Book 2 Preview
It was toxic, what Charlie and Henry had.
One minute they were screaming in a stadium tunnel, the next Charlie was looking at him like a love-sick puppy while Henry murmured apologies into his skin.
After their picture went viral, things spiraled fast. The comments sections were a warzone.
The headlines were brutal. Talk shows dissected their age gap, their power imbalance, their "clandestine affair. " It was hell.
But through it all, Charlie glowed. He played the best hockey of his life. He smiled through press conferences, his hand subtly brushing Henry’s under the table. He wore the scandal like a badge of honor.
Kira made a poised, elegant statement, calling Henry a dear friend and brilliant business partner, gracefully stepping aside.
Henry made a stark, unflinching statement at a shareholders' meeting: "Charlie Holt is the best thing that has ever happened to me.
My private life is not up for negotiation. "
The support was fierce, but the hate was louder. The homophobes didn't stop. The online trolls, the angry "fans," the pundits questioning Charlie's focus—it was a constant, low-grade buzzing in the background of their new, very public life.
And through it all, watching from the wings, were Felix and Shay.
Felix, the quiet observer, saw the cracks under the glow. He saw the exhaustion in Charlie's eyes after a long day of being a "symbol." He saw the way Henry's body tensed at every new, vile headline. He saw a love story that was real, but was it safe? Was it worth the cost?
Shay, the loud protector, just saw his best friend in the crosshairs.
He wanted to fight everyone—the commentators, the keyboard warriors, even Henry sometimes, for putting Charlie there.
He spent practices more focused on running interference for Charlie than on his own game.
His laughter in the locker room was a little too forced, his jokes a shield for a worry he didn't know how to voice.
The chaos of Charlie and Henry's world was the backdrop.
But in the quiet moments—the long bus rides, the late nights in their own apartments, the shared looks across the locker room—a different story was simmering.
A story of two friends, one who watched too much and one who felt too much, standing on the sidelines of a hurricane, wondering when it would sweep them away too.
.. or if, in its eye, they might finally see each other.