Page 148 of Interference

I gulped. “A situation?”

Everyone else in the room watched her, my own confusion registering on their faces.

Then she turned her tablet for me and the others to see. “This article was just sent to me.”

I leaned in, and my heart dropped into the pit of my stomach.

There was a photo of Simon and me at a red carpet event, smiling and tuxedoed, and it had been edited to look like it was ripped in half. Below that, a headline screamed, Seattle Bobcats Power Couple Are OVER!

Exclusive Scoop From Insider: Simon Caron’s Heartache, Anthony Austin’s NEW BOYFRIEND

“What the fuck?” I whispered. “Can I see that?”

She handed over the tablet. With my stomach in even tighter knots than when I’d gotten into Simon’s car earlier, I read the text on the screen. And, oh, hey, what a fucking shock to see Cole Tandy’s name on the byline.

The slimy fucker had written, Seattle Bobcats star forward Simon Caron and defenseman Anthony Austin have broken up! A source close to the couple says Caron and Austin have been living separate lives for nearly a year now. Caron is said to be heartbroken, while Austin has already moved a new boyfriend into the love nest they once shared in Medina.

I didn’t read any further—it was a short piece, but I just didn’t want to know what else he’d vomited onto the page. Instead, I made a disgusted sound and pushed the tablet back to Megan.

“Is this article true?” Clark asked flatly.

I swallowed. “It’s true that Simon and I split up. That’s… That’s exactly why I asked for…” I gestured to encompass the room and everyone sitting in it. “I didn’t want to keep it a secret anymore.”

Megan tapped her tablet. “It isn’t a secret.”

“I know.” I shook my head. “I have no idea who he talked to. Or how he—” My teeth snapped shut.

There was a very, very select group of people who knew Simon and I had hit the skids at all. An even smaller group who knew we’d split up.

There was also a tiny group who was aware that Wyatt and I were together.

And only three people on the planet who knew about the breakup and my relationship with Wyatt.

Me. Wyatt. And Simon.

Simon, who knew exactly how quick Cole Tandy was to jump on—and spread—any gossip he got his hands on. Simon, who knew how much Tandy had been sniffing around for drama between us ever since we’d come out.

Simon, who was pissed that I was telling the team’s brass we were over.

“Son of a bitch,” I muttered.

“Aussie?” Coach Haskins asked quietly. “Something you want to share?”

I pushed a hand through my hair and exhaled as I leaned back in my seat. I didn’t have enough proof to throw Simon under the bus. But who the hell else could it be? “The whole reason I wanted this sitdown was to tell you guys that we’d broken up. I didn’t…” I flailed a hand at Megan’s tablet. “This wasn’t how I wanted it to come out.”

“So you were trying to get ahead of the story,” Allen, the president of hockey operations, said.

“No,” I said quietly. “I didn’t know there was a story. There wasn’t supposed to be. I… On the way in this morning, I told Simon I couldn’t handle it anymore, and that I was going to meet with all of you.”

“Did he object to that?” Clark asked.

I debated how to answer, and finally went with the truth: “He didn’t want me to do it.”

“Why not?” Megan sounded irritated, probably because she hated being caught off-guard by shit like this and likely wasn’t looking forward to crafting a statement in response to it.

I met her gaze. “He wanted us to finish out the season. His thought was that if we came to you all in the off season, told you we’d broken up months ago, and could show that we can coexist as teammates, then everything would be fine. There wouldn’t be a need to get rid of one of us.”

They all exchanged unreadable looks.

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