Page 140 of The Home Game

Matty reached out to squeeze his hip. “Hey, I know. I never thought you did. I should have given the head office and coaching staff a heads-up. That’s my fault.”

“And the guys on the team?” The wince on Matty’s face told Antoni everything he needed to know. “That good, huh?” he said dryly.

Matty shrugged. “Well, for the most part it went about like I expected, honestly. Dustin was concerned and Dom blew his top. Nico gave me less shit than I expected though, so that’s something.” Matty grinned and this time, it looked real.

“Well, that’s good about Nico,” Antoni agreed. “But I don’t want to be the cause of tension with Dom or make your captain worry about you.”

“Hey, I know that.” Matty pulled him closer. “I think they’re concerned. They’re all on board with the fake relationship to protect Eli but—”

“Wait, you told them?” Antoni asked, alarmed. “That’s so many people! What if they—”

Matty winced. “Shit. Antoni, I’m sorry. We should have talked about that. I just assumed— I shouldn’t have done it without asking you though. I promise, it’s only a handful of the guys though. The core. The ones who are my closest friends. The ones I trust with my life.”

Antoni sighed. “I’m not mad. I get why you did it but yeah, we really should have talked about it first. I am glad you trust them. It’s … what if word gets out? I’m not saying any of those guys would do or say anything intentionally but what if someone slips up? This could be horrible for my custody case if it got out, Matty.”

“They wouldn’t let it slip,” Matty said soothingly. “I promise.”

“Not even Dom? If he’s that pissed, are you sure he wouldn’t—”

“I’m sure,” Matty said firmly. “We can trust Dom. He was livid about what the Swansons did to Eli. He’s pissed because he’s feeling overprotective of me but he wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize the kids. I know that for sure.”

Antoni wasn’t so sure if he believed that. Then again, Antoni didn’t know the guy at all so he’d have to trust Matty. “Okay.”

Matty searched his face. “As far as the custody, do we need to worry about the speculation in JockGossip? And the shit that the Swansons said?”

“I don’t know,” Antoni said with a tired sigh. “I called April on my lunch break. She said that for right now, we need to wait and see. I do think if we can present ourselves as a happy family to the public, that’s going to be important. I don’t like to think about things like that influencing a judge but …”

“It can’t hurt though. And it’s not such a stretch for us to act like a happy family, is it?” Matty asked. “I mean, we all like spending time together.”

“We do,” Antoni agreed with a small smile. “I hate the idea of having to put on a show. It feels gross and disingenuous.”

“Hey, I get it. I hate that too. But we’ll do whatever we can. Actually, one thing Kate suggested was that you and the kids come to the first game of the season in a few weeks. She’ll be contacting you about some PR stuff soon—she does that for all the SAPs—but the game should be straightforward enough. It should be fun for the kids. It would certainly get a lot of media attention.”

Antoni bit his lip. “Do you think maybe my parents could come too? I don’t want to wrangle four kids on my own. I can imagine one of them getting into something they shouldn’t and it backfiring and looking bad for all of us.”

He could totally picture the JockGossip headlines about him being a neglectful caregiver.

“Of course,” Matty said, rubbing his hands up and down Antoni’s arms. “I was planning on that anyway. And I’ll see if some of the other SAPs will be there to help as well. I know Charlie’s offered to sit down and explain the game to you and August probably would too. Hell, he’d be great at that as a former ref. And I know everyone would be happy to keep an eye on the kids. Remember, you’re not alone now, Antoni. You’ve got all of the SAPS and the players behind you.”

But Antoni caught the small wince when he said that and he studied Matty’s face. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Ahh, well, not all of them, obviously. Dom isn’t quite there yet with our relationship. He’ll get there eventually though.”

“God, Matty …” Antoni settled his hands on Matty’s chest. “I hate that this situation is straining your relationship with your friend. I know how important he is to you.”

“Look, the issues Dom and I have go further back than that,” Matty explained. “I didn’t really realize it until today but it’s true. I’m pretty sure there’s some stuff he resents me for or something. And there’s some shit he’s pulled that I’m not happy about either. It’s probably a little like you and Andrea. You must argue at times, right? You’re brothers.”

“Oh, definitely. We had a while where we really drove each other nuts and that sometimes flares up again,” Antoni admitted. “But you’ll let me know if there’s anything I can do to help the situation with Dom, right? If it’s sitting down and talking to him and assuring him that I’m not—not taking advantage of you or anything, I’m happy to do it.”

“That’s sweet,” Matty said, pulling him close. “I can’t think of anything that would help right now other than giving him time to cool off, but if I do, I’ll let you know, okay?”

“Okay,” Antoni agreed, settling his cheek against Matty’s shoulder.

In a few minutes, they’d need to relieve Antoni’s parents and get dinner started. But for now, Antoni stood there, wrapped in Matty’s arms, feeling the slow, steady rise and fall of Matty’s chest against his own.

There was so much uncertainty ahead but surely, they could handle anything if they were united in this.

Despite Antoni’s worries, the next few weeks flew by.

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