Chapter 22 #2
“It won’t, Alex.” Right now I knew, deep in my soul, he was the man I was meant to be with for life. “I won’t ever let it end between us.”
He lifted his head, a small smile ghosting across his lips, his thumb brushing my forehead. “Yeah? Then I won’t either.” He kissed me gently. “Love you so damn much.”
Warmth spread through my entire body. I didn’t want to face the outside world yet, but it was time. “Love you, too. We’ll beat this, Alex.”
After an amazing evening eating frozen pizza and relaxing with movies in his home, we spent the night cuddling in bed and hadn’t mentioned trade deals or hockey all night. The next morning, we woke early, ate a healthy breakfast, and I headed home to shower, dress, and prepare for the day.
When one o’clock came around, I found Alex alone in the locker room, dressing after his shower. It was our last chance to convince my father to change his mind. I still didn’t have a new angle to give Dad, but I hoped Alex did. “Hey.”
Alex’s gaze cut to mine and he pursed his lips. “Hey.” He strolled up to me, wound an arm around my waist, and kissed me deeply.
My eyes widened, and I pushed him away. “Alex, stop. Someone will—”
“Who the fuck cares anymore?” His chest expanded with a deep inhale. “I’m out and ready to go public with us. I want to show the world you’re mine.”
As my heart melted, I grabbed his hand. “Okay, let’s meet with my father.
” Dad could be stubborn after he’d decided on something, so I had little hope.
As I led Alex down the corridor to Dad’s Ice Den office, murmuring voices filtered out from a neighboring conference room.
Someone was holding another meeting. It was no business of ours.
Dad’s door was open, so I stepped inside with Alex. “Hey, Dad.” I freed Alex’s hand.
Sitting behind his mahogany desk, Dad typed on his laptop. Black glasses hung on his nose. “Hello, Julian.” He peeked toward Alex as he closed the door.
“Hi, Mr. Mercer.” Alex stepped in beside me, clasping his hands in front of him.
“Oh, Julian didn’t tell me it would be both of you.” Dad slipped his glasses off and tilted his chair back. “Please have a seat.” He held his hand out. “I suppose this is about the trade.”
“Dad, you can’t trade him to the Flyers. It’s too far away.” With a huff, I dropped into a chair.
“I’d prefer to stand, if you don’t mind.
” With his brows drawn together, Alex glanced at me.
“Mr. Mercer, if it makes a difference, I’m ready to announce my relationship with your son to the public.
I’ve come out to my parents and…and I don’t know, maybe if we announce it to the press, it’ll buy us more time to find a closer team to Phoenix and not across the country.
Or maybe we could find another solution.
At least we won’t cause any surprise scandals.
We could announce that we’re working on a solution to the policy problem and, and—”
The door swung open, and Mason, Jett, Archer, Ace, Evan and Lucas all filed into the room.
“What’s this all about?” Grant straightened in his chair, his gaze flicking to each player.
As my brows rose, I stared at them. Why were they here?
Mason stepped forward. “Mr. Mercer, on behalf of all the queer players on your team, we’d like you to reconsider trading Volkov to the Flyers.
” He cleared his throat. “If you haven’t noticed, Volkov is the best damn captain this team has ever had.
He led us to the Stanley Cup last year and helps to ensure queer players on this team feel respected and are treated equally.
” He gave a soft smirk to Volkov. “And hell, we didn’t even know he was one of us. ”
Grant held his palm up. “Stop, Hopkins. I know this is hard—”
“No, wait. There’s more.” Ace stepped forward.
“I don’t know if you’ve watched many games this year, but this is a winning forward line right here.
We barely won any games when Volkov was out with his injury.
If you ruin this lineup now, there’s no telling what’ll happen to your franchise.
The sports world will have its opinions, the fans will talk and the players, hell, morale will go down the drain.
” Ace narrowed his eyes. “Talk about a scandal? The players will all wonder if they’re next, especially if they come out as queer. ”
“Now, wait a minute.” Grant stood and adjusted his suit jacket. “I’m not trading Volkov because he’s queer or because he’s dating my son.”
“We’re not dating. He’s my boyfriend. I love him.” Alex placed his hand on my shoulder. “In fact, I love him so much that I destroyed my relationship with my parents for him.”
My gaze flicked from Dad to Alex and back again. Was Dad cracking?
Dad’s gaze softened as it found mine. “I’m sorry, but I can’t let you disregard franchise policy. It would prove detrimental to everyone, eventually.”
“What if there was someone who could mentor Julian and give him better insights when spotting talent and working on player development?” Ace gave Grant a sly grin.
“What do you mean?” Dad shifted his attention to Ace.
“Ray Keller. The man who scouted me from ASU. I chatted with him last night, and he could use an assistant. Badly. Last I checked, scouts are not part of the coaching staff and apparently, goalies are sons of bitches to scout. We take forever to develop, are highly volatile and mentally, well…” He pointed a finger at Hopkins. “Don’t say it, Hopkins.”
“You’re weird.” Mason lunged at Ace and grabbed his shoulder, shaking him. “Yeah, it takes a special scout to tame a wild beast like Ace.” He snickered.
With a scoff, Ace said, “I’m not that weird.”
“But I, we don’t have associate scouting positions.” Dad rubbed his chin.
Fuck, we had him. “You’re the owner, Dad.
You can make one. Hell, I’d love to work with Ray Keller.
He’s been with the team since the beginning, hasn’t he?
Can you imagine what he’s seen in thirty years?
” Goddamn, this was perfect, and Dad knew it.
I shifted to the edge of my seat, my heart soaring.
“Your son is right, Mr. Mercer,” Jett said, his brows wrinkling.
“You gave me a chance on this team to learn from these guys and accept myself. You also didn’t bat an eye when you found out I married my teammate.
You trusted us. Now we’re asking you to do the same for your son and our team captain.
The man who led us to victory in the Stanley Cup. ”
My throat tightened. Jett was always so eloquent and no-nonsense when he spoke. He was the opposite of his husband.
Dad released a rush of air. “Fine, fine. I’ll see what Ray Keller says about this and maybe we can work something out.” Shaking his head with a thin smile, Dad focused on me and said, “I’ll hold off on any more trade talks for Volkov.”
“Thank you, Dad.” I jogged to him and threw my arms around his shoulders, giving him a swift hug. I had every confidence I’d be working with our goalie scout now.
“Whoa, whoa.” Dad patted my back, chuckling. “It’s not over yet. There’s still work to do.”
As I released Dad, I faced the players. “Thanks, guys. You’re all amazing.”
With smiles and pats on the back, they congratulated me and Alex.
Mason said, “Anytime, Julian. It’s what the squad does. Even though we’ve evolved over the years, we always fight for each other.”
“Okay, now get out of my office. I have work to do.” Dad waved his hands, shooing us out of the room.
We gathered in the corridor, all smiles and teasing laughter.
Alex wound an arm around my waist. “Let’s coordinate with the PR department and plan our public announcement.” He planted a hard kiss on my mouth. “I love you, Julian. No more hiding.”
“No more hiding.” I buried my face in his neck.