Page 83 of The Home Game

Sour grapes from a jilted lover or secrets from his past revealed?

Check the JockGossip blog for all of the latest developments in this intriguing new chapter of Carlson’s life.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Matty had just finished cleaning the kitchen when he got a text from Antoni. It was early—before school even started—and he wondered if Antoni had forgotten something.

But when he checked, he found a message saying, Uhh, I think I screwed things up for you.

Matty frowned and typed out a response. What do you mean?

A link popped up. They think we’re dating.

Matty clicked on the link, unsurprised to find it was from JockGossip. He fucking hated that site. They always seemed to know way more about what was going on with the team than they should.

Matty read the article, rolled his eyes at the quote from Courtney—of course she’d gotten her thirty seconds of fame in—and dialed Antoni’s number.

“Uhh, hey,” Antoni said. “So, did you read it?”

“Yep.”

“I am so sorry. I really shouldn’t have—”

“Whoa, hey, you didn’t do anything wrong,” Matty assured him. “They’re the scumbags who print shit like that.”

“Yeah, but—”

“Antoni, it’s fine,” Matty said. “I don’t care.”

“But you—you aren’t out.”

Matty shrugged. “Technically, I’m still not. It’s not any worse than anything else they’ve said in the past either. You should see the stuff they said after Court and I split.”

“I think I have actually. I, uh, kinda googled you after we met and I’m pretty sure that’s the site I read it on. The purple logo looks familiar, anyway.”

“Ahh, well, no harm, no foul,” Matty said. “You probably didn’t believe it, right?”

“No, I just assumed it was a trash gossip site—oh, that’s what you mean. You don’t think people will take it seriously?”

“Some will,” Matty admitted. “Most of them though? Nah. Even if they did though, it’s not exactly a huge scandal if people think I’m dating a teacher who’s raising four kids. Compared to Nico’s sex tape a few years ago, this is like … totally boring. Must’ve been a slow news day for them to bother to post this.”

Antoni chuckled. “Okay, but what about the fact that the teacher is a guy?”

“I’m fine with it. I’ve never come out publicly as bi or anything but I’m not ashamed of it either. At first, you know, it took me a while to get used to the idea. Where I was raised, it just wasn’t something you saw. And the lower levels of hockey …” Matty winced. “They weren’t the friendliest place for some guys. It’s not that it never happened. We all knew that some guys were okay with handies or a blowjob from a teammate. But no one talked about it. And those guys didn’t date. Or at least not that I ever heard about. The whole thing was written off as stress relief and that was it, you know? But things are changing in hockey and that’s good.”

“And your family? What about them?” Antoni’s voice was filled with worry.

Matty shrugged. “They love me. Do they get me being bi? Ehh, not really. They don’t really get being demi either though. According to my mom, that’s just what relationships are supposed to be like. She wasn’t super impressed with me marrying Courtney so quickly or buying a yacht either but it doesn’t mean she loves me any less. And my dad’s the same.”

Antoni chuckled. “Fair enough. I just …”

“Don’t worry so much about me,” Matty said softly.

“Oh, like you don’t worry about me?” Antoni shot back.

“Well …” Matty smiled. “Okay, that’s fair. But honestly, the team doesn’t give a shit. I’ll let my agent know so he’ll be ready with a ‘no comment’ if anyone asks. And people who don’t actually know me will think whatever they want to think.”

“If you’re sure it won’t cause you problems …”

---