—

I roll my tie up and shove it into my gear bag before zipping it closed. Picking up my suit coat, I drape it over the top of the bag, having no intention of putting it back on.

“You okay?” Alex asks as he comes to sit on the bench beside my bag. The locker room is clearing, as most of the players are showered and dressed. I didn’t bother getting out of my gear until the game was over, not because I thought I could get called back in, because I wouldn’t—an ejection is an ejection—but really, I was just glued to the TV screen in the locker room watching the rest of the game, which thankfully we won due to some exceptional goal tending from Max Fournier.

“Yeah,” I tell him truthfully. Because I am okay. No regrets whatsoever for going after Schultz, but I do worry about how this will affect Lexi, and maybe slightly worried it will affect my career. “I know hindsight is twenty-twenty and all, but I’d do it all over again.”

“I didn’t see what prompted your reaction,” Alex says, giving me the opening to explain.

I shrug. “He’d been running his trap like normal, but I was ignoring him. Figured we’d get into a fight at some point, but I kind of lost my shit when he started talking about my girlfriend and then made a lewd gesture at her.”

Alex’s eyebrows shoot upward. “You have a girlfriend?”

I give him a bland look. “I suppose that’s the expression people used to give you when you started getting serious with Sutton, right?”

Alex bursts out laughing. “Yeah, pretty much. I suppose if I can fall, you can too. Is it serious?”

I incline my head his way. “I just cross-checked an unsuspecting player because he wiggled his tongue at my girlfriend. Let’s just say this is as serious as it gets for me.”

“Good for you,” Alex says as he stands up from the bench. “But, man, I hate to tell you…you’re going to catch some shit on this. Gray’s talked to me about her concerns with you, so I’m aware of her feelings on the matter.”

Oh, Alex…you have really no idea. He has no clue how complicated this is, given that Gray and Lexi are sisters, which just complicates the hell out of everything. And he won’t know for a few days at least, so I don’t say anything.

Brian called Lexi today and they talked a little about how to make the announcement, but ultimately decided it could wait until at least Friday when they all got together so everyone could weigh in on the opinion. Lexi had asked me after she hung up what I thought, but I told her my opinion shouldn’t matter. Not on something like this, and she didn’t push me for it.

“Want my advice?” Alex asks as he claps a hand on my shoulder in a brotherly fashion. It feels odd, as I’ve never been particularly close to any of my teammates, but Alex is one I feel most comfortable with. He’s our team captain so it’s his job to connect with us.

“Sure,” I say automatically. Because…why not?

“Make sure Gray knows what provoked the attack,” he says solemnly. “Let her know he was going after your girl.”

“And why should I do that?” I ask, although I had already decided I was going to tell her the reasons for my behavior. I sort of suspected that at the least Gray would respect I was defending her sister. But I do want to hear why Alex is suggesting it, as he might have more insight into Gray and what makes her tick.

“Let’s just say that Gray’s been in that same exact situation,” Alex says as he leans in toward me conspiratorially. “Ryker defended her once and got into a fight with Claude Amadee.”

“I’d forgotten about that,” I say with a nod.

“She won’t accept it as an excuse,” Alex adds, bursting my bubble. “She fined Ryker and told him the behavior was inexcusable.”

I wince.

“But,” Alex continues. “She still was his champion when it came to keeping him with this team. There were some that wanted to get rid of him, but she was able to put all of it into perspective and weigh the good against the bad. I’m just saying…she’ll bring that into consideration.”

God, I hope so.

I thank Alex as I pick up my bag with the jacket draped over it and head out of the locker room. Lexi will be waiting on me in the family room, since she came with me to the arena, and will be going home with me right now.

As soon as I step into the hallway, my entire body locks tight when I hear Gray Brannon say from my right, “Got a minute to talk?”

I turn slowly to look at her. She’s leaning up against the painted cinder-block wall, dressed more casually then I normally see her, with a long silvery sweater that comes down past her baby bump with black jeans.

There’s nothing casual about her demeanor, as she’s got her arms crossed over her chest and her look is anything but happy to be having this conversation with me.

With a sigh, I walk over to her and let my gear bag slide to the floor, but not before grabbing my suit jacket. I slip it on, because we’re supposed to dress up for game day and somehow I think she might be expecting me to wear it.

“That was a dangerous move,” she says in a low voice that seems to be barely controlled with fury. “You could have seriously hurt Schultz, which could have earned you a suspension for the rest of the year. As it is, all we can do is hope like hell the league doesn’t review that hit.”

“It was after we went to a TV time-out,” I say nonchalantly, knowing damn well that will infuriate her. “I doubt they’ll see it.”

Gray’s cheeks flame red and her eyes narrow to tiny slits. She pushes off the wall and steps into me, and although Gray is a tall woman, she still has to look up. “Just because you’re dating my sister doesn’t mean you get any special privileges with me, Sýkora.”

“Never would assume that,” I assure her.

“Then how about treating me with some respect as this team’s general manager,” she hisses at me. “We just had a conversation a little over three weeks ago about this very thing. If you think I won’t take action, you’re sorely mistaken.”

I let out a long exhale and breathe in deeply to try to calm down a bit. With as much humility as I can muster, I tell her, “I’m sorry I put this team in jeopardy today because of my actions. I know it could have cost us the game. But I am not sorry for what I did to Schultz. He deserved it.”