Page 69 of Scoring Position

“Ohshit,” Tara said. “Wow, bro.”

Ryan debated the merits of pulling a throw pillow over his face. “My hand slipped.”

“Yeah, I bet.” She looked appraisingly at the phone screen. Ryan wanted to die. “Those abs. Thoseshoulders. My hand would slip too. And if I’m not mistaken—”

If Tara made a comment about Nico’s dick, Ryan was going to throw up.

But she stopped. “Hey. You know when I said he was out of your league I was joking, right?”

Ryan’s stomach turned. He couldn’t tell if he wanted to drop the subject or….

Or?

He pursed his lips. “I mean, you weren’t, though.” It hadn’t hurt at the time. It was just sibling trash talk.

“Fuck. Shit.” She struggled to sit up closer with his feet in her lap. The phone was lost in the depths of the couch. “Ryan. If you’re…. Are you? In the relationship the internet wants to believe you’re in? Bert and Ernie?”

He let out a long breath. Nico hadn’t wanted to tell anyone, but this didn’t count, right? If Tara guessed? And it wasn’t like she was going to blab about it.

Besides, he could really use someone to talk to… and an eventual shoulder to cry on.

Ryan gave her a weak smile. “Turns out we underestimated me when we agreed I couldn’t hit that without talking about it.”

“Oh my God!” she squealed. “Since when? Why didn’t you tell me?” She narrowed her eyes. “We talked about this.”

He held up his hands. “We were definitely not together the last time we talked about this. You weren’t wrong.”

“That was months ago. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you never answered the ‘since when?’ question.”

He straightened up and pulled a pillow into his lap. “Like two months?”

“Two…. You had Christmas together.”

Ryan winced. “Yeah, that was awkward. I do not recommend celebrating major holidays with your secret boyfriend and his parents.” He flashed her the wry grin that tended to piss off opponents on the ice.

Tara did not look pissed. “I have so many questions about the visit with the parents, but first let’s rewind and talk about this secret-boyfriend thing.”

Shit. “What’s there to talk about?”

“Uh, for starters, why is it a secret?” She gestured around them. “I mean, I get not taking out an ad onSportsNetor whatever, but you could’ve told your families. Neither of you is in the closet.”

Now he had to try to figure out how to word this without making Nico sound like an asshole. “Nico’s dad’s kind of… intense? Controlling?” He huffed and crossed his arms. “Nico could have the best game of his life and his dad wouldn’t be satisfied.”

Tara pursed her lips. Ryan knew that face. That was her seeing-right-through-you face. “So, what, he expects his kid to marry a plastic surgeon? A Nobel Prize winner?” She narrowed her eyes. “Or a Gretzky heir?”

Ryan resigned himself to just giving her the truth. “Honestly, I’m not sure a Nobel Prize–winning plastic surgeon named Wayne Gretzky Jr. would be good enough for his son.” Then he hastened to add, “And even if he was, I get the feeling it’s more that he doesn’t like people talking about Nico’s personal life in general. Or more accurately, he doesn’t want Nico to have a personal life to talk about.”

“Gotcha,” Tara said. “So he knows his kid’s gay, but he’s still a homophobic dick. That must’ve been fun for you.”

“It wasn’t the mostjoyeuxNoël.” And considering he didn’t celebrate Christmas, that said a lot.

“Uh-huh,” Tara agreed. “So what’s the plan?”

The what? He blinked. “Plan?”

“Yeah. You like him, right? The boy is a total dreamboat, between the twelve-pack and the ass that goes for days, and didn’t you tell me he also changed the oil in your car? Shared his audiobooks? Taught you chess? He sounds like a sweetheart. I mean, he got you to use the word ‘boyfriend,’ and just a few months ago you were telling me that couldn’t ever be you. Right?”

Ryan did not flinch. At least not externally. “Your point?”

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