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“Yes.” Now I actually laugh. “Why would we not be?”
“I don’t know,” he says, his voice shifting to apprehensive. “It’s just, you seem upset and if that’s the case and you want to end this with me now, I guess I understand.”
“Ander,” I say, my voice firm so I know he listens. “You are best thing that has happened to me. I am not letting you go over social media post neither one of us posted. This may not be how I wanted the world to find out we are dating, but it is no reason for me to give up the greatest gift of my life for something out of either of our control. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Daddy.” I can hear the smirk in his voice.
Unexpectedly and inconveniently, that smirk and that word coming out of his mouth have caused my cock to begin to stiffen. This is the worst moment for me to get an erection. I also need to not lose focus. I may not love the circumstances, but Ander needs me right now.
“How far has this gone?”
“Pretty damn far.”
“How damn far?”
“Far enough that Coach Matthews cursed me out. So there’s that.”
“Are you benched?” I ask, worry creeping back in. I would hate for this to be something that would ruin either of our careers.
“Hell, no!” he declares. “Coach would never bench me. Not for this game. If we lose tonight, we’re out of the playoffs.”
“Did he say anything?”
“Other than that he’s furious, no.”
Anger rises through me with a growl. “Furious. Why, because we are gay?”
“No.” Ander laughs. The sound soothes some of my anger, but not all of it. “He’s furious that it’s you. But I don’t know, he’ll get over it. He kept muttering about us playing for rival teams and what all that entails.”
“That is something we have worried about. I can understand.”
“Yeah! I promise you, he’s not mad we’re gay. Just mad that we’re likely going to face each other in the Stanley Cup finals and he’s not convinced that won’t end poorly for the Blizzards.”
“That is where he is correct.”
“The hell he is! I’m sorry, Nikolai. I love you but you’re losing that cup.”
My heart begins to race again, but now for an entirely different reason. Although, there’s no way he really meant that. It was flippant. A turn of phrase.
“I love your confidence,” I say, realizing that I wish I could say more. I wish he’d say more.
A quiet falls between us, as if we are both taking a moment for things to settle in.
Finally, he’s the one to break it. “So you’re not upset?”
“No, Ander. I am not upset.”
“Good.” He sighs. “Because I finally understand how Gavin and Connor felt last year. I’m not ready to let you go.”
“You do not have to,” I say. “I will not let you go either.”
“Nikolai Ivanov!” Coach Chris’s voice booms from outside the plane. “Get your ass out here!”
“Is that Coach Chris?” Ander asks.
“Yes,” I say, smiling ear to ear. Because no matter how bad the fallout of this is, at least Ander and I are in agreement.
“Tell him I say hi.”
