Page 92 of Game Changer
Scott: Fuck you.
He got a cute photo of Kip back, relaxing on his own bed and wearing Scott’s hoodie.
Scott smiled at it. He loved him so much.
Scott: Thank you. I love you.
Kip: I love you too.
* * *
“So,” Carter said, coming to a stop that sprayed Scott’s shins with snow, “tell me about your girl.”
Scott rolled his eyes. “Nothing to tell, Vaughan.”
They were lingering on the ice at the end of their morning practice. Scott was watching a couple of rookies gather up the pucks.
“Bullshit, Scott. You’ve been floating around with a dumb smile on your face, humming ‘How Sweet It Is’ all over the place. You got it bad.”
Scott kicked at the ice. “No comment.”
“Don’t know why a girl who looks like that wants to be seen with your ugly ass, but—”
“All right.”
Carter looked at him seriously. “Iamhappy for you, Scott. Even if you don’t want to talk about her.”
Scott turned his gaze to the ice, considering. He couldn’t talk to Carter about Kip, but hecouldtalk to Carter about “Elena.”
He chose his words carefully.
“I’ve never felt this way about anyone,” Scott said. “It’s just very new. That’s all.”
Carter slapped him on his heavily padded shoulder. “There you go!”
“We’ve been seeing each other for a few weeks and it’s nice. I’m happy. But we want to keep it private, y’know?”
“My lips are sealed.”
“Your lips areneversealed.”
“Well, they’re sealed about this.”
“Thanks.” Scott glanced at his teammate, hisfriend, and wondered if he could maybe tell him the truth. Not right that second, obviously, but soon? Carter was probably his best friend, and he’d always seemed accepting and open-minded. He was never overtly homophobic, anyway, which put him ahead of a lot of NHL players.
Scott would really like to tell him. He’d like to tell Huff and Bennett too. Hell, he’d like to tell the whole world, but...
“Come on,” Carter said. “Let’s go rest up before we fuck up Columbus tonight.”
* * *
“I like him,” Elena said. The words were out of her mouth as soon as he sat down with her at the Thai restaurant.
“Yeah?” Kip asked.
“Yeah. And he’s head over heels for you.”
“I know.” Kip smiled. “He told me.”
