Chapter 24 #2
I am exhausted from fighting fires, which is ironic since the typical headline has been: REBELS ON FIRE ON THE ICE, WHILE BOSS SETS FIRE ON HIS KNEES.
Sometimes, I fucking hate journalists.
Hacks.
Blythe and her hold over us is gone.
To my surprise, D’Angelo is helping to untangle Heine’s finances for him, since his dad disowned him as soon as he was arrested.
Heine is expected to be the ideal PR puppet for his dad’s companies. He is not allowed to be publicly bi or a sub. His dad beats him for minor mistakes.
Being charged with arson and involuntary manslaughter, while being in a dom/sub relationship, is his conservative dad’s nightmare.
So much for unconditional love of your kid.
Despite everything, D’Angelo never abandons a sub, even ones who have hurt him like Heine has. D’Angelo told me that he intends to support him through his legal battle.
Knowing what Blythe did to Heine, along with the fact that she stalked and kidnapped Eden, he may be able to justify the force that he is pretending he used to rescue them or at least, not receive as harsh a sentence.
Also, since he is taking the blame for Eden, I would have supported him anyway.
While D’Angelo, Shay, and I were bringing together Neve, Cody, Michael, the Bay Rebels team and staff, and The Kinks to search Freedom, shaken apart with fear of what was happening to Eden, it didn’t cross my mind that he could escape by himself.
It should have done.
Didn’t he as a kid? He led his brother to freedom, saving both their lives despite everything.
Shay is a legend on the ice. But Eden is a dark legend off the ice.
I am weirdly proud that Eden survived by himself and proved that he can.
He escaped without us. Solved the problem without us.
Okay, through arson.
Yet it makes me happier knowing that he is on our side. When he has had time to process everything, he will realize that he has proved to himself that even if the worst happens, he can get himself out of it.
And we will always come for him.
I wince, when the away team scores.
This is tough on the goalies.
Everything comes down to these final two shots on goal, otherwise it will go to sudden-death.
I pull my hands out of my pockets, clutching them nervously in my lap. My foot taps up and down.
Shay steps forward for his turn.
“He will score,” Eden says with unshakable belief.
I hope so.
Shay needs this.
I remember his golden head laid on Eden’s stomach, while Eden was sleeping in the hospital.
“Still breathing,” Shay whispered, desperately to himself. “Still breathing…”
We all of us need this win.
Although, maybe having Eden sitting alive next to me now is enough of a win for the rest of my life.
I hold my breath.
Shay skates to the net with an effortless skill. When he moves toward one side of the net, I ball my hands. The goalie looks like he will block Shay.
Shay changes his direction, however, with breathtaking speed and moves in front of the goal, slamming the puck into the back of the net.
He’s scored!
The roar of the crowd slams into me.
I let out my breath in a relieved rush.
Eden’s only reaction is to blink. He still doesn’t smile.
I turn to Eden, as the rival captain takes up his place. “I’m so happy that you’re here with me tonight.”
I hope that he understands what I’m not saying.
He still isn’t looking at me. “She was going to send me away to an island.”
I stare at Eden in shock.
It’s the first that he has told me in detail about what happened.
I lick my dry lips, even as I feel like hurling.
An island…?
“I’ve told the police.” He darts a glance at me. “They want me to help them with their inquiries. The island belonged to her friend. They want me to talk to the FBI. Can we ask Garcia to investigate too? No one should be sold.”
“Of course they shouldn’t.” My heart is racing. “Whatever you want. We’ll do everything we can to help, yeah?”
He nods, finally relaxing.
My mind is buzzing.
I thought that he was safe.
That we were.
I’m a dumbass.
“He missed.” I bounce on the bench, as the arena explodes at the way that the Avs forward fails to score. “Zach saved the goal. That was epic. I’m buying him a beer or hell, one of those fantasy graphic novels that he pretends he’s not obsessed with.”
“It’s down to Jude now.” Eden leans forward, watching the rink with piercing eyes.
If D’Angelo scores, then the Bay Rebels will have won.
When D’Angelo skates in front of the goal, the entire arena hushes.
The air is thick with tension.
The team closes around him.
Unable to hold myself back any longer, I stand up.
I hold out my hand to Eden. “The doctors…well, Code and Mike…won’t bust your balls if you stand just for the final couple of minutes.”
“You promised to make me stay on the bench.”
I grin, mischievously. “I’m a rebel.”
Eden stands up, and I grab his hand.
I nearly lost him this week.
The biggest impact that Blythe’s stealing of this incredible man, then hearing from Mike how close Eden actually came to death in the reports from the danger of the tranquilizer, had on me was the revelation that I could no longer keep our relationship secret.
As long as it’s something that we need to hide, then somebody could exploit it to use against us.
I want our love to be something positive and celebrated, rather than something that we fear. Because I know now just how much I love these three men, each in a different way.
Our love shouldn’t be something that can be used to make us hurt or sacrifice ourselves for each other.
We should be able to be open about who we are.
Eden’s breath catches, before he holds onto my hand tighter.
No one appears to have noticed yet.
I tug him to the glass.
I revel in being able to touch Eden in public like this.
It’s right.
Perfect.
It settles something in me that has felt wrong for months.
I glance to the side, catching Cody’s startled look.
Then Cody grins.
“Go, sis,” Cody yells. “Claim your man.”
I blush at the same time as Eden does.
Eden, however, looks pleased.
So much for keeping this classy.
Eden deserves to know, however, that he never needs to hide in the shadows again.
I am proud of being seen with him.
D’Angelo glances around at Eden and me. He hesitates, noticing that we are now at the glass.
I smile, raising Eden and my joined hands.
D’Angelo slowly smiles, before his eyes darken and gleam.
He sets his shoulders with a new determination.
My heart thrills.
“Robyn,” Dad bellows. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Come here.”
He has finally noticed that I am holding Eden’s hand.
I ignore him.
He has no control over me or my relationships.
All my concentration is on D’Angelo.
Despite the crowd, cameras, and lights, it feels like there is only D’Angelo, Eden, Shay, and me left in the arena.
The world is narrowed down to this moment.
The air is sucked out of the room.
D’Angelo sweeps around toward the goal with the puck.
He is playing for our love.
For our right to be together.
For his own right to be himself.
For acceptance for all of us.
I can hardly breathe.
Eden squeezes my hand.
D’Angelo speeds toward the goal with dazzling puck control, before faking a shot that fools the goalie and leaves an open net.
He’s going to do it.
D’Angelo raises his stick and blasts the puck in a powerful forehand into the center of the net.
The crowd erupt with cheers, applause, and whoops.
They’ve made the playoffs for the first time in Bay Rebels history.
“Yes!” I wrap my arms around Eden, careful of his injuries, just like I’ve wanted to after every game but have had to hold myself back.
Not anymore.
I understand Shay’s drive to live every day and experience every sensation to the fullest better now.
What if each moment is the last that I am able to share with these men? I won’t waste a single one of them, held back by doubts or other people’s judgments.
I’m grinning widely now.
Eden’s eyes are lighter and less haunted than they have been since we found him shrouded in smoke on the hillside above the flames like he’d crawled out of hell.
The Bay Rebels are raising their sticks in victory.
Shay and D’Angelo hurl their sticks to the ice, before dragging off their helmets and tossing them down as well. Then they yank off their gloves. It’s as if they are liberating themselves.
I bang on the glass. “Jude! Shay!”
They turn to grin at me.
Shay is glowing.
This is their moment.
They’re legends. They’ve earned this celebration.
They exchange a glance, and something appears to pass between them with the type of telepathy that they use while playing, before they skate toward Eden and me.
We know that the world is watching.
We want them to be.
I don’t know what will come of this.
What new dangers it will lead to. What will come next.
I only know that this is what we have all wanted from the moment that we started our polyamorous relationship and discovered that despite our troubled past, we’d now found a new family in each other.
I am shaking.
My eyes are stinging with happy tears.
I bite my lip.
Please, please, please.
After everything we’ve been through, we can be brave.
We can have our happily after ending both in private and in public.
It’s time to show the world that I am blessed because I am not only announcing my love for one man.
I am actually triple pucked.
Together, Shay and D’Angelo skate toward me.
To my shock, D’Angelo holds out his hand and Shay takes it as they skate.
Surprised and confused whispers erupt around the arena.
The cameras focus on the two men.
D’Angelo and Shay look like a couple on a romantic date.
Then in tandem, they raise their free hand to meet together between them in the shape of a heart.
The arena falls silent.
My own heart feels like it is going to burst out of my chest.
I should have known that D’Angelo would use this gesture since he plans to have a second career as a romance author.
By the gleam in his eyes, as his gaze meets mine, D’Angelo knows exactly how good the photo will look in the press: from puck boy to viral hockey boyfriend.
Yet this is also for me.
It is for Shay.
This is the big, romantic gesture that claims us both at the same time.
My heart swells, when both D’Angelo and Shay wait a beat and then make a show of pointing at me.
The reaction is immediate.
Cameras flash behind me. This is being streamed around the world.
I have two star players both proclaiming their public love for me.
The rest of the team are watching with wide eyes. Zach is beaming like he’s won the lottery.
I risk a glance to the side.
Cody and Noah are clapping and whooping.
Fleet’s arms are crossed. He’s smiling, proudly.
Dad…?
I flinch.
Dad’s expression is dark and furious. I am shocked, however, that his glare is focused on D’Angelo like he’s ready to wring his throat.
I’m glad that he’s separated by the glass.
Just before D’Angelo and Shay reach Eden and me, however, D’Angelo tugs Shay around like they’re figure skaters in a dance. They spin, and Shay wraps his arms around D’Angelo’s middle with a laugh.
Fuck, they’re beautiful.
It never fills me with jealousy to see them together. Instead, I feel a deep happiness and satisfaction that these men have found each other and that they can meet each other’s needs. In the same way, they meet different needs for me.
I tighten my arms around Eden, smiling up at him.
Eden’s expression becomes determined, and with what I know is an act of insane courage for him in this noisy and public setting, lightly kisses me.
More cameras flash.
I turn back to watch, as D’Angelo pulls Shay closer. He whispers something to him.
Shay smiles softly, before nodding.
Then D’Angelo kisses him.
The kiss is gentle, tender, and possessive.
The type of kiss that he normally gives me.
The kiss of a man who is in a loving relationship, rather than simply dating or fucking.
And Shay melts in his arms.
Fear and joy hit me at the same time.
There is a stunned silence in the arena, along with gasps of surprise.
I raise my eyes to look at the reaction of the players.
The rival players seem confused by the whole thing, exchanging glances.
Grayson, Lucas, and Atlas are watching, equally stunned.
But then, Zach raises his stick. “Hell, yeah!”
Atlas quickly joins in the victory, raising his stick. Suddenly, the whole team skates to surround D’Angelo and Shay in a protective shield, cheering, as if this is just an extension of their hockey victory.
Their reaction is the touchstone for the rest of the arena’s response; they knew that it would be.
Cody and Noah start clapping, which starts off the rest of the staff.
The board members look uncomfortable, as if they don’t know how they should be reacting.
Dad stands, glowering.
Yet he is alone.
D’Angelo has been open about his bisexuality. Yet this is Shay coming out about both about his sexuality and his relationship with his own captain.
Coach knows about their relationship, but since it breaks our contract, could he still make our lives hard over it?
Sponsors and fans are not always accepting. Shay is only just starting out, and talented as he is, will he be damaged by this?
He doesn’t have a wealthy background to fall back on, and he insists on being independent.
Will our love ruin him?
I brace myself.
Slowly, however, the fans stand and start to clap.
It’s not wild or excited.
It’s considered, serious, and it means so fucking much.
Shay glances around at the fans in shock.
Suddenly, tears are chasing down my cheeks.
D’Angelo is pale but smiling.
Shay is almost managing to bounce on his skates in his joy, as D’Angelo keeps his arm around him.
“I love you.” Eden is watching his brother being claimed as publicly as all these men have claimed me but also, with a type of tenderness that I bet he didn’t expect. “I think that this may be what happiness feels like.”
Then he finally smiles.
And it’s beautiful.