Page 80 of Punchline
“What is it?” I asked.
He blinked a couple of times. Then he met my gaze. “Another organization just dropped an offer. It’s a bit less money, but otherwise, it’s—I mean, basically what the others are offering.” He glanced at his phone, shook his head, and looked at me again. “But they aren’t just okay with me being openly queer, theywantme to be out.”
My lips parted. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. Like they don’t want to put me out there more than I want to be, but they want to actively push back against homophobia in this sport. The guy in charge—I guess he’s a retired fighter who couldn’t come out until later, and he’s done with that bullshit.”
“Whoa,” I whispered. “And it’s a good deal otherwise? A good contract?”
“Uh-huh. Like I said, it’s a little bit less money, but my agent thinks he can talk him into something closer thanwhat the others are offering. It’s… ” He waved a hand. “It’s a good deal. And damn, it’ll be even more satisfying to tell Dimon where to stick it.”
I smiled and laced our fingers together. “That’s great. This is going to be amazing for you.”
Jake turned to me, and that soft little smile melted my heart. He was such a huge badass, but these moments when he turned into a teddy bear—especially when he was genuinely happy about something—were so damn cute.
The smile faltered a bit, though. “This means I’ll have to travel sometimes. For fights.”
“I have to travel for hockey.”
Jake grimaced, squeezing my hand. “I hate having to be apart, though.”
“We can handle it.” I leaned in and brushed my lips across his. “There’s no guarantee I’ll stay in Vegas for my career. I could get traded or sign somewhere else during free agency. But worst case, I’m only in whatever city I play in for half the year.”
He still didn’t look mollified.
“We’ll be fine,” I whispered. “I don’t want you to give up this opportunity for me. And I don’t imagine you’d want me to pass up a good contract in another city.”
“No, of course not,” he said quickly, pulling my hand to his chest. “I just—I’ve never done the long-distance thing, or?—”
I hushed him with a gentle kiss. “Let’s not freak out about things that might not even happen. Yes, you’ll have to travel, and so will I. But for now, we’re both in Vegas. If things change, we’ll make it work. Even if I go play somewhere else, even if you end up all over the world for fights, I’m not goinganywhere.”
He searched my eyes, uncertainty written all over his face.
“Jake.” I pulled our hands closer to me and clasped them tighter together. “I mean it. I want you to pursue your dream just like I’m pursuing mine. If that means spending some time apart, it’ll just mean more when we get to be together.”
He quirked his lips. “I guess, yeah? I just hate the thought of being apart for months out of the year.”
“Occupational hazard,” I said with a cautious laugh. He still seemed unsure, so I said again, “I’m not going anywhere.” I paused. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”
A laugh cracked through. “I don’t want to get rid of you. That’s the last thing I want.” Beat. “Well, second to last.”
I straightened, feigning offense. “Second to last? What could possibly be worse than not having me?”
“Signing with Dimon.”
I burst out laughing and so did he. “Okay, okay. Fair point. I’ll concede that signing with him is slightly worse than life without me.”
Jake tsked and rolled his eyes. “You’re a dork.”
“Uh-huh. But you love me.”
His expression turned a little shy, and he wrapped his arms around me. “Yeah. I do love you.”
My heart sped up. “I love you too.”
He smiled. Then his lips met mine, and I melted against him.
Yeah, it would be tough, adapting to the demands of our respective sports. But plenty of people before us had made it work, and I had no doubt we would too.
Soon, I’d be back to playing hockey. Jake would sign a contract worth seven figures with a companythat wasn’t about to make us hide in the closet. Whatever our careers threw at us, however much time we had to spend apart as we chased our dreams, I could feel it to my core that we were in this for the long haul.
And Gene Dimon could eat a bag of dicks.