He grimaced; it wasn’t the most flattering blog post either. The only good thing about it was that they said his cock was huge. Points for him, but he was sure that didn’t matter to his boss. “Yeah, but—”
She shook her head, cutting him off. “No, you’ve been making some really, excuse me, but shitty choices lately. Your drinking is getting you in trouble. Now, usually I let it go, but you went down to Louisiana, got shit-faced drunk, high out of your mind, and screwed anything with tits. You are all over the blogs about your wild nights, and you’re making our team look bad. You’ve been doing this for a while and I’ve been turning my cheek to it because you’re a good guy, a great player. But the drug use, voluntary or not,” she added when he went to interrupt her, so he swallowed his retort as she went on, “is the straw that broke the camel’s back. Things are gonna change, or I will not be renewing your contract in October.”
What? That was bullshit!
“Are you serious right now? I’m being punked, right?” he demanded, turning to Charles. “I’m not that bad. I have fun, I do what I want, but I’ve always been a team player. And my extracurricular activities have never interfered with my game play. Never.”
Looking over at him, Charles shook his head as Elli went on, “You’re right, Jordie. But you’re supposed to be healing, not going out getting trashed and hurting yourself all over again.”
Meeting Elli’s gaze, he shook his head. “I know that wasn’t the best choice for me, but I wanted to have fun. I was going stir-crazy,” he said, which was a total lie.
He’d wanted to forget a certain someone and thought partying down in Louisiana was the way to go. Actually, it was the worst idea ever, and he still hadn’t forgotten her. If anything, his feelings for her had only gotten stronger, which meant that his weekend that had now resulted in him getting suspended was for absolutely nothing.
Scary shit, feelings were. Trouble too.
“Which is completely understandable, Jordie. But the one bad decision snowballed into a mess. Now we have trainers wondering if you’re even worth working with because you’re drinking all the time and coming up hot on a drug test. And then the blogs are going nuts with this. Questioning Elli’s and my next move. I mean, what we should do is let you go now. But you’re lucky that Elli fights for the people she believes in and did the research needed. Because, if it was me, you’d be gone,” Bryan said, and Jordie’s eyes met Elli’s. She looked sad and stressed out, and he hated that his actions caused her eyes to be filled with all that. “The only thing you should be doing is sleeping and working on rehabbing that leg.”
“You’re right,” Jordie decided, looking from Elli to him. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry isn’t enough, buddy,” was his answer and Jordie looked away.
Jordie didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want to be suspended; he’d worked hard to stay in the good graces of his owners, and this wouldn’t help him when it was time to renew his contract. He’d always kept his party life separate from his hockey game. Before, yeah, he drank, but he only drank when he wasn’t playing. And even then, it wasn’t much. But when he busted his leg, he drank to dull the pain that was eating him alive. Between not being able to play and being away from his team, he was also dealing with all the feelings he had for her. He was a mess and, now, it was about to get worse.
Swallowing loudly, he looked back up at his owners and nodded. “Then tell me what is enough. I don’t want to be suspended.”
Slowly unclasping her hands, Elli crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back in her chair. “We don’t want to suspend you, Jordie, but it’s the only way we can show you we mean business.”
“I understand that.”
“Good, so now we need to see that you mean business too. We have enrolled you in a rehab facility back in Colorado for ninety days. Your PT will come to you and work with you.”