Page 34 of Scoring Slater
For the next few hours, Slater threw himself into hockey and only hockey. Practice both flew and dragged by. He skated hard, worked with his line mates, listened to his coaches, and reviewed video of their upcoming opponent.
As members of the media entered the room for the post-practice interviews, he ran a towel over his face and waved at the people heading in his direction. Within minutes, his and Noah's stalls had the most reporters.
He'd formed a great relationship with the beat writers over the past two and a half years. He answered questions about Chicago, the skills competition, and All Star game, and about preparing for their upcoming game against New Jersey and gearing up for the second half of the season.
Two stalls down, a reporter new to the team this season asked Noah, "You and Slater have made headlines all across the media with regards to you bidding on him in the bachelor auction. What can you tell us about that?"
Noah straightened to his full height and his features hardened. "Being selected for the All Star game was an honor. Playing on the same line as Matthews and going head to head with the best in the game is something I'll never forget."
"What about the auction? Why did you bid on Slater?"
Blue eyes iced over. His demeanor was cold enough to chill the room. "Taking part in the game was an awesome experience, and hopefully, I can carry the momentum into the second half of the season."
An ache bloomed in Slater's chest. Usually, he enjoyed when Noah's answers to interview questions were completely unrelated to the question. All of the pro athletes he knew were masters of the art of answering with a non-answer and talking their way around subjects. For Noah especially, it was a defense mechanism. The reporter should've known better than to expect anything different. Noah never talked about his personal life. Perhaps they'd hoped he'd have a weak moment. He rubbed his chest. Deep down, he'd hoped the same.
"Slater," the reporter closest to him said, "anything to add about this past weekend's events? How about Noah bidding on you?"
Forcing a bright smile, he lifted his shoulders and shrugged. "Yeah, how about that, right?"
The guy's lips twitched. "That's what I'm asking."
He wanted to talk about it so badly, and share their relationship status, but couldn't. He wouldn't dare share anything without Noah's consent or approval. Noah was his to protect. "There's a first time for everything, right? So this is my first officialno comment."
They needed to have a talk about a releasing public statement. Soon. He hadn't signed up for a relationship that stayed in the shadows.
When they got home, he followed Noah into the kitchen. Time to broach the subject…
Noah filled the kettle and glanced over his shoulder. "Did you want tea?"
"Sure." He set his phone on the island and leaned against it with a casualness at odds with the fluttery feeling in his chest. "My latest post, the photo of the airport when we landed last night, had so many people asking about us again. I can't keep ignoring them. We can't keep ignoring this."
Noah took two mugs out of the cabinet. "What type of tea do you want?"
"Are you even listening?" Impatience fueled the flames of frustration. Slater stalked toward him. "Noah."
Brows raised and eyes rounded, he backed up a step and banged into the counter. "What?"
Slater yanked his hands through his hair and then removed the mugs from Noah's hands and set them on the counter. He braced his hands against the edge and took three deep breaths. "I'd like to post the selfie I took of us before the game last night. And I'd like to say that we're together. Is that okay?"
Against the bright yellow sweatshirt, Noah's face had paled. His gaze darted from Slater to the island and back again, and he wrapped one arm across his torso, holding himself at the elbow. After a moment, he swallowed hard and lifted his chin and nodded. "Okay. That's fine."
"Really? That's fine?" The whistling kettle cut into his words. He hit the button to shut it off without taking his gaze off Noah.
Shoulders hunched, he shoved his hands into the sweatshirt's front pocket. "I told Kelsey that I don't want to do any of the interviews."
He'd seen a few of the names. They were supportive allies. "None?"
"What do they want to know that they don't already know?" Dragging his hands through his hair, Noah paced the length of the room. "They know I bid on you. There's video of what I said. It's no one's business what happened after we left that room."
"People like romance." He paid attention to his posts and other people's content. He saw which ones got the most interaction.
"That's not all." Back and forth, he went. From the fridge, to the counter, like a puck on a passing drill. "One of the places said they were interested because we're also teammates."
"It is an interesting dynamic."
He whirled around, a vibrant agitated force in the middle of a sunlit kitchen. "But we just started the more than friends part of this. We're nowhere near experienced enough yet to talk about how it's going or if it's working or how it's changed things in other areas."
Slater stepped away from the counter. Noah full of passion was a breathtaking sight to see. But Noah burning with a combination of anxiety and frustration was a combustion waiting to happen. "Come here."
