Chapter 25 Minns #2
“I want to do it as soon as possible.” I paused, thinking about minimizing distractions for the team.
The best answer was the end of the season, but that was still months away, and the speculation as to why I’d been placed on IR again would only intensify unless we explained it now.
“Can we do it after tomorrow night's game?”
Coach grumbled, but Keeley nodded and replied, “Absolutely.”
“Good. Let’s do that, then.” I huffed out a laugh and added, “Right, there’s something else I should tell you—” Coach sighed and I bit back a chuckle. “The man we’re dating is… kind of famous.”
“Who is he?” Coach asked reluctantly.
“Locke Ledger.”
Coach groaned and scrubbed his hands over his face.
Keeley exhaled heavily. “Your privacy is about to become a thing of the past,” she warned. “It won’t be one press conference and then it’s over with.”
I smiled, my cheeks heating. “He's worth it.”
“All right, love bird, get out of my office,” Coach ordered gruffly, but his voice held a smile.
I eased myself out of the chair and headed for the door but paused before I exited. “Thanks, Coach, and you, too, Keeley. This hasn’t been easy, but your support really means a lot.”
I pulled open the door and walked out without a backward glance.
I was used to fronting the press, but I’d never felt the same mix of nerves and excitement before.
Everything in me fizzed like I had champagne in my veins, anticipation giving me a spring in my step.
With a grin and butterflies in my belly, I headed toward the player entrance where Kam and Locke were waiting for me.
***
The press conference room had three entrances—one directly off the corridor where the locker room was, one with an attached waiting room that had a live feed, and a third where the press entered. I stood at the second entrance, the one rarely used.
I squeezed Kam’s hand, and she smiled encouragingly. “You’ve got this, hon. That speech is great.”
Locke tipped my chin up to his and pressed a lingering kiss to my lips.
I would never get enough of him doing that.
It had barely sunk in that he and V were the same person.
I still pinched myself that I’d even met him, never mind had seen him nearly naked.
I didn’t know that I’d be able to wrap my head around the fact that he’d been inside me until I actually saw it with my own eyes.
But I knew his scent, how he held me, and what his touch felt like, and there was no doubt in my mind it was him behind the mask.
I think I’d suspected it—maybe not consciously, but there were too many coincidences to be someone else. But none of that mattered.
He straightened the knot of my Seals’ purple tie. I’d paired it with a matching purple button down and a dove grey suit. It was familiar and usually comfortable, but this time, not so much.
“It’s perfect now.” He smiled and ghosted his fingertips over the side of my jaw that wasn’t bruised.
“It’s strangling me.”
He pressed his lips to mine again and murmured, “It’s just the nerves. Think about everybody being naked.”
I barked out a laugh. “No, then I’ll think about the two of you naked, and I won’t be decent enough to leave.”
I was ready. I hoped. My palms were sweaty, and my stomach was in knots.
But there was a calmness inside me too. I could feel the weight about to slip off from my shoulders, and getting ready to shrug off the vestiges of the weight of the world was driving me forward. Freedom from it was within my grasp.
Keeley was briefing the press team now. She was telling them that I wanted to make an announcement. I wondered whether anyone would jump to the conclusion that I was retiring.
Keeley’s assistant opened the door, and I entered.
But I stopped dead in my tracks. They were still there.
Tonight’s star players—Gauthier, Hux, and Rune—were supposed to have already cleared out of the room.
I hesitated, but when Gauthier motioned me over, I slid into the closest free seat, between him and Hux.
I smoothed my tie and asked my captain in a whisper, “How did you guys get roped into having to stick around for this?”
Gauthier shot me a look. His brow was furrowed, and he tilted his head in question. “Seriously? We’re supporting you. We'd never let you sit up here and do this alone.”
I swallowed down the lump in my throat, at a complete loss for words. I was so fucking lucky to have them in my life.
Hux squeezed my shoulder, and Keeley handed the reins over to me.
The plan was for me to read the speech my agent had largely prepared, answer a few questions, then disappear where I’d come from.
Kam and Locke were watching on the monitor, and we already had an exit strategy planned after a debrief with Keeley and Coach.
I drew my speech out of my pocket and unfolded it, then adjusted the microphone. I looked around the room and sucked in a deep breath.
This wasn’t right. Not like this. I folded the speech back up and put it away. I had more to say than what was written there, and I needed to get it out.
“Thank you, everyone, for sticking around. I know it’s been a long night.
” I looked across at my teammates and gave them a nod.
“I've lived in the shadows for a large part of my life. It started when I realized I was different.” I paused, then licked my lips, my heart beating a mile a minute.
Hux squeezed my shoulder again, lending me his strength.
“I didn't just like girls. I liked boys too.” There were raised brows and shocked faces, but there were also a few nods and small, encouraging smiles. Keeley had hand selected which reporters were invited to tonight’s press conference, and for that, I was grateful.
“Religion played a large part in my life growing up. I went to church a couple of times a week and prayed every night. My family's beliefs are strict.” I exhaled heavily. “I didn’t fit within the mold they have of what a God-fearing person should be. I tried for years to bury who I am to force myself to fit, but it's a part of me in the same way I’m right-handed and have brown hair.”
I looked over at Gauthier and he nodded his encouragement, then rested his hand on my forearm.
“My wife, Kamirah, was the only person to know my secret for years. It’s only been through her unending love, support, and encouragement that I began to accept myself. I don't think I truly did that until recently. The thing is, I can no longer hide from myself or the world.”
I paused, and there was a ripple of murmurs through the room. “Please, I’ll answer questions in a moment. Let me get this out.” I waited for the reporters to go quiet again, and then I continued.
“I grew up seeing the world through a conservative-Christian lens.
Popular culture framed my views too. I saw ultra-masculine characters being played by actors who had to bulk up for months and dehydrate themselves for days to achieve the look needed for one scene.
I was bombarded with toxic masculinity, told what a 'real' man has to be like. Even sports contributed. Football and hockey athletes have only been coming out in the past few years. The world has come a long way, but there’s more work to do because even as a white, cis, het male, I imagine it would be difficult to wade through the messages of what a ‘real’ man should be.”
I looked over at Rune, and he nodded his agreement.
Then I faced the reporters again. “Imagine what the LGBTQIA+ community is going through. We are seeing our trans brothers and sisters being murdered because of who they are. Our community members are being arrested and shipped away to overseas jails. Our basic human rights are being stripped away, and the wave of hatred seems to be swelling so high that every time I think about it, I feel like I’m drowning.
For years, I’ve been battling that. I’ve been scared.
” I blew out a breath and scrubbed my hands over my face gathering my courage to speak again.
“It’s been easier to hide than admit who I am. It’s been easier to deny myself than come out as bisexual.”
The room was so silent that I could have heard a pin drop.
I was lightheaded, the rush of the weight being lifted off my shoulders dizzying.
I’d done it. I’d said the words out loud.
I was out. Publicly. I didn’t need to hide anymore.
I laughed, giddy from the relief. I was instantly floating on a high. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.
A split second later, the room erupted. But I had one more thing to say. “I really appreciate your patience while I tell you this last part.” There was a collective sigh of frustration, all of them clearly wanting to ask questions, but I continued.
“I've hurt a lot of people by hiding. I hurt my wife and Hux for lying.
Months ago, when those rumors broke that Kamirah and Alec were having an affair, I stayed quiet.
I wasn't ready to face anyone. I was terrified that someone would figure out my secret and out me. I didn't want to lose my family—I knew that they’d be upset if they knew the truth. Kamirah and Hux both respected my insistence that I stay quiet to their detriment.”
I turned to Hux and said, “I've said it before, but now I'm saying it in front of these good people and the world. I'm sorry that I didn't step up and own what we had. I'm sorry I hurt you by staying quiet.”
There was no silencing the questions now, but one stood out, shouted louder than the others. “Are you saying you and Hux are in a relationship?”
“We were, but no. Not anymore,” I replied, looking at Hux.
He nodded and held out his fist, and I bumped mine against it.
“Thank you,” he murmured.
“Did you cheat on your wife?”
“Have you and your wife separated?”
“In answer to both of those questions, no. I didn’t cheat. The three of us were seeing one another, and my wife and I are still happily married.”