Page 77 of Scoring Position

Nico’s fingers loosened as if by reflex, but he tightened them again before Ryan could pull away. “Tell me what he said and I will.”

Ryan could’ve broken the grip. It wasn’t like Nico was restraining him. But he couldn’t make himself physically reject him like that.

And he wouldn’t be able to keep this to himself forever. Eventually it was going to come out.

“Fine.” The word felt like it tore out of his throat. He’d tell him… but not all of it. He couldn’t do that. “He fucking called you my boyfriend, all right, and then he told me to tell you to get your head out of my ass. Are you happy? It was like he wastryingto get me to punch him.”

Nico’s helmet hit the floor. “Hewhat?”

Ryan’s gut churned. Nico was still holding his wrist. “Are you gonna let me go now?”

He did. Ryan pulled his arm toward himself reflexively, rubbing the skin where Nico had touched him, even though he hadn’t been holding tightly.

“You have to tell someone.”

Ryan laughed incredulously. “Are you serious?”

“Ryan, the man is a—” He said something in German that Ryan couldn’t translate. “And that’s not—he shouldn’t have—”

“If he’d said you had to pull your head out of your own ass, no one would’ve blinked.” Ryan hated it, but it was the truth.

“But that’s not what he said!”

“It might as well have been!” Didn’t he get that? “What do you think’s going to happen when a bottom-six forward comes forward to say his coach hurt his feelings? Huh?” Ryan could point out actual coaching issues, he could criticize game decisions, he could suggest Vorhees might have ulterior motives or shady dealings. But players like him were a dime a dozen. Hecouldn’tmake it personal. He shook his head, stepping back. “Did you forget my contract’s up at the end of the season? Nobody wants to hire a tattletale.”

Nico’s cheeks went scarlet. “So he’s just—going to get away with it?”

“Yes!” Ryan exploded—all the more angry because he was hurt too. He’d tried to tell Rees he had to look into the coaching situation, but either the GM hadn’t listened or he didn’t care. Ryan didn’t hold out any hope that this would go differently. And he knew that if he said a word to the wrong person, Vorhees would make good on his threat—and Nico would suffer the consequences. “What is with you today? The world isnot fucking fair. That’s not news to you.”

“I’m allowed to be upset about it!” he yelled back. “And would you stop!”

For a second Ryan just stared at him. “Stopwhat?”

“Stop acting like this is okay! Like we can’t expectbetterfrom people!” His eyes burned bright against his reddened skin and the words came out haltingly, like he was struggling with English in a way he rarely did.

“What do you expect me to do?” Ryan growled. “Rees doesn’t care. So what’s the point?”

“The point is having a backbone! Vorhees behaves just like my dad. ‘Bad things will happen to you because people know you’re gay.’ And you just want to accept it! I thought you wanted more than what jerks like them think we should have.” He took a step back.

Something cold settled in Ryan’s gut, and the air froze in his lungs. “Is that what this is?” he asked. The pieces were finally falling into place. He’d wondered what Nico saw in him, but he hadn’t wanted to look too closely in case he didn’t like the answer. Now he knew. Ryan was absolutely the perfect boyfriend for Nico to use to prove his dad wrong. The pain of betrayal didn’t sting any less the second time around. “Are you dating me as some kind of fucked-up ‘I told you so’ fuck-you to your dad?”

“That doesn’t make any sense! My dad doesn’t even know we’re dating!”

Oh fuck.Ryan could see where this was heading, and the bottom dropped out of his stomach. They couldn’t do this—not anywhere, not with the end of the season bearing down on them, but definitely not here. Not where they worked.

But it was happening anyway. The whole situation was spiraling out of his control. “Butyouknow.” Ryan hardly recognized the words coming out of his mouth. “I’m just the belated teenage rebellion you don’t have the guts to tell him about to his face.”

Nico’s face was a thundercloud. “That’swhat you think of me? That I’m a coward? That I’m so fucked-up by my dad’s bullshit that I’d use someone like that?”

No, Ryan didn’t think that. Nico was too sweet to do something so callous. Deep down, Ryan knew that. It was what had attracted him to Nico in the first place. But what was the alternative? “Of course not,” he said, voice loaded with sarcasm. “You probably think it’s true love forever.”

The thundercloud turned to rain—quiet, soft, heartbreaking. “It could be.”

No, no, no.Ryan had known it would end, but he didn’t want it to end like this. He was the only one who was supposed to get hurt. “Don’t.” He hated to beg, but he didn’t have a choice.

“Don’t what?” Nico argued. He took a step closer, touched Ryan’s elbow again. Ryan’s heart tripped in his chest. “Don’t tell you I love you?”

It fell and shattered. “Don’t ask me for more. We both know in a few months we’ll be on different teams and that will be the end of it.” Vorhees wouldn’t be able to use him against Nico any longer.

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