Page 87 of The Home Game

When everyone else had left and the door had shut behind them, Gilbert looked at the three of them. “I want to be clear. I have no problem whatsoever with who you all date. I mean that. I do have a problem with this team’s tendency to make the news for anything other than winning games.”

Dustin nodded. “Understood.”

“I need you three to lead by example. Fowler, I understand you’re happily married, so hopefully things will be quiet on that front?”

“Absolutely,” Dustin said. “I love Charlie and I would never do anything to jeopardize him or the team. The stuff the summer before this one about our marriage in Vegas … it was a fluke. We’ll be on our best behavior.”

“Good. Carlson, I understand you’re dating a man. A schoolteacher or something?”

Matty sputtered. “Oh, well—”

Gilbert raised a hand. “No, I don’t want to hear it. All I want to hear is that the two of you will be aware of the way you behave in public. Understood?”

Matty swallowed his protests that he and Antoni weren’t actually dating and nodded. “Yes, Gilly.”

“And Olson, I’ve never gotten a whiff of scandal from you. You’ve never dated anyone publicly, which I’ll admit, makes me a little nervous. I don’t fucking like surprises. So I need your assurance that whoever you date, it will not create any sort of issues for the team.”

“Absolutely, Gilly. It won’t be a problem.” Dominic’s jaw was tight.

“Good. Now, would you like to grab lunch with me? My treat.” Gilbert was all smiles now, his tone upbeat and cheerful.

Matty’s head spun at the 180-degree shift in mood.

“We’d like that,” Dustin said, clearing his throat. “However, we have a lunch planned for the team. Some early bonding and to get some of the guys we acquired over the summer familiar with the group.”

“Ahh, no problem,” Gilbert said, still smiling. “Glad to see you being proactive as a leader.”

Dustin nodded like he wasn’t quite sure how else to respond.

“Maybe some other time for lunch?” Gilbert suggested.

“Sure,” Dustin said slowly. “That sounds good.”

Matty and Dom both nodded.

Gilbert nodded toward the door. “Well, get out of here then. Oh, and before the season starts, my wife and I would like to invite the entire team and staff over for a meal. How does that sound?”

“Sounds great,” Matty said, aiming for another friendly smile. “Thanks, uh, Gilly.”

With some more handshakes and warm goodbyes, they left.

It wasn’t until they were outside the rink that Dom looked at both of them and said, “What the actual fuck was that?”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Although Antoni was nervous about the fallout from the JockGossip article, Matty seemed totally unconcerned.

He seemed more worried about how the new coach was going to impact the team.

“I don’t know,” Matty said with a troubled frown later that evening, following the team’s meeting with Michael Gilbert. “I don’t think Gilly’s a bad guy, exactly. Just tough. And I knew that going in but … he’s not quite what I expected either.”

As they cleaned up the kitchen together, Antoni listened and tried to be as supportive as he could be but he knew nothing about team sports or what most coaches were like.

“I wish I could be more help,” Antoni said when Matty was done and he felt like all he’d contributed was “mmhmm” and “that’s frustrating”.

“No, it’ll be fine.” Matty smiled. “I just needed to vent, I guess.”

“I’m always happy to listen. And if there’s anything else I can do, let me know.”

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