Page 56 of Blitz
Pastor Cole blinked, stunned that she’d dared to speak. His gaze snapped to her like the crack of a whip, mouth twitching in disgust. “The girl thinks she has a voice now,” he sneered. “You don’t even know the rules of the world you’ve stepped into. Keep talking, and you’ll learn just how quickly that freedom you cling to can be taken away.”
I pushed her behind me—this was a big brother’s job now. “It’s not a threat because the papers have just been filed. Your entire ministry was built on sand, and the authorities have just started digging.”
I turned to leave, ushering Rebecca before me.
“You can’t do this,” he snapped, voice cracking with fury. “You’ll destroy me.”
He stepped forward, hand raised as if to call down some righteous fury.
“God will judge you for this! You think you can go against what I teach, but you’ve been led astray. Love the sinner, hate the sin—” His voice wavered, losing steam. “You were my son. I gave you everything. You owe me! I love you, son. I can forgive you.”
“I don’t owe you a fucking thing,” I snapped. “And your love is destructive, and I don’t want your forgiveness, old man!”
His mask slipped.
“This—this ministry—it supports thousands, it feeds the flock, it feeds me—do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
“Chosen love.”
“You’re choosing him over God. Over me.” He was unraveling now, flipping between wrath and despair. He staggered back a step, mouth slack with disbelief. “They’ll take the houses.The cars. The donations are already drying up. You’ve…you’ve ruined me.”
Not the church, not his beliefs, but I’d ruined him? That sounded about right.
I opened the door, waited for Rebecca to step outside, then turned back to the man who’d tried to chain me and shook my head.
“I’m walking away to start a life with the man I love. I’m done.”
We walked out, head high, but heart broken, and tears made my throat tight. Rebecca held my hand again and hugged me as soon as the gates closed. “I’m so proud of you, big brother.”
“You and I are going to have words about you coming in with me,” I warned without heat, and she hugged me harder with a laugh. “But thank you, Bec. Thank you.”
Behind us, Tom waited with the engine running. Rebecca’s playlist was still playing—some folksy anthem about burning bridges and dancing in the ashes.
Seemed appropriate.
Coming out was almost anticlimactic.Yes, it changed my world. Yes, there was blowback. I got hate, I lost endorsements, and some fans walked away. But I also got love. Real love. And Tom was right there through all of it, hand in mine, unwavering.
Layton had arranged a press conference. We’d been prepared for pushback, for questions and chaos, but everything changed before the mic was even turned on. News had already broken about the Temple of the Radiant Truth Ministry. Pastor Cole had been arrested at the start of the week—fraud, abuse, conspiracy. The headlines wrote themselves.
Reporters barely wanted to ask about me. The spotlight had shifted entirely to what I’d seen and done inside the ministry, and for once, I was okay with that being everyone’s focus. I wasn’t the scandal anymore. I was only a man standing beside the one he loved.
The man who was sitting at the glass right behind the bench for our game against the LA Storm. Management had offered him a spot in the team VIP area, but nope, my man wanted to be down with the fans, cheering me on.
Coming out hadn’t cost me everything. In fact, once the storm had passed, I realized how much more I’d gained. Love. Truth. Freedom.
And hockey. God, I loved hockey again.
The buzzer still echoed off the glass when I skated toward Noah, adrenaline pumping. We’d just pulled off the move we’d practiced in warmup—a no-look behind-the-back pass from him to me as we crossed the blue line. The puck kissed my blade and flew off like a missile, slicing into the top corner with half a second on the clock.
Chaos exploded around us—helmets tossed, gloves in the air, the bench clearing. I threw my arms around Noah, who was laughing so hard he nearly fell over. The whole arena erupted. My teammates mobbed me, but I only had eyes for Rebecca jumping up and down, and Tom, who was out of his seat, both fists in the air, shouting something I couldn’t hear but felt in my bones.
We’d won the game. We were top of the division. And I was on fire.
The Storm’s Cameron Chavkin skated past us, stick tapping the ice, grinning despite the loss. “Damn, Trick, that was beautiful. You part of the Rainbow Hockey Alliance now?”
“Wait, is that a thing?” I shot back, still catching my breath.
“Consider yourself signed up,” he quipped, offering a fist bump I returned without hesitation.
