Chapter 21
TWENTY-ONE
EVAN
Ilay in Ronan’s bed, staring into the dark toward his ceiling.
The sun would already be out, but his blackout curtains blocked all light when they were closed properly.
Ronan tucked into my side, his steady breath whispering across my chest. He’d been quiet most of the evening, and I’d held him as much as I could.
If he’d wanted to talk, I would have listened.
But it was obvious he needed affection from me and to forget the day’s events with movies.
I glanced toward my phone, resting on his nightstand. It was probably time for me to rise and leave for the morning skate. I’d set an alarm, but it hadn’t gone off yet. If I rose now, I might not wake Ronan as much.
I shifted away from him and grabbed my phone.
Stirring, he mumbled. “Are you leaving already?”
“Um…” I peered at the time. My alarm would sound in a few minutes. “Yes, I have to get some breakfast in me before I leave.” Tapping on my screen, I turned off my alarm and the phone’s sleep setting disabled.
My phone dinged a few times, and notifications popped up from my agent. “Fuck.” What the hell? He’d left several voice messages as well. He was in the Midwest, so his work would have started a few hours ago. I tapped a text message open.
Rob Trembley
Call me as soon as you see this. We have a situation.
“Um, Ronan? Something happened.” I sat up in bed and called Rob. Had Jeff gone to the police and accused me of assaulting him? What did he have to gain? Fuck, would he sue me for assault to get the money he needed? But that could take months.
Rob’s phone rang once. “Evan. Where are you?”
Ronan grumbled, rose to sitting, and then snatched his phone from the nightstand. After brushing his hair from his face, he said, “Fuck.”
Shit, I’d have to lie. “I’m, uh, I’m at home in bed. I was about to prepare breakfast and leave for the Ice Den.” We needed light. After hopping out of bed, I slid my underwear up my legs and opened the curtains partway. Sunshine streamed into the room.
“Damnit.” Ronan covered his eyes with his hand, and then his phone started buzzing.
“Remember when you told me there was nothing I needed to know when the Coyotes made you permanent?” Rob asked.
“Uh, yeah?” I watched Ronan tap the screen on his phone, his brows furrowing. This had to be related to yesterday’s events.
“Well, it would have helped if you’d told me you were hooking up with Ronan Vale from Vanta Crown.” He released a sharp snicker.
“What?” As my pulse ratcheted up a notch, my jaw dropped. How the hell—
“The entire fucking world knows about us.” Ronan scowled, crept out of bed and slipped sweats onto his lower half. “Fucking Jeff. I’m sure he’s behind this.” He pressed his phone to his ear. “Hey, Lily. Yes, time to start our plan.” Ronan stepped into the hallway.
Plan? He had a plan for this? “Um, Rob, I can explain.” Rubbing my forehead, I paced across the foot of the bed.
“You’re with him now, aren’t you?” Rob heaved a sigh. “I need to speak with his manager, and then I’m contacting the team.”
“Hold on a minute. What happened? I just woke up, and I don’t know what’s going on.” As my heart pulsed into my temples, I halted. Fuck, my parents. Did they already know?
“Someone leaked photos of you and Ronan, uh…I guess making out at Ronan’s house in his doorway. It’s obvious it’s you and him, and your Jeep is also in one of the pictures.” He clicked his tongue. “Your license plate is in the photo.”
As the room spun, I fell onto the end of the bed and scrubbed my face. Which time had they caught us? Was it the neighbors or Jeff? “What was I wearing?”
“Why?”
“Just tell me, please.” I clenched my free hand into a fist. How would my father take this?
Shit, even if by some miracle he accepted me being queer, he’d surely tell me I’d focused too much on Ronan and give me shit about my playing.
Even though the Coyotes had made me permanent and I’d played the best games of my life.
“Let me see.” The clicking of a keyboard sounded. “Looks like a white button-down and jeans.”
Fucking hell. That day, Jeff had joined us for dinner, and I’d arrived early. Had he been hiding somewhere, waiting to take these shots? Was that why he was always late? “Yeah, okay. I think I know who did this.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter now. The photos are out, and we need to clean this up. Thank God you’re with the Coyotes.” He blew out a breath. “At least you’re not the first queer player to come out on the team.”
Queer…I glanced at Ronan’s bed. Yep, that was me. It was odd hearing it from someone else. “What do you suggest?” Where the hell had Ronan gone, anyway?
“Let me speak with Ronan’s manager first, and then I’ll call the team management. In the meantime, don’t speak to anyone about this but me.”
“But what about my family?” I had to call them. “Is it, has it hit any of the sports blogs?” My chest pinched and nausea balled in my gut.
“It has. You can speak with your family, but make sure they don’t talk to anyone either. Let the team and me manage this situation. Okay?”
“Yes, okay.” My gaze caught Ronan stomping into the room while scrolling on his phone, and Bean trotted in behind him. “Hey, I need to give my agent Lily’s number.” I was still finding this situation hard to believe. Maybe I was still fast asleep in bed, and this was a bad dream?
As Ronan’s gaze met mine, it softened, and he brushed his fingers down my arm. “I’m so sorry, Evan. Of course, you can have her number.”
I set my phone on speaker. “Rob, I’ve got you on speaker and Ronan is here. He can give you his manager’s number.”
“Okay, shoot,” Rob said.
“Her name is Lily Jones, and she already has a statement from me and a plan in case this happened.” He pressed his hand to my cheek. “I want to change my statement slightly, but I need to speak with Evan about it first.” He rattled off a phone number.
“Great. I’ll call her now and you two sit tight. Okay?” Rob asked.
“What about my morning skate?” I glanced at the time displayed in the screen's corner. I still had time to get there.
“No, go nowhere near the facility until I speak with the team. There could be paparazzi there. Just hold tight,” he said.
Paparazzi? For me? I stared at Ronan. “Okay.” Was news of our relationship really that big?
“I gotta go. I’ll be in touch. Bye,” Rob said.
“Bye.” I ended the call and stared at my phone. What should I do now?
“Evan.” He cupped my chin and lifted my face. “Are you okay?”
Hell, last night he needed me, but today I needed him. His experience with this shit was far greater than mine, and the world already knew of his bisexuality. “I, I don’t know. I’m in shock and I need to call my parents, but I don’t know what to tell them.” I swallowed a knot climbing up my throat.
Sliding his arm across my shoulders, he sat next to me.
“Let’s get our story straight first.” He chewed his lower lip.
“Evan, I want to present a united front. I, uh…” Rocking once, he glanced at our laps and then faced me.
“Evan, I love you and I want to show the world that we’re not ashamed of what we have.
” His throat dipped. “Jeff can’t win this. We will, together.”
Emotion flooded my heart. “You, you love me?” How the hell could I be so fucking lucky? Grabbing his cheeks, I planted a long, hard kiss on his lips. When it broke, I pressed my forehead against his. “I love you too, Ronan. So much.”
He released a ragged sigh. “Oh, thank God.” As his lips curled, he said, “I’ll change my statement then to announce us as an official couple. In these situations, I’ve learned it’s best to own it and act like it’s no big deal, like the media is making a fuss over nothing.”
Sliding my arms around his shoulders, I pulled him closer and nuzzled his neck. He. Loves. Me. Ronan fucking Vale loves me. “What did it say originally?”
“That we’d gotten together a few times.” He choked on a laugh. “We did, but now we are so much more.”
“Yes, we are.” Maybe Jeff had done us a favor.
The timing was terrible, but with Ronan’s support and knowing we loved each other, I could handle this.
“I have to call my parents.” I released him, stepped to my duffel and dressed in my team athletic shorts and shirt. “If it goes well, I’ll introduce you.”
“And if it doesn’t go well?” He rose and held his breath.
“Then I’ll tell them to call me back when they’ve come to their senses.” Fuck, I had no plan besides that, but after hearing the coming-out stories from Colton and Lucas, I understood what to expect.
I held my phone to my face, my attention shifting to Ronan. “Did you want to be present for it?” I’d FaceTime them. I should see their expressions.
“It’s up to you.” He squeezed my hand. “I want to support you any way you need. Should we have coffee first?”
“Uh, you make the coffee while I call them from the couch.” I strode into the main room, pulling Ronan along with Bean plodding behind us.
After settling on the sofa, I sucked a deep inhale and FaceTimed Mom. She’d be the easier one to talk to. My stomach twisted into a thousand knots. What would Dad say?
Ronan stood at the coffeemaker, watching it drip into a cup.
With a few rings, the phone picked up, and Mom’s face came into view, her dark hair greying at the roots and blue eyes puffier than usual. “Evan, we were wondering when we’d hear from you.” She wrinkled her brows. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine, Mom. I guess you know…” Of course, she fucking did. Bracing myself, I said, “I’m at, uh, Ronan’s house now.”
“Oh, okay.” She glanced away for a beat and winced.
“Is that him? Ask him how the hell he could do such a stupid thing.” Dad’s voice boomed through the connection. “And right before the Cup finals? The fucking Stanley Cup finals?”