I WANTED nothing more than to drive my fist into Brody’s smug face, but Krista tugged at my arm.
“Let’s go.”
“You sure you’re okay?”
“Fine.” She gave me a look. “Let’s go.”
Reluctantly, I turned to follow her.
I felt a hard shove from behind. It caught me off guard and pushed my full weight against Krista. She stumbled, and I reached out to grab her, barely preventing her from crashing into a table. Around us, people scattered.
“Are you okay?” I asked, holding her in my arms.
The second shove came from behind, with more strength. I put one protective arm around her, using my other arm to brace against the high-top table and prevent myself from crushing her against it. She made a scared little noise as we careened into it.
“Krista?” I asked, my entire body protectively covering her against Brody.
She nodded and said a bit breathlessly, “I’m fine.”
I felt Brody’s hands on my back. With a roar, I spun around.
Brody grinned at me. “Let’s go, asshole.”
I grabbed him by the front of his shirt and shoved hard against him, pushing him through tables and people until he was against the wall. “Don’t test me.”
He clipped me on the chin, hard enough that my head snapped back.
I stepped back to get enough power behind my swing. My fist connected with his cheek.
The fight got real after that. I was aware of his fists on my face and my body, but I had so much adrenaline coursing through my body I didn’t feel a thing. My only focus was on giving back enough to make him bleed.
“Stop it!” Krista’s voice sounded from far away.
He was fast and he was strong. Around us, people were shouting and scrambling to get out of the way. I managed to shove him away from me. I needed time to assess where Krista was. Things got more serious when he picked up a chair and threw it at me. I ducked, and it crashed against the table behind me.
The floor became slippery with spilled drinks. Guys were shouting, and I had Brody in my grasp when I felt something cold and wet pour over me.
I swore and looked to see who had dumped beer all over me. Krista stood there with two empty beer pitchers and a guilty expression. “Sorry. I was aiming for him.”
Brody pounced, and we went careening back onto a table.
“Break it up, break it up,” voices shouted.
But Brody and I were now on the floor. He had me pinned on my back and managed to get a good shot at my face, but I flipped him onto his back. Now I was kneeling over him. I hit him only once before someone really strong pulled me off him and onto my feet. Angry, I shoved my arm back, and my elbow connected with someone’s face.
I turned to apologize.
Oh shit.
A cop was holding his face in one hand. “Motherfucker.”
“Sorry,” I said immediately.
The cop’s partner moved behind me and yanked my arms back to handcuff me. I didn’t resist as he pulled me backward.
“You’re under arrest.”
Krista got in that cop’s face. “You’re arresting the wrong man. Brody started this.”
The cop looked at Krista. “You need to step back and stop interfering, ma’am.”
Krista looked incensed as she pointed at Brody. “He’s the one who grabbed me. Then he shoved Levi.”
“Lady, if you don’t get out of my face, I’ll arrest you too.”
She wasn’t backing down. “You’re the epitome of a clueless moron.”
Her eyes widened as he spun her around. “Okay, then. You’re under arrest for interfering with an arrest.”
“Spoken like a true idiot,” she spat over her shoulder.
“Krista.” I caught her eye. “It’s okay.”
Her cop spun her around and pushed her roughly towards the door. “You should listen to your friend. He knows what he’s talking about.”
My cop shoved me forward. “Let’s go.”
I could feel the eyes of my entire team on me as we were hustled past them towards the door, but I didn’t look at any of them. I was too focused on how the cop was manhandling Krista’s arm and shoving her through the crowd.
“Can you please ask him to go easy on her?” I said to my cop in my most respectful voice.
“Maybe you should try to control your girlfriend the next time you get arrested.”
I let out a long sigh. “She’s not my girlfriend.”
“Oh yeah, who is she?”
My wife. “My sports agent. I don’t know anyone who can control her.”
He laughed.
“Maybe her mom,” I added, “but I haven’t seen them together.”
The cop laughed again. “Okay, funny guy.” But then he yelled at his partner ahead of him. “Hey, Rick.” The big cop stopped Krista short and waited. “You mind switching off? This guy’s giving me a headache.”
The bigger cop glowered at me. “Gladly.”
My cop gave me a look. Understanding passed between us. He couldn’t ask his partner to be gentle, but he could take over.
I nodded a short thanks.
The bigger guy, anticipating a problem, held my arms but jerked me forward. It was a move designed to throw off my center of gravity and keep me off-balance, making me easier to control.
I gritted my teeth and allowed him to shove me roughly through the bar. I didn’t care. My eyes were glued to the cop ahead of me, who was carefully escorting Krista out, putting a protective arm in front of her and making sure she was safe.
Outside, Officer Rick pushed me across the tarmac and then bent me none too gently over the trunk of his squad car.
“Don’t move,” he barked as he patted me down.
“I wasn’t planning on it,” I said.
He stood up and pinned my face against the metal. “You trying to resist me?”
“No, sir,” I ground out.
“Didn’t think so.”
He hauled me back up to a vertical position. Three feet in front of me stood Mark Ashford.
Our eyes locked.
“They arrested Krista,” I told him, as Rick spun me around. “You have to help her.”
The back of the cop car stank like urine and something worse. I tried to turn and look over my shoulder to see what was going on, but I couldn’t see Mark or Krista.
I was driven to a police station. They didn’t process me but instead put me in a holding cell. I paced while the adrenaline wore off. My face and most of my body started to hurt.
Where was Krista? Was she okay? Did they put her alone in a cell, or was she with other women? I tried to imagine Krista in jail, but I couldn’t bear the thought.
About two hours later, another officer took me out of the cell and led me down to a desk. They handed me my cell and wallet in a clear plastic bag. Then they pointed at a door. “Go right through those doors.”
I pushed open the door and was stunned to see the waiting room of the police station. Off to my right, Mark Ashford stood with his back to me. He was talking to Krista. I felt my entire chest relax when I saw her. She looked tired and a bit ruffled around the edges, but otherwise okay.
They stopped talking when I approached.
“You happy with yourself, son?” Mark snapped, his tone grim.
“No, sir.”
He glared at me. “What was the number-one rule I spoke about at our last meeting?”
“Don’t get arrested this season.”
“What game did we play tonight?”
I swallowed as I felt my eye twitch. “First game of the exhibition season.”
“And yet I had to call the mayor in the middle of the night to prevent you from getting charged.”
Krista raised her eyes to look at me.
“I’m sorry,” I said to him, unable to look away from her.
He glanced over his shoulder at Krista. “Will you please give us a moment, Krista?”
She tightened her bag over her shoulder. “I’ll go wait in the car.”
He waited until she had disappeared through the doors, where his driver was waiting, before he looked back at me. “I want the truth.”
“Brody and I got into it.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
“It wasn’t Krista’s fault.”
He crossed his arms. “That’s not what she told me.”
“Of course, she’s going to try to take the fall for this,” I argued.
He shook his head. “If your agent is decent enough to protect you, let her.”
“I don’t hide behind anyone. I knew what I was doing when I hit him.”
He put his hands in his pocket. “You were protecting her?”
I looked away from him, frustrated at the whole situation. “Now what?”
“I’m still talking about tonight, son.”
“I found Brody with his hand on Krista’s arm. We exchanged words. I decided to walk away.”
Mark listened intently.
“He shoved me twice into Krista, and I almost crushed her against a table.” I tightened my jaw at the memory of the little sound she’d made when we crashed. “She could have been hurt.”
“So you hit Brody?”
“No, I shoved him through a few tables until I had him up against a wall.”
“He hit you first.”
“And then we scuffled. And when the police pulled me off him, I elbowed the officer.”
“Why was Krista arrested?”
“She called him an idiot.”
Mark looked away from me while his lips twitched. “Okay. I need to sort some stuff out here with my lawyer. Can you please get yourself and Krista back to the hotel?”
“Yes, sir.”
He turned away from me.
I decided to push my luck. “Can I ask you what the consequences will be for this?”
He ignored me as he walked away.
I WALKED OUTSIDE and got into the car. The clock on the dashboard read 4:00 a.m. I needed to be up in an hour to catch our flight to the next city.
Beside me, Krista was silent. I stared out the window and watched as the darkened city passed by. “Say it.”
“Say what?”
“Give it to me straight.”
“This wasn’t your fault, Levi,” she exclaimed.
“How upset was Mark?”
“Well, he’s not happy with either of us.”
I spoke under my breath. “That’s an understatement.”
She didn’t respond. I looked over at her. “Where’s the fire-hot anger?”
She sighed and looked up at me. Her voice sounded sad. “Your face.”
The car pulled up in front of the hotel. Together we walked towards the elevator. I pushed the button for the fourth floor; she pushed floor six.
When the elevator reached my floor, I didn’t get off.
She looked at me.
“I’m walking you to your room.”
“That’s all you’re doing,” she said primly, but she didn’t argue.
In silence, we walked to her room. When we stopped at her door, she turned, and we both spoke at once.
“You go first,” she said.
“I’m sorry for fucking this up.”
Her gaze went dark. “You have nothing to apologize for. Brody is a menace.”
“Thanks for coming to my first game.”
She lifted her hand and put one small, soothing hand on my jaw. “Please stop letting people punch you in the face. It hurts me to look at it.”
I grabbed her wrist and tugged her closer. Just one kiss. She wasn’t resisting, and those big blue eyes were wide on my face.
Somewhere down the hall, around the corner, a door slammed.
She jumped back and then ducked her head. “Good night, Levi.”
I cursed myself for not moving faster. “Good night.”
MIKE: You’re missing sick waves here.
Me: I miss it all.
Mike: Someone has been asking about you. Everyone said we didn’t know you.
Me: Who?
Mike: No clue. Andrew found a video from that night. Want me to send to you?
Me: Yeah, when you can.
Mike: If you play in LA, let us know and we’ll drive up to see you.
I stared at my phone, missing my friends. Life was simple when it was just about the next wave.
