Mr. Robertson turned to the player in question. “This shows a concerning pattern of behavior. You’re benched for the next game, and you may want to consider whether you’d be happier retiring or being traded to another team.”

Yes. Petty satisfaction swept through me. That was more like it.

Delacrue went ramrod straight in his chair and his mouth fell open. “I-I… What?”

Mr. Robertson raised his eyebrows. “If you’re unhappy with the changes this team is making, you might be better off elsewhere. It looks like we have the beginning of a case of legal cause to terminate a contract based on conduct detrimental to the team. If I were you, I’d think very carefully about my future.”

Delacrue’s mouth moved silently. It seemed like he was finally realizing that he’d screwed up big time. He was an older, fourth line player. He wasn’t particularly highly regarded, and if he was traded, there was no guarantee that he’d end up on a team he’d consider to be “better.” Retirement was a valid option, but it was obviously something he didn’t want to do yet.

“I’m fine,” he said eventually. “I’ll shut my fucking mouth.”

“Excellent. Now, you’d both better hope that none of this makes it into the article.”

Mr. Robertson dismissed Matt and me but kept Delacrue and Gadot back to discuss the consequences of their actions. While I understood that Gadot shouldn’t have made things physical, I couldn’t help hoping that Delacrue faced a more severe punishment.

That man deserved to be scared for his career.

By the time I returned to the team meeting room, everything seemed to have gotten back under control. Tia was still interviewing Austin and Nick, and when we entered, she waved Matt over too. I circled around the edge of the room and updated Stella.

“These guys were all told they could leave,” she said, waving her hand at the players around us. “I don’t think any of them have. They’re a bunch of nosy nellies. They all wanted to wait and find out what happened with Delacrue and Gadot.”

“Did Tia question anyone about the fight?” I asked under my breath.

Stella shook her head. “I don’t know if that means she isn’t interested or if Warren got everything on camera, so they don’t need statements to go along with it. Maybe she thinks if she pushes, we’ll kick them out.”

I sighed. I supposed all we could do was wait and see.

Chapter Twenty

MATT

“Your hair looks fucking awesome,” Jesse exclaimed, reaching out to touch it. “That must have taken a heap of work.”

“Just an expensive visit to the hairdresser,” I replied, standing still and letting him run his hands through it. “I wasn’t about to try to do it myself. I never would’ve gotten it right. You think it came out well? I was a bit worried they wouldn’t get it how I wanted it, but I’m pretty pleased with it.”

“I doubt it could’ve been better.” Jesse clapped me on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, man. It looks great and it actually kinda suits you. Maybe you could keep it like this.”

I laughed. “Don’t count on it. I don’t have the patience to maintain something like this.”