Page 140 of Breakaway Goals

“Ugh, I’ll text Barty in the morning. I’m sure he has some specific talking points he’ll want you to cover.”

“Like Barty would ever have a list I wouldn’t have already thought of,” Morgan muttered but gave a little nod that told Hayes he’d wait at least until he and Hayes’ agent got on the same page.

“Thank you,” Hayes said, resettling back into the curve of Morgan’s arms. “You didn’t have to offer to do this.”

“Yeah, I did. I’d do anything for you, angel,” Morgan said softly.

And Hayes was slowly beginning to believe that was true.

Chapter 22

Morgandidn’tdislikeBartholemewSmith III, but he didn’tlikehim either, particularly.

Barty had spent at least two years when he’d first started gaining bigger clients attempting to convince Morgan to switch agents. But Morgan hadn’t wanted to leave Natasha, who’d been his agent and a certified ballbuster since he’d been drafted into the league. He’d had his choice of agents; they’d practically lined up begging for a chance to represent him.

Natasha had been the dark horse, the only woman, and he knew she would be the hungriest. The most aggressive negotiator. It wasn’t only because she’d be perennially ignored and dismissed, but because he looked into her eyes and recognized the same feeling he’d always carried in himself. A feeling that had less to do with everyone else doubting him and more to do with himknowingwhat he was capable of.

“When Monty called me and said he’d changed his mind, I didn’t believe him,” Barty said, leaning back in his chair.

They’d spent the last eighteen holes on the course making small talk and exchanging hockey gossip. But Hayes hadn’t really come up until now.

Jacob had offered to come with him, because he knew he didn’t really like Barty and that he really didn’t like golf. But he’d turned him down, because he didn’t want Barty to know how much he annoyed him.

Also, only a small handful of people knew how much Morgan disliked golf.

It was too slow, too much standing around and waiting. He’d only gone out of his way to get good at it because hockey players loved it and he wasn’t going to embarrass himself on a course in front of any of them.

“He was that against me saying something publicly?” Morgan said casually. But it didn’t surprise him at all. Hayes had his share of pride, similarly shaped to Morgan’s own.

“Adamantly against it.” Barty took a sip of his beer. “So against it I thought I must’ve missed something over the years. Like you two secretly hated each other and you’ve been fooling the world for the last decade.”

“No,” Morgan said. He’d believe that Barty didn’t know the truth if he didn’t see the knowing edge to his normally sly expression. If Hayes hadn’t told Morgan himself that he’d finally confessed the entire story to his agent.

“Clearly.” Barty was grinning now. “You planning on doing any kind of public statement?”

Morgan shook his head. “I don’t give a shit what anyone says about me, even if people speculate about us.”

“They’re going to, you know,” Barty said. “Especially if you go on ESPN and say what Hayes claims you want to.”

Morgan knew what people were talking about. He’d seen the posts and the screenshots and the pictures because Natasha had sent them to him. The positive was that almost everyonebelieved that this was a new thing and the overriding consensus was that their relationship made a weird kind of sense.Like the universe is righting itself,one video claimed, after a bunch of sappy lyrics appeared over two dozen photos of him and Hayes over the years.

Morgan had been a little embarrassed he’d watched it and even more embarrassed that he’d ended up watching ittwice.

“I know,” Morgan said. “And they can speculate all they want to. I’m not much of a public figure these days.”

Barty shot him a look that was eerily reminiscent of the one Natasha had given him the last time they’d discussed this. Was that particular combination of reproachful doubt something they taught in agent school?

“That’s bullshit,” Barty said bluntly. More bluntly than Natasha had. But then, she’d always known how to handle Morgan, and Barty hadn’t. Which was why he’d never once been tempted to make the change.

“Okay, probably. But it’s still not their business. I’m not affiliated with a team these days. No nosy and paranoid PR to force me to do whatever they want.”

Barty chortled. “Right. Hayes is, but Hayes also—”

“Hayes is out. He’s dated guys publicly. It’s less of a deal for him,” Morgan said. He didn’t want Barty to force Hayes into making some big issue out of it, because Hayes had seemed perfectly okay with them not confirming or talking about the gossip surrounding them.

He’d only made one request and tonight, Morgan would be taking that first step. He wouldn’t have done it unless Hayes had asked him to, specifically. And he was a little nervous about it. It wasn’t like he was getting up on ESPN and addressing Hayes’ contract, like he’d be doing in a few days. That would be a cakewalk in comparison.

“It is, and if I’m being honest, the whole thing with Alexander sort of burned him out on that public parading of his relationship,” Barty said.