Page 123 of Code Violation

I nudge an elbow in his ribs, and he unfolds his arms.

“You need to stay positive. Coach hasn’t said anything to me recently about your position being at risk. And I heard things are going well for you with First Line PR.”

He narrows his eyes on Drew, his new publicist. “I resent working with the Jones family.”

I roll mine at him. “Are you seriously still beefing with Will? I thought you guys had moved past your differences.”

Tristan shakes his head. “I’m not beefing with him anymore, but he is the reason why things have gone to shit for me on the ice.”

“I don’t agree,” I immediately counter. “Having a talent like Will should improve your game, not hinder it.” I tap my temple once. “You know better than anyone that hockey is as much a psychological game as it is a physical one.”

He doesn’t argue, instead gazing around the room.

“Where’s Mason?” I ask, turning back to the bed and picking up my cell. “He said that he’d be here today.”

Tristan scrubs a palm over his mouth. “Oh yeah, he told me to pass on a message that he had a change in plans and he’ll be out of town for a few days.”

I raise an unimpressed brow. “If I hadn’t asked after your teammate, did you plan on telling me where he was?”

He doesn’t answer, and I begin scrolling through my last messages with Mason, all of them about Alfie and me trying to find out how he’s doing. Apart from a weekend in Banff last month where we all got together, he’s gone pretty dark on us all this offseason. And if I hadn’t been supporting Vesper through the pregnancy, then I would’ve shown up at his place randomly one day.

On reflection, I should’ve done exactly that. His aloof behavior has been worrying me.

“I’ll be right back,” I say to everyone as I step outside the room, close the door, and dial Mason’s number.

By the time I reach the end of the hallway, he still hasn’t answered, and his voicemail kicks in.

I hit End and start typing out a message right as Mason’s call comes through.

“Hey,” I say, heading down a flight of stairs toward a small break room, which is usually quiet.

“Hey.” Mason sounds like he’s rushing around when I shut the break room door behind me, thankful it’s completely empty.

I walk over to the window. It’s bright sunshine here in downtown Seattle, the perfect day to take your baby home for the first time.

“What’s going on, Mason?” I decide to cut to the chase.

He stops whatever he’s doing in the background before I hear a zipper and then another.

“I’m really sorry I couldn’t be there today, but something came up, and I asked Tristan to pass on a message.”

“I know, and that’s okay.” I swipe a palm across the back of my neck. Stressed. “Tris told me that you’d be out of town for a time. What the fuck is going on?” I repeat.

I hear a door close and then my teammate’s voice as he asks someone to call him a taxi.

“Mason,” I snap, although I don’t mean to.

He clears his throat, a tremble in his words. “She’s getting married. To that guy she’s been pictured with on social media.”

When I finally process Mason’s words, I’m sitting on a black leather couch. My head is spinning, so I can only imagine how fucked up his must be.

“Getting married?” I whisper, still struggling to grasp what I’m hearing. “The divorce only finalized a couple of months ago.”

A dark laugh filters down the line. “When I saw the engagement pictures posted to her socials and called her mom, she said he proposed shortly after they started dating, and Eloise initially turned him down, saying she needed time to think about what she truly wanted. He wore her down, Si.” Mason’s last sentence sounds desperate.

In a matter of seconds, I connect the dots.

The zipper.