Epilogue
JAKE
April
Something was up. I didn’t quite know what, but I knew something was going on. Why? Because things were too quiet. Not noise-level quiet, because this was a hockey team after all, but something was telling me someone—or ones— was up to something. I just didn’t know who, what, or when they were planning it for. And that made me itchy.
Oh, and I had the day off—the day the Grizzlies played the Bulldogs for a conference playoff position. Both teams were guaranteed playoff spots, but Esme had explained to me earlier in the week that this was for ranking and position seeds. It was a big deal and the arena was nearly sold out.
Off work or not, I was at the arena with Esme. The entire Parliament team would be there, as would my friends and Larson’s whole family. I reached for my radio out of habit, only to find my shirt instead.
Because I ’ m not working tonight .
I was sitting in Esme’s office texting with my friends and waiting for everyone to show up. It was weird. I felt like I should have been doing checks of something, but I’d been expressly forbidden to work, not only by Blaise but my boss at the station too. He’d made a weird speech about my being too much of a control freak and having too much time off saved up and he was tired of fighting with HR about it.
So I waited… and paced some… and texted… and waited some more.
I wasn’t very good at doing nothing.
I was still doing nothing when Easton bounded into the office with Logan-level energy, nearly bowling me over on his way to Esme’s desk. “Look!” He pressed a button on his phone and shoved it in Esme’s face. Esme actually had to push his desk chair back to bring Easton’s phone into focus.
Once he had, a grin grew on his face. “Holy shit.”
“I knew Dane would come through for us! I only had to call in a few favors.”
“Um, what?” Since I had nothing to do, I at least wanted to know what the social media director had done.
Easton turned, his chest puffed up like a balloon, and angled his phone in my direction. The crowd outside the arena was already growing despite the doors not opening for another two hours. Hell, last I’d heard, all the players hadn’t even arrived yet, but the line of people waiting to get in was impressive… and very, very rainbow.
“Uh… That’s more rainbows than we had at Pride Night.” It was more rainbows than I saw at some Pride parades.
Esme’s grin was nearly giddy. “Oh, believe me. We know.”
I pulled up the schedule for promo nights on my phone. There wasn’t even a giveaway that evening, so why was everyone in rainbows?
Our social media director sauntered into the room looking smug, a far cry from the serious man he normally was. “Mission accomplished?”
Easton turned around, grabbed Dane’s cheeks in his hands, and planted the most dramatic, over-the-top kiss I’d ever seen onto Dane’s lips. Dane blinked, unsure how to respond, just as footsteps approached.
“Well, damn, looks like I missed out! What’s a bitch gotta do to get that type of action?” I turned to see the hair stylist from the building next door standing in the office. He was wearing a ridiculously tight shirt with glitter rainbow font that read, “I only want to make your hair straight,” short-shorts, and a pair of glittery knee-high boots. Even the bag he was holding was rainbow and glittery.
He gave Dane an exaggerated eyebrow waggle and blew a kiss in his direction, his pink lipstick mark clear on his hand. Dane went from smug to white and flustered and left, muttering something about Tory under his breath.
Easton rolled his eyes and shook a finger in Tory’s direction. “That man is nearly as dramatic as you are.”
I finally cleared my throat. “What’s going on here? I mean, besides Tory being a diva and pissing Dane off?”
Tory gave a bow. “That’s me! I finished Lincoln’s cut a minute ago. Now I’m going to wriggle my ass down to the locker room. Think if I show enough skin, I can get some action tonight?”
Easton shook his head and Esme waved Tory off with a laugh. We all watched as he sauntered off, throwing his hips dramatically from side to side. Easton rolled his eyes, but Esme was a little more serious when he called toward Tory’s retreating figure. “Leave Dane alone! I don’t want Jake to have to open a missing person case for you!”
Tory’s cackle echoed down the hall as the elevator doors slid shut. I really didn’t know if that was a good sign or not.
Easton patted my boyfriend’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Cap. He’s all sass, no real follow-through. And Dane’s a lot of bark but not so much bite.” Then Easton turned his phone in my direction and started flipping through photos. First, they were social media posts. Then they were subreddits.
Somehow, Dane had planted the seed for an unofficial Pride night at tonight’s game. Then someone, likely someone in this room with me, though neither would ever admit to it, had dropped some tidbits about “rumors” of Boston’s culture of homophobia and toxic masculinity. The Internet had done the rest.
Esme grinned at me. There was a story there—I didn’t know if I’d ever get it and I didn’t know if I even wanted it—but there was a story behind his grin. “I have a press conference to get to. Would you like to join me?”
Easton waved his hands excitedly. “Me! Me! Me!”
“I know you want to come, Lafferty. I was talking to my boyfriend.”
I blinked. I’d never gone to a press conference before a game just to watch. “Um, sure.” It would be interesting to see what happened at one. I was usually making sure the media vetting process went smoothly and double-checking the X-ray machines.
Esme walked around his desk to take my hand and lead me toward the elevators. “It’s going to be a bit of a dog and pony show. If you don’t want to be at the center of attention, tell me now.”
“Dog and pony show?” This didn’t sound good. I also didn’t like that I hadn't heard about this press conference beforehand. I was usually well informed of who would be giving interviews when and in exactly which room. I was totally in the dark on this one.
“If you don’t want people to know we’re a couple, I need to know before we get to the conference room.”
Easton helped fill in some of the gaps—not all, but a few. “He means he’s coming out.”
I blinked. “You’re coming out? Today? At a press conference?”
Esme grinned, his smile reaching his eyes, and I swore his entire face lit up. “Yeah. It’s time. I’ve been planning this with Easton for a while. I didn’t want you wrapped up in it if you didn’t want to be. That’s why I haven’t told you about it.” He kissed me softly and pulled back before the elevator even began to move. “If you want the hockey world to know I’m dating you, stay right here and hold my hand. If you want to remain anonymous, that’s fine too. Absolutely no judgment from me. Coming out should be on your terms, not mine. I have a speech prepared either way.”
The day off made a hell of a lot more sense now.
I took a few seconds to think it over, and as the elevator door slid open, I held firmly to Esme’s hand. “I’m good.”
The way his spine straightened and his smile grew even wider let me know I’d made the perfect choice for us. Again, not how I’d seen things going, but I couldn’t imagine them a different way now that it was happening.
Lincoln joined Easton outside of the elevator. Tom and his husband were already standing there, as were a number of Grizzlies players and their boyfriends. Even Blaise and Imil had made it to the hallway. “Ready?” one of them asked.
Esme squared his shoulders. “Let’s do this.”
Less than three hours later, we were sitting in the same section as the Parliament players, cheering as the Grizzlies took the ice. Easton had one long leg jammed up against Tom’s and the other was pinned under Lincoln’s. It was a weird position but the two looked comfortable, or at least as comfortable as they could be. It wasn’t like Esme and I looked any more comfortable with how we were jammed together in the seats between other players with legs far too long for the folding arena seats.
Easton had one arm slung over the back of the seat so he could turn and talk to Esme. ”Did you see the pictures of Anders?”
“Did anyone not see them?” Esme asked dryly, though there was a hint of a smile on his face.
As it turned out, years earlier, a Grizzlies player had been traded to the Bulldogs in exchange for Brax. That player was still there and still friends with most of the Grizzlies players. He’d been all too willing to take pictures of Anders’s face as the press conference broke.
The dog and pony show, as Esme had called it before the interview, hadn’t been bad. While it had been a packed house, the reporters who had been invited were from various gay sports publications and other publications that had always supported the Grizzlies. Esme had carefully crafted his responses to avoid throwing his former team under the proverbial bus but had given enough information to let people know his retirement hadn’t been what he’d wanted. He’d never mentioned my name, but we’d walked into the room holding hands and he’d looked directly at me a number of times when answering questions about his life in Nashville.
He’d ended the press conference with a smile on his face as he’d looked directly at me and emphatically stated he wouldn’t change the way things had gone, even if he could go back in time. He’d told the reporters, and really the entire sports world, that he was happier than he’d ever been and in love with an amazing man—me—who made every day worth getting up for.
I’d still been smiling when we’d made it to our seats.
The Bulldogs entered the arena and even from across the ice, I could see the scowl on the coach’s face as the team shuffled around the bench for the national anthem. Maybe the drag queen singing the anthem had been an over-the-top choice, but Blaise said it was worth it to have Seth shut up. I had no idea what he meant, but by the way everyone snickered around me, there was definitely another story there, probably dating to before my time at the arena.
There was a fire in the Grizzlies from the second the puck dropped and two players threw down their gloves in a fight until the final whistle blew and another fight broke out behind the Bulldogs net that resulted in every player on the ice being assessed major penalties. Even the goalies.
The entire arena was on their feet as the netminders met at center ice, leaving their gloves and sticks halfway there. Easton cheered loudest of all when the Grizzlies goalie, Yuri, took a swing at the Bulldogs goalie, and Yuri’s sleeve fell back to show the rainbow tape on his elbow pad.
Esme stood beside me, laughing and cheering as the referees tried to separate the two teams and send them all to the locker room. “Playoffs are going to be interesting,” he said to me, his voice holding both a promise and a threat.
I shook my head. “If this is a taste of playoff hockey, you better not be planning any business trips! I’m going to need plenty of time to rest whenever I can.”
He leaned in and kissed me, firm and possessive, and didn’t stop when we appeared on the Jumbotron. “I’ll see what I can do about that,” he said as he pulled back. “But I can promise you one thing. Even if I have business trips sometimes, I’m going to be coming right back home to you, always and forever, as long as I have any say in the matter.”
With a smirk on my face, I pushed at his shoulder and leaned in so he could hear me but no one could read my lips. “Good, because I need my Daddy.”
My words earned me a smile and a hug, and he leaned in just as close to whisper back to me. “And I need my baby.”
~*~
What’s next?
For the first time ever, I’m not actually sure. I’m currently woking on not one but two books. And I don’t know which one is going to take hold and be finished first. So I’ve added both to Amazon. The release dates will change for at least one of them as I figure out what will be done first. Until then….
Pressed , book three of the Nashville Parliament. Vincent, the Parliament’s gruff press relations director is tasked with helping organize the Parliament’s first ever pet adoption event. The problem? Vincent hates animals. The other problem? Andrew, the happy and enthusiastic owner of the rescue, is making Vincent feel all sorts of dangerous things, especially when Andrew is steadfastly unavailable. Oh, and the dog that is stealing his heart, one pitiful look at a time. Order Pressed here .