“Financially, I mean. Said he wasn’t going to fund my self-destruction and pulled his money from my accounts, took away his credit card. Told me it was either work for him and graduate school, or be homeless, basically.”
Rhodes’ eyes widened.
“Shit,” he says, whistling low. “That’s a shitty ultimatum.”
“Yeah,” I murmur.
“Well, thanks for clearing that up,” he says, stretching his bruising fist out and running his other hand through damp, dark hair. “Now maybe I’ll be able to sleep at night.” He’s teasing. I shrug it off.
“It’s all very poor-little-rich-girl, so I hope you didn’t lose too much sleep over it,” I deadpan back, tossing towels and jerseys into my bin and pausing to pick up some protein-bar wrappers from the floor.
“You have no idea,” he mutters, leaving me to question what that means. Rhodes leans down to grab his shoes from beside him and begins tying up the laces.
“Uh,” I cough and clear my throat. This is awkward, but I need to say it. I don’t turn to look at him. “I heard you,” I say quickly.
“What?”
“Earlier,” I continue, still not looking at him. “In the locker room. Heard you punch Jax. Heard what he said. Heard what you said. Just—heard all of it.”
“Ah,” Rhodes exhales behind me.
I turn to finally meet his eyes, and he’s closer than he was a second ago. Too close. I instinctively step back, but my shoulders hit the wall.
I swallow. “You didn’t need to do that.” My voice is quieter than I want it to be. He doesn’t move.
“Defend me, I mean. I’m used to people talking,” I add, shifting my weight, trying to put some distance between us. “It doesn’t bother me. So don’t—like, fuck up your team dynamic for me.”
I hate this. All of this. The weight of his stare, the way my chest is tight and restless. His navy-blue eyes burn into mine, unreadable. Rhodes crosses his arms, nodding once, like he’s come to some kind of decision.
“Next time, I won’t just break his nose, Monroe.”
I blink. “What?”
His voice is steady and calm. “If he says anything about you again”—he grabs his keys, swinging open the door—“he’ll need an ambulance.”
Then he’s gone.
Chapter Six
Rhodes
I’m still keyed up from the conversation with Monroe when I get into my Land Rover. My fingers tap anxiously on the steering wheel. I’m glad it was a home game tonight because I couldn’t handle traveling with the entire team after the locker room fiasco.
A part of me can’t believe I broke Jax’s nose. I could be in even more serious trouble if one of the guys comes clean to Coach or the media about his injury. The crazy thing is, I actually think Coach might be on my side for this one. Monroe said he was being a hardass, cutting her off, but I know Carter Abrams well enough to feel confident in saying that the ultimatum was made out of serious love for his daughter.
If Coach heard what had come out of Jax’s mouth, he probably would have decked Jax himself.
I feel pretty certain that Jax will keep his mouth shut from now on, around me at least.
I’ll say this, though—he’s not wrong that Monroe is a fucking knockout. Thoughts of her and her smart mouth will not leave me alone. I wasn’t lying when I told her she was keeping me up at night.
Maybe now that I know why she’s on sanitation duty at the ice rinkher father owns, I’ll be able to keep her out of my dreams.
Probably not, though.
My phone buzzes in the center console just as I hit a red light. I glance at the screen. Sloane.
I smile as I pick up. “Hey, baby sister.”