Page 36

DAMIEN

T he shit wasn’t hitting the fan; it was multiplying.

The shock had worn off on the drive back to my house while my phone buzzed like mad.

I’d texted Selwin, of course, to let him know what was up.

There were more messages from Dave, and a phone call from Nora that I was ignoring.

Not that I could ignore my friend or the college president for long.

Plus, that fucking reporter was hounding me, requesting a formal comment for his story.

A statement from me and my husband.

Fucking hell, Silas and I were married .

If it weren’t for the certificate in my pocket, and his possessive grip on my leg, I’d have assumed we’d dreamt up the whole damn thing.

As we pulled up my driveway, I spotted Selwin waiting by the front door, a couple of takeout bags by his feet.

We got out of Silas’s truck, and my friend rushed over to greet me with a hug.

No matter what, I knew I had at least one friend in my corner.

Then again, Sel knew the whole story. I’d blindsided Dave.

The guilt about that wasn’t going away anytime soon.

“Damien, you dirty dog.” Selwin chuckled. “Getting married and not inviting me?”

I gave him my best finger.

“Dave is never going to speak to me again,” I admitted.

“Nah.” Selwin waved me off. “I know him. He’ll get over it.”

“I lied.”

“Yeah, but anyone in your situation would.” Selwin shrugged. “Shit, I’ve done it.”

“You’re not involved with a student.”

“No, but I’m still not honest about being queer,” he replied. “Fuck knows, I’m lying to everyone.”

I heard both Silas and Josiah’s audible gasps.

“Okay, maybe not everyone.”

“Sel, meet Silas’s brother Josiah,” I offered. “Jo, my friend and former teammate Selwin?—”

“—Kirkland, oh my God,” Josiah whispered. “It’s an honor to meet you, sir.”

“You too, Jo,” Selwin replied with a grin. “So, what do you think of your new brother-in-law?”

Holy shit, I was married…

“He’s cool. Silas is happy, so I’m good.”

“See?” Selwin grinned at me. “It’s not complicated.”

“It’s not simple either. I got put on leave.”

I glanced at Silas, and he slid his arm around my waist and pulled me in tight to his side.

“They won’t fire you,” Selwin replied. “You won them a college championship for fuck’s sake. Plus, this isn’t a dirty secret. You two are married.”

“Yes, but?—”

“And watching you and Silas together, there’s no doubt it’s legit. You’re welcome, by the way.”

Silas grinned. “So, this is all your doing?”

“Let’s just say I noticed the chemistry in Chicago and offered some words of encouragement.” Selwin admitted with a shrug. “And you know what, you two have inspired me.”

“What? How?”

“I’m coming out, baby!” Selwin shouted with both arms in the air.

“Am I hallucinating?” I asked my husband.

“No.” Silas smiled at me. “But this day keeps getting more and more interesting.”

“And we haven’t even got to the honeymoon yet,” I quipped.

The heated look Silas gave me had me wishing we were off together at some private hotel, just the two of us.

“Soon,” he whispered, reading my mind.

When he leaned in and kissed me, I finally settled.

“Wow, you two are insanely hot together,” Selwin remarked.

This time, both Silas and I offered up our favorite finger.

“Ew, stop,” Jo muttered. “You’re talking about my brother.”

Selwin chuckled and clapped his hands. “Come on, guys, I’ve ordered dinner. You look like you need it.”

I nodded and passed over my keys. “Make yourself at home. We’ll be right there.”

Jo followed Selwin, helping him with the bags, the two of them talking over each other.

“So, our life is crazy right now.” I sighed.

I was scared that I’d fucked up, but also, deliriously happy that I’d chosen Silas, and best of all, that he’d chosen me.

“Are you still in?” I whispered.

“Baby, don’t even ask me that.”

Silas pulled me in tight, until our foreheads touched and we shared the same breath.

“I’m sorry, my head’s spinning in a million different directions right now,” I admitted.

“First, I’ve got to deal with all these messages.

Can’t wait to see how the school administration is going to deal with us as a couple.

I’m probably going to get fired. Selwin has a point about the championship, but the optics aren’t in my favor. ”

“I think life will be a bit of a shit show when word gets out, but eventually the news will die down,” Silas replied and squeezed me tighter.

“And no, I don’t think they’ll fire you.

But a lot will depend on the team’s reaction.

I’d say you better call Dave and Nora back and figure out a plan to tell the guys before they hear about it online. ”

His voice was steady, and I gazed into my husband’s beautiful eyes.

“How are you so calm?” I asked.

“I don’t fucking know,” he blurted out, and his blunt confession made me chuckle. “No, that’s not true. I do know. I know me, and I know you. This is our life, no one else’s. If other people don’t like it, fuck them.”

“I hope you feel that way a month from now when I’m climbing the walls from boredom.”

Silas grinned. “Baby, my gut instinct tells me that the team will have our backs. Don’t ask me how I know, I just do. The guys respect and admire the hell out of you.”

“They did?—”

He kissed me again and silenced my worries. “Have some faith, all right?”

“That’s my line.”

“We can share it.” Silas cupped my face. “Let’s go make those calls.”

I nodded. “I’m on it.”

“ We’re on it. You and me. Teammates for life.”

Silas

Damien and I held off on dinner, and settled into his office, replying to Nora’s message with a video conference call that included Dave. The reaction of the school’s president was much like Dave’s, shock at first, until her media training kicked into high gear.

“We need to get our PR people on this now,” Nora insisted. “I want photos, interviews, you name it. The two of you need to sell this HEA and sell it hard. You’re a winning hockey duo, champions in sport and in love. We keep the focus on the fact that you’re happily married, and we’re good.”

The shocks kept on coming…

“Nora, what are you—” Dave interrupted.

“This doesn’t mean that I’m pleased about this turn of events,” she interrupted and gave us an icy glare. “A heads up would’ve been appropriate given the seriousness of this situation.”

No shit.

“But I’ve also been around long enough to know that this isn’t the first student-teacher relationship at Sutton, or any other college for that matter, and it won’t be the last. I’m not condoning it, but you’re both adults, and given that you’re committed to each other, legally, what else can I say?

Except that I’m overturning Dave’s decision. ”

“What?” Dave shouted at the same time as my husband.

I stared at Damien, wondering what the fuck was going on.

“If we put Damien on leave and suspend Silas, it looks like something’s wrong and that will make this journalist even hungrier for blood.

No. No way am I putting the school’s reputation at risk like that.

It’s business as usual. We confirm the story, and then we sell the hell out of it. The camp goes on.”

“What about informing the team?” Damien asked.

“PR will write an email for you ASAP. The sooner the team knows, the better.”

“And if there’s backlash?” Damien added.

I gave my husband’s thigh a reassuring squeeze.

“You know your players better than I do,” she countered. “How do you think they’ll react?”

“With a lot of swearing,” Damien quipped.

Nora glared at us. “It’s too early for jokes, Banning.”

“I think they’ll be as stunned as everyone else,” he admitted. “At first.”

“I agree. They’ve witnessed the intense… I mean, the way me and Damien… The fact that we…” I glanced at my husband, unable to find the right words.

That was a first. Help me out, baby.

“They’ve witnessed the tension between us,” Damien offered.

Thank fuck my husband found the discreet word for our smoking hot chemistry. I was going to say “eye-fuck each other,” but it was doubtful Nora and Dave would want to hear that .

“Once the initial shock wears off, though, I think the guys will be okay,” Damien continued. “As long as we make it clear that nothing changes when it comes to the game. That’s the priority.”

“Exactly. When we’re in the rink, we’re focused, professional,” I confirmed, then turned to smile at Damien. “But I’m still gonna mouth off and that means you’re still gonna ride my?—”

This time, it was Damien’s turn to squeeze my thigh.

“Okay, I think we have enough information for now,” Nora interrupted. “Let’s get the media plan rolling. And I want to see you both in my office first thing tomorrow morning. You too, Dave.”

“I’ll be there,” Dave replied. “Damien, I’ll be in touch later.”

We closed the call, and Damien sagged against me with a sigh of relief.

“Holy shit, I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Me neither, but Nora’s plan makes sense.”

I kissed his temple.

“It’s clear that her concern is about the school’s reputation, not ours, but things could be a lot worse.”

“Shit’s getting real.”

“It is.” Damien reached for my hand. “Selwin isn’t the only one coming out. I better call my family next.”

“I’m sorry you have to come out like this. Back at the rink, I didn’t pause to think. It’s all my fault.”

“Hey.” Damien lifted my hand and kissed my knuckles. “It was happening anyway. I told you; I was tired of sneaking around. Baby, I’m ready.”

“Are you?”

“Unequivocally. I love you.”

My heart clenched hard.

“I love you, too,” I whispered. “So fucking much, it’s kind of scary.”

“But in the best way.”

I nodded, feeling overwhelmed.

“And the haters?” I added, staring into his bottomless blues. “Because they’re going to come too, Damien.”

Damien leaned in and claimed my lips in a heated kiss.

“What’s the number one rule of defense?” he whispered.

I grinned.

“Always back up your partner.”

He confirmed my answer with another kiss.

“That’s me, baby. I might be a coach, but in my heart and in my soul, I’ll always be a defenseman. I protect what’s mine. That’s you. And fuck everything and everyone else.”

“Love it when you talk dirty,” I quipped.

Damien’s sudden burst of laughter filled me with a happiness that I still couldn’t believe. Thank fuck I was sitting down because his gorgeous smile totally wrecked me.

“That’s coming later.”

“Once the chaos calms, we’re planning a honeymoon,” I stated.

“Oh yes.”

I kissed him again.

“Let’s call my family and then we need to eat.”

“If Jo and Selwin left us anything.”

“Did I mention that both my siblings have hockey careers, too?”

“You did. Olivia’s a coach in Europe and Trent’s a physiotherapist for the league, right?”

Damien nodded.

“That’s pretty cool.”

Oddly enough, I was more nervous about this call than the one with the school president.

Meeting the family and all that. But it turned out all right.

In fact, Damien’s brother and sister weren’t shocked that he was bi, that he was married, or that he was married to a man.

The fact that I was eight years younger, however…

“How did you manage to marry someone so obviously out of your league, Damien?” his sister Olivia teased. “Like, way, way out.”

Damien offered his middle finger in response. “So funny, Liv.”

“Actually, it’s the other way around,” I replied. “I’m the lucky one.”

“Aw,” Olivia gushed.

“Whatever the case, I’ve never seen my brother smile so much in all his life,” Trent added. “It’s kind of freaking me out. What happened to your trademark glare?”

“Hey,” Damien started.

“Oh, the glare’s here to stay,” I reassured them. “It’s my favorite.”

Then I kissed the pout off Damien’s lips.

“Payback’s coming later,” he whispered to me.

“Can’t wait.”

“Aaaand that’s our cue to go.” Olivia chuckled.

“Are you guys taking any vacation this summer, D?” Trent asked.

“In early August. Hopefully.”

“Definitely,” I replied.

“Come to the cottage in Algonquin. Liv’s flying over. I’ll be there for the entire month of August. Bring some friends, you know there’s plenty of space.”

Damien glanced at me, and I nodded.

“That’d be great. Silas and I will be heading for our honeymoon first.”

“We’ll see you then.”

We said our goodbyes, and I was about to suggest we break for dinner when Damien’s phone pinged.

“It’s the email from PR,” he muttered and passed me his phone.

I quickly read through the note they’d prepared for the team. It was brief but said everything that needed saying. I passed the phone back.

“Looks good.”

“Here we go.” Damien began typing. “Let’s see what the team thinks.”

Nothing could’ve prepared us for the response.