Page 161 of Interference

He checked his phone. “Well, I need to be there in twenty, so we’d better get moving.”

We left the hotel room and took the elevator down to the mezzanine. As the doors opened, I offered him my elbow, which he took, and we stepped out of the elevator into the crowded hallway.

The hotel’s enormous ballroom was about to be packed with people. Normally that would give me an unpleasant jolt, but the organizers had listened when I’d told them about that. Especially with guests coming in who had backgrounds similar to mine, they’d made sure to keep flickering and flashing lights to a minimum, and to control the flow of people so there was always space to move around. No chokepoints, no dense crowds, and very clearly marked and unobstructed exits.

Right now, it was still empty except for vendors and organizers, as well as people setting up the various card tables. Someone was adjusting a microphone on the stage, and there were a few reporters standing in the beams of bright lights as they spoke into cameras.

Anthony released my elbow and put his hand on my back. “I have to go join the team. Come by my table once everything gets going, though.”

“I will.” I pushed myself up and kissed him. “Have fun.”

His wicked grin made me laugh. “You know I will.”

We shared one more kiss, and then he headed off to where the players were gathering for their introductions.

Shortly after that, the doors opened, and people came flooding in. Everyone was dressed to the nines and excited as hell, and they cheered and applauded when the players were introduced. Each player came out onto the stage wearing a jersey styled after tonight’s theme—those would be signed and auctioned off.

There were some speeches, which reminded me of the military brass giving their long-winded intros at official functions. It was all great stuff, mostly talking about the event, the team, and how eager they all were to support tonight’s charity, but holy fuck, they could talk.

Much like military speeches, these ended eventually, and everyone was turned loose to play. The players disappeared backstage, then returned with their tuxedos on again, and they took their places to deal craps, blackjack, and roulette. At the end of the night, people could use their chips to buy raffle tickets for some seriously cool prizes.

I spent the first part of the night just strolling around with Lily, staying near the edges of the room where it was less crowded, and drinking in the sheer magnitude of everything.

Drinking in the fact that I was even here, and how different my life looked from the night I’d crossed paths with Anthony.

It wasn’t just fancy nights out, either. Because of everything Anthony had done to help stabilize my life, I’d been able to go to Portland quite a few times. I’d had a chance to spend time with Dad while he was still relatively comfortable and lucid, and I’d been able to give Mom a break, all without worrying about burning PTO or losing my job. Then Dad’s health had taken a sharp downward turn, and I’d stayed with Mom while he was on hospice. Anthony had joined us when the season was over, and he’d been there as a steadying presence and a shoulder to cry on while Dad’s time had wound down.

Six months after the Christmas I’d spent with Anthony and my parents, I was there when Dad passed away. All through the funeral, with Anthony by my side, even my grief couldn’t chase away the bone-deep gratitude. I’d come so close to missing one last Christmas and some precious time with my father before he was gone. As hard as it was to watch my dad fade away and to grieve him, I didn’t want to imagine the immovable regret and crushing loss of not having that time with him before he was gone forever.

If Anthony had never come into my life…

Well. That wasn’t something I wanted to think about for a lot of reasons. I was just grateful he had, and that I’d been lucky enough to land with the most incredible human being I’d ever met.

Surprisingly, Simon and Anthony had reconnected this past off season. I’d been a little wary of that, since I wasn’t crazy about Simon, but it turned out the guy had found a therapist in his new city. He’d worked through some things, and he’d realized that Anthony was right—the pressure the Bobcats had put on them had doomed their relationship. Like Anthony, he now had a boyfriend he was dating openly, and between that relationship and his therapy, he’d seen the light. So, he’d apologized to Anthony, and also to me. We’d even met up with him and his new boyfriend over the summer when they were in Seattle.

“Do you think you’re going to stay friends with him?” I’d asked on the way home.

Anthony had shrugged. “I think we’ll stay friendly. We’re still playing in the same league and all that. But I think this was closure for me.” He’d taken my hand and smiled. “Feels like I’m finally letting him go.”

Thank God for that. Anthony deserved better than Simon’s bullshit. Being better than Simon seemed like a low bar, so I focused on trying every day to be better than what Anthony deserved. He seemed happy, so hopefully I was succeeding?

As time had gone by, I’d started joining Anthony and the cats on their hikes. Even some of the slightly steeper ones. Thanks to having regular access to food, not to mention a home gym, I was in much better physical condition than I’d been when we’d met. The VA wasn’t all that helpful with my prosthetic, but the Bobcats’ medical staff had hooked me up with an orthopedist who specialized in both sports medicine and amputees. Anthony had been a saint and covered the bills for a more state-of-the-art prosthetic. It was way more comfortable, and it also had more stability on uneven terrain. Suddenly the world was more open to me than it had been before, and I could be active in ways I’d thought I wouldn’t be again.

So, hiking through the gorgeous Pacific Northwest landscape with my boyfriend, my dog, and the cats was now not only something I could do, it was something I did regularly. My orthopedist really wanted me using hiking poles out there for stability and to support my other leg, but I needed a hand free for Lily’s leash, so we’d compromised on using one pole. Of course, that meant my hands were full, but Moose was really good at not pulling on his leash, so I could loop it around my wrist and hold the hiking pole with my hand.

Then we’d just have to stop every few minutes while I pretended to be exasperated that Anthony and Bear were so slow. Anthony always rolled his eyes, but even he thought it was funny. And Bear was starting to pick up the pace on hikes, too, mostly because he liked to be hot on Lily’s heels. So our little motley crew of hikers made pretty decent time these days, and I loved every last minute of it.

Of course, there was only so much time for hiking. Anthony’s training and travel schedule was brutal, but mine was suddenly packed tight as well. With some seed money from Anthony, I’d started the Housing Veterans of King County Project, an organization to help disabled and homeless veterans in the greater Seattle area. We focused mostly in helping veterans find safe and stable housing, and we were also working on setting up a legal advocacy group for those fighting for their VA benefits (including me, since that battle was still ongoing). That part would take some time to get off the ground, and hopefully in the future we’d also expand everything to other counties. For right now, though, we were off to a damn good start. Eventually, I might even be able to hire some paid employees instead of relying on volunteers, but we’d get there.

The Seattle Bobcats had gotten onboard with it, too. Starting this season, the Veterans Day game raised money specifically for my organization. The players wore military-themed warmup jerseys, then signed them, and the jerseys were auctioned off along with themed and autographed sticks and pucks.

Tonight was the annual charity Casino Night. Every year, the team selected a different charity to benefit, and I’d been blown away when I’d learned that the organization they’d be raising money for this year was… mine.

“Your boyfriend made a hell of a case,” the team’s general manager had told me during a meeting about the event. “And he got his teammates onboard, so how could we say no?”

Jesus, I loved Anthony.

And speaking of my amazing boyfriend, he was clearly having a good time tonight. Like most of the Bobcats, he was dealing blackjack for thrilled fans. I stopped by his table to watch briefly, but I didn’t want to distract him. Not when there was math involved; God knew I couldn’t have counted to twenty-one with him nearby.

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