Chapter 29 Post-Game Celebrations
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Post-Game Celebrations
ELI
Fuck.
I wanted to lick them.
“No,” Chris said, waving a hand in the air. “No, I don’t think pineapple on pizza should ever be allowed. It’s like putting a donut on a steak. It’s just weird.”
“What do you think?” Gabe asked me as I took the seat next to him.
I inched it closer to the left so that our legs were touching.
It felt so fucking good not having to hide.
I didn’t think something like this would ever happen, not after I learned why Gabe had been so hesitant about following his heart.
His reason appeared to be insurmountable.
I had been reckoning with the idea of possibly being secret boyfriends for the foreseeable future.
Clearly, I would have never made it as a fortune teller.
Thank fucking God.
“I like it,” I said.
Chris dropped his head back and put a hand on his face. “Damn, man, I trusted you.”
“Don’t you eat like raw deer when you shift?” I noted.
Chris spread his fingers open and looked through the hole. “Yes. And that’s still better than pineapple on pizza.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” I said with a laugh. My phone buzzed in my pocket. I glanced at it and saw it was from my manager, forwarding over another interview request. This one for… “Oh shit.”
“What?” Gabe asked.
“Looks like TIME magazine is asking us for an interview for their Pride issue.”
“Really?” Gabe leaned over and read the message.
His bushy black brow arched. He seemed to be interested in this one.
We had both agreed that keeping out of the media as much as possible would be best, considering the, uh, circumstances.
But we also agreed that it was important for us to realize that there’d be people looking toward us as symbols of positivity and hope, that kids who may have loved hockey but felt like they didn’t belong because they were queer would look to us for that green light.
It’d be selfish of us to completely wall ourselves off and not use our platform for good.
“Holy shit,” Chris leaned forward. “TIME? That’s huge.”
Soren shrugged. “If it is not for Most Interesting Person of the Year, then say no.”
I laughed, handing the phone over to Chris, who wanted to read the email. “I don’t think I’m in the running for that issue.”
“You would be if I were running the magazine,” Gabe said.
Chris “awed,” and Soren rolled his eyes, his smile giving away how he really felt.
My heart did a tiny little leap. It may have been corny, but it was sincere and actually made me feel like I would be on the cover of Gabe’s magazine.
Especially after that surprising declaration after the game. I wasn’t expecting it, but I couldn’t deny that I felt the same exact way for him. I truly did love him. I felt like I was home whenever I was around him. He was my comfort, my light.
He was my fated mate.
How could I not love him?
“So what do you two lovebirds think?” Chris asked.
“I’d have to ask Emmy,” Gabe answered. “But if he says okay, then I think it’ll be a good one to say yes to.
What do you think?” He turned those breathtaking blue eyes in my direction.
I had to hold myself back from saying “fuck it,” then climbing onto his lap and kissing him.
The game still had me worked up. Adrenaline and endorphins did funny things to a body.
And by ‘funny’ I meant primarily made me a horny, dick-gobbling monster.
I thought back to the state Gabe was in after his full moon shift, how insatiable and desperate he’d been.
Likely pretty close to how I felt now. I casually rested my hands between my legs, covering how excited I was getting.
I’d handle this later tonight.
“Yes,” I said, focusing back in on his question. “I think it would be a good move. Maybe we can get one long interview out there, and then people will stop being so interested.”
“Maybe,” Gabe replied, thoughtful.
“I’ve already switched all my social accounts to private. I’ve had a couple people somehow figure out my agent’s email, but those emails have all been positive. Unless he’s just not forwarding me the bad ones—which could actually be a possibility.”
“Our team pages have been getting a lot of attention,” Chris said. “I noticed it the other day.”
“Yeah, I noticed too,” I said. “I emailed an apology to our social manager, but she was quick to shut that down. She called me to tell me just how thrilled she was with the engagement.”
“Ticket sales for today’s game were good too, according to Coach,” Soren noted. “More than good. ‘Fuckin’ amazing,’ he had said.”
Chris nodded at that. “Seriously, it was a packed arena today. Guess everyone wanted to see you two play your first game together.”
“Nah,” I said, dismissing them, even though the correlation was hard to ignore. “Probably because it was one of our last games with the Sharks.”
“I cannot believe Viktor was not even there. Coward.” Soren spit into the dirt. “I still wanted to check him for talking shit about you, Elijah.”
“Thanks, Soar. But I’d rather check him by winning, which is exactly what we did tonight.”
Gabe shook his head. “That fucker still deserves a punch to the face. Maybe a broken jaw will stop him from talking so much shit.”
Yuni came to join the circle. She wore a light blue and black Bobcats T-shirt, matching colored stripes still painted on her cheeks from the game.
An expensive-looking gold necklace dangled over the Bobcats logo, sparkling with a large emerald seemingly held inside a golden claw.
“Where’s Dyl?” she asked the group as she looked around, taking a seat next to me. “I haven’t seen him all night.”
“He went for a hookup,” Chris said. “Apparently, he’s been talking to some guy. He’s new in town. They seemed to have hit it off, but I think tonight’s the first time they meet, so we’ll see.”
“Oh Lordy,” Yuni said and took a long chug of her beer. “What are the odds that he calls an emergency pack meeting just to have us sit through a PowerPoint about who this gentleman is and why he would make a great boyfriend.”
Gabe chuckled. “Remember when he did that for Emily?”
“Yes, I do, and that’s why I think he’s got the template ready to go. Just swap out a couple of pictures and ‘fun’ facts for his new guy.”
“God bless him.” Chris clapped his hands on his thighs and stood up, stretching his arms over his head. “Anyone want refills? Something to eat?”
I lifted my empty beer. “Can I have another, please?” Thankfully, it was a Friday, with no other games scheduled this weekend. We had a win to celebrate, and I had a boyfriend to ride. A couple more beers were exactly what a night like this called for.
“You got it, bro.” Chris went over to the cooler next to the barbecue.
Emmy was there flipping a couple of burgers and talking to Raquel.
Across from them and a couple of feet into the grass, Nicky—who I only just recently met—was scrolling through her phone while sitting at the long picnic table.
It was nights like these that made me so damn grateful I’d found Gabe and fit in so well with his pack.
Otherwise, I would have had an empty night celebrating the win either on my own or in a crowded bar or loud club that didn’t even allow for conversation, much less genuine connection.
It also gave me the sense that I was surrounded by family, even though my blood relatives lived miles away.
“You know who else I noticed was missing tonight?” Gabe asked.
“Harrison?” I suggested.
“Bingo.”
“Yes, it was odd to me too.” Soren cocked his head. “He rarely misses a game. And not one that is this important.”
“Did Coach say anything about it?” I asked.
Soren and Gabe both shook their heads.
“That’s your general manager, right?” Yuni asked. “I noticed the extra security tonight. Wherever he is, at least he’s making sure you guys stay safe.” Her attention shifted my way. She had sharp brown eyes with an intense shine to them, making them look almost golden.
Almost like a wolf’s stare.
“I don’t think I’ve gotten a chance to congratulate you two.
I sat next to a group of fans that couldn’t stop talking about you two.
It was cute. I did hear some douchebag say something shitty when I was grabbing some food.
I didn’t feel bad about bumping into him and knocking over all five of his Cokes. ”
“Nice,” I said. “And you know that shit cost him close to a hundred dollars.”
“Most definitely,” Yuni said, giggling.
“Let the idiots yap, they still paid for the ticket. And their hateful bullshit isn’t as loud as the cheers.”
“Never will be,” Yuni said. She lifted her glass over the fire. “To love drowning out the hate.”
I happily leaned in and clinked my empty beer bottle against hers, Gabe and Soren meeting us in the center.
I leaned back in my chair. Gabe leaned over and placed an arm across my shoulders.
I rested a hand on his knee. The fire crackled and sparked, sending embers floating up into the air with the trail of thin smoke.
It brought me back to camping with my parents, something my dad had thought we’d like and which quickly turned into a yearly tradition.
It was comforting. There was a peace to the night that was such a welcome contrast to the high-voltage energy that had coursed through the arena earlier tonight. I wanted to soak it in.
Unfortunately, I’d only get another precious minute before that peace completely shattered.
A text dinged into my phone at the same time that Gabe’s and Soren’s phones also buzzed and trilled. It was from Dylan, sent to the Bobcat Baddies chat group.
“Huh,” I said. “Maybe the date didn’t—what the fuck?”
My heart plummeted to the ground. My phone opened to a photo. It showed a bloody and bruised Dylan leaning back in a chair, head lolled to the side. Around his neck was what looked like a thick iron collar. There were splatters of blood on the peeling wallpaper behind him.
“Is this a prank? This has to be some stupid fucking joke, right?” I asked, but knew deep down this wasn’t a joke, no matter how much of a jokester Dylan considered himself to be.
Gabe and Chris both shot to their feet. I followed.
Emmy had gotten it too. Yuni wasn’t part of the chat group, so she leaned in to read what was on my screen, her hand clamping painfully tight around my wrist as if she needed me to steady her.
Another photo appeared. Viktor was in the frame now. He had a knife up to Dylan’s throat. Dyl’s eyes were still closed; it appeared as if he had passed out.
Underneath the photo was a text.
DYLAN: You have taken one of ours, so we will now take one of yours. Meet us at Coral Ridge Park. If Veronica is not with you then be prepared for a pack war to settle this once and for all. Goodnight.
“Holy shit, holy fucking shit,” I said, hand over my mouth. “What do we do?” I asked, looking around at the fear-stricken faces.
Emmy turned the flames off. His face twisted with a red-hot anger I’d never seen on him before. “We get ready to fight.”