Page 35 of Puck Lust

“Masterson ran out and grabbed him before he decked thefucker who threw the rock.” Tate shakes his head. “That’d have been a goddamn nightmare for the PR team.”

I scrub a hand down the front of my face. “What the hell is wrong with people?”

“They’re intolerant assholes.” Logan Shaw, one of our star veteran centers, edges into our group along with Mack Greyson, one of the defensemen. “But with so few ‘out’ players in the league, it puts us all at risk. Those fucktards could have pulled a lot of bad shit if the cops hadn’t shown up when they did. And trust me, I’d have pummeled the bastard who threw that rock if I was the target.”

“Believe me, I wanted to,” Masterson grunts. “But then we’d be just as bad as them. They wanted retaliation. They’d have loved to make us out to be the aggressors. It takes a stronger person to say fuck off and walk away.”

“We never had to deal with this before,” Greyson says in a low voice, looking around at the guys. “If we’re gonna face this shit every time we go to an away game?—”

“Hey. We’re a team,” I say, my voice tightening when I see Jack and Enver break away from the cops and talk quietly together. “We win together and lose together. We stand up to narrow-minded schmucks together. We support each other.” I look at each other faces. “Always.”

Greyson pauses before nodding. “I guess. I don’t know. I just worry about backlash.”

“Backlash, how?” I ask.

He shrugs and averts his eyes. “I don’t know. I bet Jack lost endorsement deals when he came out publicly. Companies don’t want to have gay athletes promote their shit. What if that reflects on us, too? Because we’re associated? It can hurt us indirectly.”

“Look, I get your concern,” I say to Greyson. “But if companies are gonna turn their backs on you because of who youchoose to associate with, then fuck them. Jack isn’t some low-life criminal. He’s a gay athlete. And he does a lot for underprivileged kids in our community.” Anger rumbles in my chest. “Companies should want guys like him endorsing their products. He’s a good guy and a fucking star on the ice.”

I snap my lips closed when Masterson flashes me a questioning look. Then I shift away from Logan’s heavy stare.

Enver walks toward us and claps his hands together. “Okay, nothing more to see here. Everyone get dressed and we’ll meet back here in an hour to get to the arena for warmups.”

The team scatters, headed back to the elevators.

I glance at Jack over my shoulder. He stands against a wall, alone, head buried in his phone. His face is red, hair messy and falling over his eyes.

My heart hurts for him.

“He’s gonna be fine,” Masterson says.

I whip my head around, not realizing he was still next to me.

“I’m sure he’d appreciate you going to bat for him,” he says.

Shaking my head, I tear my eyes away from Jack. “I don’t know about that.”

But I actually do know.

He’d hate me defending him because it would make him feel weak and vulnerable.

“I didn’t realize you guys had gotten so chummy after just one night rooming together.” Masterson studies my face. “I thought things were kind of tense between you after the junior hockey days.”

I twist my key card between my fingers. “Yeah, well, that was a longtime ago.”

Nobody on the Raptors knows what really happened on that last night at hockey camp…the last night I saw Jack.

And they definitely don’t know why I’ve tried so damn hard to forget it all.

Not even Jack knows the truth, even though it’s gotten so much harder to hold it all back.

Masterson claps me on the back. “See you in an hour?”

I nod, loitering a little when I see Jack push off the wall and walk toward the stairs again.

His broad shoulders slump, his hand clutching the phone tight.

I follow him, watching people in the lobby point and stare at him.

---