Rushed(26)

"You caught him just right, I'll be honest I didn't even see the punch and I was right next to both of you. I overheard what he said, and no, it doesn't excuse it, but come on, you're a football player. That ain't shit on the field. Haven’t you heard it all before?”

“Of course I have…”

"Well, there you go. You can’t let that shit get under your skin.”

I shake my head. “Look… never mind. Message received."

He lets it drop, and we keep walking up to Coach's office. Instead of leaving, he walks me inside before getting me a coffee. "One more word. I'm not trying to piss you off, just saying."

"Go ahead."

"Every year some rook comes up from the States, he's lonely, a bit homesick, rattled by living in Canada, and he finds a local girl for a quick hookup. Then he turns around and goes back to the States when the season's done or he gets a call from the League, and ditches the girl up here. Most girls, they're fine with it, they know it's just for fun . . . but some ain't. And well, April doesn’t strike me as the kind of girl to have some “fun” and then be done."

"What about you? You married a Canadian girl."

"Yeah, I did, but it doesn't mean I didn't play the seasonal game for a year or two myself."

DeAndre leaves, and I sit, considering what he said, until Coach Blanchard comes in in about a half hour. "Well, his nose is broke."

"Sorry about that, didn't mean to break his nose."

Coach takes a seat at his desk and crosses his arms. "Yeah well, you just made everyone's job a lot harder. In case you haven't noticed, Lance is the guy covering your ass, and I don't know how you did things at Western, but punching out your offensive linemen is not the usual way to foster that spirit that's going to have them protecting you."

I nod, and lean forward. “You’re right, I lost my cool. But he did disrespect April. I know it doesn’t make it all right, but still…”

“The guys filled me in on it. Which puts me in a bind. You see Tyler, on one hand I should suspend you, regardless of your contract. You may have been brought in to be our new franchise quarterback, but there are limits. On the other hand, you're right, Pollard shouldn't have said what he did, and here in Canada, we take that sort of thing seriously. Sexual harassment is not accepted on the Fighters, from anyone. So here's what I'm going to do. For violations of team rules, you're being fined five thousand dollars, to be taken out of your next game check. Now that may not sound like a lot, but that's a third of your game check for tomorrow."

I nod, accepting. That's fair, and while I could use the money, it's not crippling. "Fine. And Pollard?"

"He's getting a thousand dollar fine and he'll be out of tomorrow's game while that nose sets. Hopefully he'll be back to contact by the time we start the regular season. But Tyler, you pull another stunt like this, and you're going to see the bench for a while, if not just outright released. This is the pros, not college. Even if you might think we Canadians are bush league, we're still pros. Time to grow the f*ck up — now get out of my office."

I nod and leave, going down to the locker room and changing clothes. Most of the guys are gone already, and those that are still there don't look at me too much while I pull on my jeans and t-shirt. I'm dressed simply today, just a white t-shirt with a small Western logo on the right sleeve. Grabbing my backpack, I head out to the parking lot, where I find April leaning against the hood of my car, her arms crossed. I take one look at her face, and sigh, unlocking my car and putting my bag inside. "I take it you heard?"

"Uh, yeah," April replies, a little sarcastically. "I actually saw it, in case you forget that I've been watching practices."

"He deserved it," I say with a shrug, closing my door.

April nods, then shakes her head. "You don't think I knew about that little bet among the players? Don't tell me that you didn't have similar stuff going on with your former teammates."

It's my turn to blush, and I called out, "You're right. We called it Bingo."

April comes closer. "I figured as much. You know, I keep telling myself to protect myself, but I can't help it, and now today. So I guess I need to be blunt. Am I a Canadian Cuddle bug for you? Some Nanookie of the North?"

"No!" I hiss, trying not to slap the roof of my car. Canadian Cuddle bug? Christ, have I just been blind to this all this time? "I . . . shit."

"Tell me the truth. I think I deserve that much," April says, her voice trembling with concern.

I take a deep breath, then nod. “Yes, two weeks ago, before our date, yeah, I thought about it. But since our first day together, I can't get you out of my mind. I don't know what the future holds for me, but I promise you this . . . you're no one-night-stand. I don't know what it can be . . . but I want to find out. Together."

April steps closer, and runs her fingers through my hair. She smiles softly, and stands up on her tiptoes, kissing me tenderly. "I want to find out too. You defended my honor, and you’re going to kick ass tomorrow. Now go get some sleep, and I'll still bring your laundry by tomorrow."

"You don't have to do that," I chuckle, and April surprises me by shaking her head. "What?"