Cheap Shot by Brittney Mulliner
Reid
What was wrong with him?
Was he on drugs? Steroids?
In my three years of knowing him, Ethan had never acted like this. He was the last to start a fight, off the ice at least. Plus, he was the one that up and disappeared when everyone needed him. I finally snapped while trying to pull myself up out of my clothes.
“Me? What about you? Where have you been? You disappeared and didn’t answer when everyone was calling you. Now you’re here shouting accusations when you look like you were doing something that’s definitely going to get you in trouble with Coach.”
Ethan rubbed his face and dropped back against the opposite wall. “Haley, you’re okay?”
She nodded but stopped when she leaned forward and saw his eyes were closed. “Yes, I’m fine.”
“But you’re not,” I bit out. “What is wrong with you?”
He fell back against the wall and slid until he was sitting down. “I’m sorry. I’m just tired.”
Haley and I shared a look. There was a difference between sleep-deprived and insane, and he was clearly on one end of the spectrum.
“Where have you been?” Haley asked, folding her arms over her stomach.
“I was out.” He rubbed his face.
“Are you in trouble?” I bent down until I was sitting in front of him.
His eyes widened. “What? No. It’s nothing like that. I’ve just been really busy, and last night my phone died and I didn’t have a charger.”
“You didn’t answer me.” Haley’s voice grew louder. “Where were you?”
“I was out,” he repeated through a clenched jaw. “Don’t worry about it.”
“No problem there.” She huffed and turned around, pulling on her shoes.
“I’m sorry, Haley. What exactly happened?” Ethan asked, his tone soft and pleading.
She glanced at me then faced him. “I went to a party, and a guy put something in my drink. I got to a bathroom and called you, but you didn’t answer. Luckily, Reid came and got me before anything happened.”
Ethan stared at me, unblinking, before letting out a huge sigh and looking back at her. “I’m so sorry, Haley. I should have been there for you.”
She shrugged one shoulder. “I’m fine now.”
“Are you sure? Do you want to go to the hospital or anything?” he asked.
“No. I don’t.” Her tone was so sharp that I flinched.
Ethan dropped his head and gave in. “Okay.”
“I’m leaving.” She eyed him before sighing.
“I’ll walk you home.” I went to open the door when there was a knock.
I hesitated, confused for a second before opening it.
Jake was grinning at me with a duffle bag hanging from his shoulder.
“What are you doing here?” I was too shocked to think of anything else.
“Hey, nice to see you too.” He patted my shoulder and walked past me into the room. “Oh cool, we’re having a party.”
I closed the door and turned to see him offering his hand to Haley.
“I’m Jake, the attractive Bayman brother,” he said, and I immediately slapped him in the back of the head.
“Shut up.”
Ethan got up and brushed his hands over his shirt in a feeble attempt to look less like a walking dumpster fire. “Hey man! It’s been a while.”
They gave each other a hug, then Ethan gestured to Haley. “This is my sister, Haley.”
Jake’s smile grew. “Wow, seems like you got all the looks in the family too.”
Her cheeks reddened, and I nearly kicked out his knees. Was I jealous of my seventeen-year-old brother? Yes. Was he better with women than me? Obviously. I’d never admit it to him for all the money in the world, but he really was better looking and more talented than me. It was annoying to say the least, especially since he didn’t seem to have a humble bone in his body.
Her laugh was enough to snap me from fantasizing about beating him up just to make him remember his place as the little brother.
“And the charm and intelligence,” she added.
Jake put his hand over his heart. “I think I love you.”
“Simmer down, Romeo.” I pushed him out of the way. “Go put your bag down, then you can tell me what you’re doing here.”
Haley smiled. “I’ll let you guys catch up.”
“I’ll walk you back,” Ethan offered.
She nodded, and I stepped in front of her. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“Thanks.” She hesitated before opening her arms and sliding them around my waist. It took me a half-second to react, and by the time I was hugging her back, she stepped back. “I’ll see you later.”
I watched them walk out before turning to Jake. “What’s going on?”
His brows rose. “With me? What about that?” He waved his finger in my general area. “Are you hooking up with Ethan’s sister?”
I almost punched him. “No. I’m not.”
His eyes narrowed. “But you want to.”
Just one dead arm. It would be worth it.
“What are you doing here?” I repeated.
He sighed and sat on my bed. “I needed to get away.”
I dropped my head and rubbed at my temples. “Please tell me Mom and Dad know where you are.”
“Not exactly.”
I sighed. Of course not. “Where do they think you are?”
“My friend Liam’s house.”
I crossed the room and sat at Ethan’s desk. “What’s going on?”
“I just needed a break.”
“It’s a nine-hour drive, Jake. You can’t just take off like that.”
“It’s only a two-hour flight,” he muttered.
“You flew?”
He stared down at his hands in his lap. “It was only like two hundred dollars for the weekend.”
I didn’t want to know anything else. I felt like I was harboring a fugitive, and after last night, I was over my mental limit of rule-breaking.
“It’s the middle of the season. You can’t be here.”
“My flight leaves tomorrow morning. I’ll be back in time for practice.”
“What about school?” I countered.
He shrugged. “I’ll miss the first couple, but what does it even really matter at this point? I have five top universities looking at me. As long as I pass my classes, I’ll get to have my pick of where to go.”
Again, the humility of this kid was astounding. This was what happened when you grew up knowing you were the superstar, golden child, wonder boy. It went straight to your head, and you didn’t think you had to really work for anything.
It was obnoxious that hockey came so naturally to him when we were younger, but now he was arrogant, and that would catch up to him at some point. Probably college when he was on a team of guys at his same level, and he got the reality check that he was not that special.
It was harsh but true.
“Even if you can get an excused absence, don’t you think Mom and Dad will figure it out? They always do.”
He huffed and fell back onto my bed, lying with his legs hanging over the edge.
“You know how they are. I couldn’t take it anymore.”
I knew exactly what he meant. It was easier to avoid them being here where I had the option to ignore their calls, but I remembered what it was like living at home. They took helicopter parenting to the extreme. They were still controlling my life, to some degree.
“Yeah, I get it.” I kicked my feet up on my desk. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“I’m passing my classes but just barely. Dad emailed my teachers for my grades and freaked out at me. I’m staying above the minimum for any scholarship, but he doesn’t think that’s good enough. He wants me to pull all my grades up to a B average, but he doesn’t understand how hard that is for me.”
It was like deja vu listening to him complain about the same thing I’d gone through my junior and senior years. It was a constant clash of wills in my house. I should have been there for Jake. I knew better than anyone what it was like, yet when was the time I checked in? When was the last time I sent him more than a meme or a good luck text?
I was still fighting my own battle with my parents, but I should have been more of an advocate for him.
“I’m sorry. I want to tell you it gets better, but they’re still trying to control everything I do.”
He huffed and rolled over, bringing his legs up on the bed so he could see me. “It’s like nothing I do is good enough. It doesn’t matter that Harvard, Notre Dame, and Madison are looking at me. Coach even mentioned that he’s received interest from some NHL teams. Like I could enter the draft next year, but all Dad cares about is my history paper or chemistry test. When will I ever need to know the atomic weight of hydrogen? When?”
I couldn’t argue with him. None of his thoughts were things I hadn’t said to myself at some point.
“He just doesn’t understand that I’m not him. I don’t think like him. My brain doesn’t work the way his does. He’s so smart, and school came easily to him. He can’t wrap his head around the fact that we’re different. I learn differently. I don’t get math and science concepts right off the bat. I have to work so hard and spend so much time studying just to get a B, and it’s not worth it. Not when I have practice six days a week, plus games, plus trying to work in time to eat and sleep. Being at school for six or seven hours is a waste. All the other guys on the traveling team only go four hours a day because their parents have them set up on a special program with school. My school will do that too. They count a certain level of competitive sports as credit. There was a girl that did diving and went to the Olympics, and she got a special schedule to make sure she could fit in training. But Dad doesn’t want hockey to affect my learning.”
Once he was finished, I lowered my feet to the ground and leaned toward him. “I’ve been exactly where you are. I know what you’re going through. I had the same struggles. I’m not book smart either. I have to get help from the tutors and labs to pass my classes now. My teachers are really understanding about the hockey schedule, so at least I can tell you things will get better. You just have to stick it out. It’s your last year.”
He rolled his head toward the ceiling. “It sucks.”
It really did. Why did I let them still control me? They weren’t paying for school. I didn’t have a car, so they weren’t holding that over my head. They were my parents. I was taught to respect them. Listen to them. They knew best.
But did they really? Did they truly know what was best for me? Neither of them were athletes. They didn’t really appreciate what Jake and I were going through. How much pressure was on us from our team and coaches. Plus, the expectations we put on ourselves.
Maybe it was time to stand up to them. It might not make much of a difference for me, but I could stop the cycle for Jake.
“Want to go to my practice?”
He shot up. “Can I join?”
I shrugged. It wasn’t unheard of, but I’d need to get permission. “Bring your stuff just in case.”
He hopped off the bed and followed me out of the room with more excitement than I’d seen from him in a while. When we got to the arena, I directed him to the locker room while I went to Coach Weston’s office. The door was closed, so I knocked gently.
“Come in,” his deep voice called.
I stepped in and shut the door behind me.
He glanced up from the iPad he was looking at and waved for me to sit.
“What do you need, Bayman?”
“Two things.” I decided to start with my brother as if that would soften the blow of telling him about the party. He couldn’t get too mad at me if he knew my little brother was around, right? “First, my brother is here for the weekend, and I was wondering if he could join us in practice.”
His eyes met mine and an eyebrow rose. “Has he decided where he’s going next year?”
I shook my head. “He’s got several schools interested, and he just told me some NHL scouts are looking at him too.”
He seemed pleased. “Good for him. Yeah, have him change out. He can borrow whatever he needs from the equipment room.” He paused, and a smirk appeared on his lips. “Should I take it easy on him or show him what a college practice is like?”
I chuckled. “I think he wants the real experience.”
“Sounds good.” He tapped on the screen, then looked back up at me. “And the second thing?”
I swallowed. “There was an incident last night.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “How much damage?”
“None,” I rushed out. “That I know of, and there really shouldn’t be.”
“What happened?”
“A friend of mine was at a party, and we think someone slipped something into her drink. She was able to get to a bathroom and call me before passing out. I went to the house, carried her out, and took her to her dorm.”
Tiny lie at the end, but it wasn’t the important part.
“You didn’t drink?” His eyes rose to meet mine.
“No, sir. I was in and out of the house in less than five minutes. Just long enough to find to her and get help carrying her out.”
He nodded. “Thank you for telling me. I’m not going to fault you for helping a friend, especially in a situation like that. It’s sickening things like that happen.”
Relief washed over me. He understood and wasn’t going to suspend me.
“I’ll let you know if we get word about anything having to do with you, but it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Thank you.” I started to stand when he spoke again.
“And your friend, is she okay?”
I nodded. “Yeah, luckily she woke up this morning with just a headache.”
“I’m glad to hear that, and that you’re someone trustworthy enough that she would call you in her time of need.”
That was high praise from him, and I gave him a tight smile before leaving.
I was only a few feet from the office when I heard yelling. I ran toward the noise and found Ethan on top of Garrett, a junior right-wing, on the ground. He was swinging his fists into Garrett’s face while a few guys stood around watching.
I found Jake, wide-eyed and opened-mouthed.
“Ethan!” I screamed at him to stop.
He hesitated for a second before landing another punch. “Stay away from her!”
I tackled him, rolling both of us away from Garrett before he could hit him again.
“What’s the matter with you?” I growled, keeping him in a headlock with my legs wrapped around him to hold him in place.
He thrashed for several seconds before his body relaxed and his breath came out in ragged huffs.
I rolled him off me, keeping my knees on his chest and stomach.
“What’s going on?” Benjamin yelled behind me. “Matt, help Garrett get to the trainer’s office. Becker, grab towels and start cleaning up. Reid, tell me what happened.”
I turned my head just enough to see him. “I have no idea. I came in, and Ethan was beating the crap out of Garrett.”
Jake shifted toward me. “Garret said something about seeing Haley and how hot she looked. And that someone needs to …” He hesitated. “Get with her.”
I had a feeling he was softening the words for Ethan’s sake.
“Let me go!” he screamed from under me. “I’m going to kill him!”
I shifted so more of my weight was over him.
“Bayman! Clarkson! Cruz!” Coach Weston’s voice bellowed in the room. “My office. Now!”