by Claire Adams
I took a detour through a drive-thru on my way home because there was no way I was standing in the kitchen to fix myself something to eat, and leaving myself at the mercy of Leena’s cooking was always hit and miss. Still, I couldn't help but smile as I saw Leena waiting for me at the entrance to our building. Gourmet chef or not, she was a great friend.
“Hey, Lee,” I said as I got out of the car, situating myself on the crutches.
“Hey, Eryn, how's your ankle feeling?”
I sighed and shook my head. “Not great.”
“Figured as much. That’s why I waited for you, to help you get up the stairs. I thought it might be tough for you, with your ankle and carrying your gym bag and books and stuff...”
“Aw, thanks. You're the bestest friend ever,” I told her.
“I know,” she chirped as she helped me with my bags and books. Thanks to her, we got upstairs without too much trouble. After I'd put my stuff away, we sat down on the sofa, and Leena brought me the food I’d picked up for us, along with a bottle of water.
“So you think you were tripped up, huh?” she asked.
I glared at her hard. “How did you know that?”
“Coach pulled me aside and asked if I’d seen anything.”
I acknowledged and continued. “Well, I don't think it – I know it. Someone kicked my ankles together hard from behind. It was a deliberate blow, I'm sure of it. It wasn't just someone running too close to me. There was a solid force behind that kick.”
She nodded. “Yeah, I suspected as much. And, I think I have a pretty good idea of who it might have been.”
“Let me guess,” I said. “Starts with a 'T' and ends with a 'Y.'”
“You got it,” she agreed.
I sighed and shook my head. “I think everyone knows it was her. The problem is, there's no way for me to prove it. So, without proof, what can I do about it?”
“Well, here's the thing, Eryn – I think there might actually be proof.”
She caught me a little off guard. “What? How?”
“Wade. He was determined to get to the bottom of what happened, so he put his phone on audio record and had the cleaning lady hide it in the locker room where Tammy and Kelly's lockers are. So, if they said anything to each other about tripping you up, he'll have it as proof.”
A surge of something rushed through me. I didn’t know what to say or how to feel. I couldn't believe he'd done that. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
“Wow!” was all I could say. I was a little taken back. “Well, I hope he catches them, I really do...because I don't know what else to do.”
I was about to ask Leena what she thought I should do if Wade’s phone hadn’t picked up anything concrete when my own phone buzzed. Leena handed me my purse from the table and I rifled through it to see who had messaged me. It was from Wade.
Hi, Eryn. Hope your ankle’s doing okay. I have some information about who tripped you in practice. I was hoping I could come over and talk to you and Leena about it this evening?
I looked up at Leena. “He's found out something. Said he has some information.”
“Oh my God! He didn’t say what it is?”
“No, but he wants to come over here to talk to us about it.”
“Well, I want to know what the hell is going on. Tell him to come right now!” she said.
I typed out a quick reply.
Hey, Wade. Ankle is the same. I’m curious about the information. You can come over now, if that's all right. Leena will meet you downstairs.
I got a reply a few seconds later.
Sounds good; see you in about 20.
When he arrived, Leena met him outside and led him up to our apartment. It felt a little awkward having him in my home. Even if we wanted to pretend nothing had happened, it had and we both knew it. The tense glances back and forth were proof that it had definitely not been forgotten. And sitting there with Leena being totally clueless about the invisible tension crackling in the air made the situation all the more uneasy.
He said a friendly hello to me as he followed Leena into the living room.
“Hi, Wade,” I replied and tried to keep the heat I was feeling from showing in my cheeks. “Have a seat,” I added hastily, pointing at the easy chair opposite the sofa.
“Leena told me on the way up she explained to you about me hiding my phone in the locker room, right?”
“She did, yeah.”
“Okay. Well, this is what I picked up. I've cut the audio file down to just the conversation that matters. I'll play it for you. Just a warning: you're not going to like what you hear. Are you okay with that?”
“I don’t like the fact that I’m laid up with a sprained ankle – can it get worse than that? Whatever it is, I need to hear it.”
“Yes, I think you do,” he agreed.
He took his phone out and tapped the screen a few times, and then two, familiar female voices, soft and muffled — but definitely recognizable — started coming from the speaker: Tammy and Kelly.
First was Kelly’s voice. “Did you see that bitch go down like a sack of fucking potatoes!” Kelly laughed.
“Right? It was fucking hilarious,” Tammy replied.
“Did anyone see you do it, Tams?”
“I think Eva might have seen me trip the slut up, but that stupid, fat bitch knows I'll break her fucking nose if she says anything about it.”
They both giggled. I felt my blood boiling with anger, and I could see that Leena was furious, too.
“Shhh,” Tammy said, “Here comes Leena. Don't say anything else about it. You know how close that dumb skank is to Eryn.”
“Yeah, what a pair of-”
Wade cut the recording off there and cleared his throat, obviously feeling a bit of awkwardness at the way the recorded conversation was going. “I, uh, I don't think the rest of it is necessary,” he said.
“No,” I replied, “what we heard was more than enough,” I assured him.
Leena drew in a deep breath. “If it wasn’t stooping to their level, I’d punch them both right in the mouth,” she huffed. We all sat in silence for a while, ruminating on what we'd just heard.
“So, what do we do now?” I asked eventually. “I mean, the evidence is right there. What happens next?”
“It is,” Wade replied. “And, they are definitely going to face the consequences. I’ll be removing them both from the team. I just wanted you two to hear the evidence first. I wanted you to know I wasn’t taking this lightly.” His gaze fixed on mine and rush of warmth spread through me.
“Thank you, Wade,” I said softly. “I really, really appreciate you making an effort to do something about this.”
“Yeah, Wade,” Leena added. “I'm glad you thought ahead and made a plan to catch those two-” She stopped herself before she said something ugly. “It's just so...so low, what they did to Eryn. All because they are jealous. Bitches,” she mumbled the last word and I couldn’t help the small smile that crept over my lips.
“It's malicious and inexcusable,” he agreed, his face grim with anger. “Nobody attacks my star player and gets away with it. Nobody.”
I was impressed at how intensely he wanted to defend me. His eyes caught mine again, and I couldn't ignore the sheer intensity that ripped through me at the look that passed between us. More than ever, I wanted him – and I knew that he wanted me, too. That made it even more painful, the fact that we both understood that we couldn't be together.
“Thanks again,” I said to him, trying to diffuse the electricity of the moment between us. “I really do appreciate this.”
He smiled his heart-stopping smile. “I just want to make sure they get punished for this. And that nothing like it happens again. Anyways, that's all, I guess. I'll deal with those two delinquents tomorrow. We’ll let ‘em get comfortable and think they got away with it. I better get going. I hope you ladies enjoy the rest of your night.”
“Would you like a drink, Wade?” Leena asked.
&nbs
p; He got up and shook his head. “I appreciate the offer, Leena, but I'm afraid I can't. I have some, uh, business to attend to that just can't wait. I'll see you girls tomorrow on the court, though.”
“Uh,” I grinned and began pointing at my bandaged ankle.
“Oh, uh, yeah, that's right,” he said. “I guess I won't be seeing you on the court, Eryn. You just take it easy and let that ankle heal up. I’ll check on you later. I will see you, though, Leena. All right, ladies, I’m going to get going. Have a good evening.”
“Bye, Wade,” I said.
“Have a good night, Wade,” added Leena as she walked him to the door.
“Bye, ladies,” he said, and with that, Leena closed the door behind him.
Chapter Sixteen
Wade
I left Eryn's place the night before feeling weird. For more reasons than one.
On the one hand, of course, I'd been happy about the fact that my plan had worked and I'd managed to find out that Tammy and Kelly were behind her injury. I was still having a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that Tammy had deliberately tripped Eryn. It was just petty and childish. But, justice would be served. I had every intention of making sure that nothing like that ever happened again on my team.
On the other hand, it had been a little strange to be in Eryn's apartment like that: her home, her personal space, the place where she slept, ate, and went about her life.
I'd felt that familiar tension simmering between us the moment I walked in — that raw, burning desire that we were both trying so hard to suppress. It hadn't gone away on my end, and I felt like it hadn't gone away on hers, either.
There was nothing we could do about it, though. It was frustrating, exceedingly so. I couldn't help wondering if, and hoping, the feelings would resolve themselves over time, wondering if they'd go away. At the moment, it seemed as if they weren’t going anywhere.
All I could do was try not to think about it. I had needed a distraction. When I got home, I’d called the university’s athletic director and discussed the situation with him to make sure I was going about removing Tammy and Kelly from the team in a way that was in line with the school’s protocol.
Once we finished our discussion, I put on a movie and kicked back on my sofa, trying to keep myself distracted. But my mind didn’t stay on the movie. It was on Eryn and the interesting day I knew I had to look forward to. Eventually, I drifted off to sleep.
The first thing I did when I woke up was send Tammy and Kelly a message letting them know I needed to speak with them in my office that morning and coordinated a time they could both meet there. We were scheduled for ten o’clock.
They showed up a few minutes after ten and by the time they did, I had stewed over the situation all morning. I was already teetering on the edge of losing it when I saw them, especially Tammy, who showed up with a flirty, smug grin on her face.
All I could think about was that I was about to wipe that grin right off her overpainted lips. Just the thought of what she had done to Eryn had my blood boiling.
“Sit down,” I said, my eyes cold and my lips tight.
They each took a seat across from me. Dan, one of my assistant coaches, slipped into the back of my office, just as I had asked him to earlier that morning. I needed a witness to the meeting as suggested by the school’s athletic director. Dan stood quietly in the back.
“So, what's going on, Wade?” Tammy asked, glancing over her shoulder at Dan with a confused look on her face. “I hope you’ve called us in here to tell us you're going to be putting us back on the starting lineup.”
I chuckled, truly amused she would even think that was a possibility. “Um, no. That's not what this meeting is about, not at all. In fact, I'm gonna let you two do the talking,” I informed them.
“What?” Tammy asked.
“I don’t understand,” Kelly added. “What do you want us to talk about?”
I put my phone on the desk and played the audio recording for them. I watched coldly as their smug expressions quickly turned to expressions of horror, shock, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d have said even a little guilt.
“Do you two have anything to say for yourselves?” I asked.
Silence.
I continued. “Tammy, you deliberately tripped Eryn, which caused her to get injured. Kelly, you knew about it, encouraged it, and laughed about it. So, I’ll ask again: do you two have anything to say?”
They both sat silent for a moment; neither dared to make eye contact with me. Suddenly, though, Tammy looked up at me with defiant anger in her gaze.
“All right, Wade, so you think you caught us. Well, why don't you tell me, what are you gonna do about this?”
“You’re both being expelled from the team. That’s what I’m doing. Don't bother coming to practice this afternoon. You're out. Pick a new sport, or pick a new university.”
Kelly immediately started crying, but I had no sympathy for her. Tammy, however, remained resilient and defiant. “Ya know, I thought you were cool, Wade. I really did. But now I realize that you're nothing. You're just a washed-up has-been who's old and lame and long past his prime.”
I chuckled dryly. “I feel terribly hurt by your words, Tammy,” I retorted, my tone dripping with sarcasm. “Now leave. And don't come back.”
“I sure hope you’ve saved up plenty of money from your pro career, Wade, because you're going to need it,” Tammy threatened.
“Oh really? And why is that?” I asked, glancing back at Dan who was shaking his head at her behavior.
She grinned maliciously. “My dad is the most powerful lawyer in this county. And when I tell him about what's happened, your ass is gonna be sued for all its worth – and more. You'll be living on the street by the time he’s finished chewing you up.”
I tapped my phone slowly with my forefinger. “I don't care how good a lawyer he is. He's gonna have a real hard time defending this evidence in front of any judge. The school’s athletic director and the athletic board will be receiving copies of the recording. I am following their protocols. So, good luck.”
“Fuck you, Wade,” she spat as she got up. She kicked her chair over and then yanked Kelly out of hers. “Stop crying, you stupid little shit,” she hissed at her. “Let's get the fuck out of this shithole of an office!”
“Have a nice day, girls,” I said flatly to them.
Tammy stormed out, dragging Kelly behind her. She huffed at the assistant coach as she pushed past him and slammed the door shut with violent force. After she was gone, I let out a long, slow sigh.
“That went well,” Dan joked from his position by the door.
“Yeah, about as well I expected, I suppose.”
“Could have been worse. She could have really showed herself,” he chuckled.
I laughed. “I can only imagine. Thanks for sitting in, Dan. I appreciate it.”
“No problem. I’m gonna get back to my office. Call me if you need me,” he said before stepping out into the hall and closing the door behind him.
The meeting had been pretty intense, but I was glad I had been able to deal with it, and that it was over. Next, I had to write up an official report about the incident and submit it along with the recording to the athletic board.
When I was finished, I saved my copy to the school’s cloud server in my folder, printed a copy, and headed out to the university's administration block, a 10-minute walk away, to turn in the report and let them copy the recording for the file.
As I left the sports building, I had the strange feeling someone was watching me. I couldn't quite explain it, but my senses were on edge. I looked around, but didn’t see anyone. Of course, the area between the sports building where the coaching offices were located and the next campus building was fairly secluded, so there wasn’t a lot of foot traffic during the morning hours, aside from a jogger here and there using the paths circling the entire campus.
I was making my way along the path through an area of greenery surrounded
by a section of trees when I heard a jogger coming up behind me. Without looking back, I stepped aside to make room for him or her pass.
Then, out of nowhere, a blinding flash of light exploded inside my head with concussive force. My knees buckled beneath me as my senses began to reel. I dropped down as the world swam around me, but somehow, through my shock and confusion, I was aware that I was being attacked.
Another pounding impact smashed into the side of my head, and I saw a young, powerfully-built guy step out in front of me, cocking his fist for another punch. I couldn't see his face because he was wearing a sweatshirt with the hood pulled up over his head and a bandanna wrapped like a mask around his face, covering everything below his eyes.
Even though I was dazed, I managed to duck his wild swing and counter with a sharp right cross that caught him in his right eye.
He howled in pain and jumped back, but the damage his two punches had done to me was significant, and I couldn't maintain my balance any longer. I crashed to the ground, and the last thing I saw was his foot rocketing toward my face. Next, there was a blinding flash of light behind my eyes, and then...nothing.
I didn’t know how long I was out, but when I woke up, there were a few students around me.
“He's waking up!” called a concerned-looking young guy with glasses and shoulder-length, brown hair.
“Just hang in there, Coach Vinson,” said a pretty girl with dreadlocks. “The nurse is on her way.”
“Wh-what the hell happened?” I asked, mumbling and confused.
The girl with dreads spoke. “You got mugged or something,” she said. “I was sitting by that tree over there and I saw the whole thing. Some guy in a white hoodie came running up behind you and sucker punched you from the back. He smacked you right in the side of the jaw, and then he hit you again on the side of your head.
