Page 203 of The Blame Game

Dom glanced at Shea. “For Shea’s sake, I would have kept quiet. I would have paid to protect him. But the truth is, I’m tired of having this hanging over my head. I’m tired of other people having power over me. The invasion of privacy makes me so angry but I—I feel like if I pay, I’m letting them control my life. And I’m tired of someone else controlling my life.”

He swallowed hard. “Back in LA, I had a boyfriend. I let my fear of being outed ruin our relationship and ultimately, I paid to keep it out of the gossip pages then.”

Around the room, several eyebrows rose.

“I regret that. I’ve spent my entire career with secrets hanging over my head and I want to be free of them. I let my desire for privacy warp my ability to trust people.” He glanced at Shea again. “I won’t make that mistake again.”

There were other questions after that and they took turns fielding them, but eventually, guys began to excuse themselves.

As they left, Dom got hugs and promises of support.

When only Dustin, Charlie, and Kate remained, Dustin looked Dom in the eye, gripping his upper arm. “I hope you know we will stand by you if this comes out. But no matter what happens, I want you to know that I’m proud of you.”

Dom blinked. “For?”

“For trusting us when I know it was difficult to do,” Dustin said earnestly. “For letting us in.”

“Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?” Birdie asked the following morning as Dom stepped into the practice facility.

He glanced over in surprise.

“Oh, hey, Birdie,” he said. He was a little early for practice and apparently, she was too. Colton had probably come in for work with the trainers before their light skate and video review in preparation for the game in LA the tomorrow. They were flying out this afternoon.

“Hey.” She gave him a weak smile. “I just wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Sure. What’s up?”

She glanced around and lowered her voice. “So, I was thinking more about the, uh, situation. And I—I think Mitchell might be the leak.”

Dom nodded. “Kate and I have considered that.”

He didn’t have the heart to tell her they’d questioned her involvement for a little while.

“I don’t want it to be true,” she said, her expression pained. “But I can’t think of anyone else …”

“But why would he do it?” Dom asked. “Because Kate and I couldn’t figure out the motive. Do you have any ideas?”

“Not really,” she said thoughtfully. “I mean, maybe he needs money but he seems to be doing okay. He just bought a new car a few months ago …”

She froze. “That makes him look more suspicious, doesn’t it?”

“Possibly,” Dom shrugged. “Or maybe he was just a college student with a shitty car who upgraded once he had a real job?”

“Maybe,” Birdie said slowly. “But it’s new-new. Like … brand-new and while it’s not luxury, it’s not a cheap car. Like, I know the front office pays pretty well but that well?”

“You never asked?”

She frowned. “Well, I did. I was surprised by it and made some joke about his new boyfriend being a sugar daddy. He got all weird about it and I thought maybe I hit closer to the mark than I meant to, you know?”

Dom nodded. “His boyfriend is the guy he was with at the gala, right?”

“Yeah,” Birdie said. “Joe. Which was weird too. Mitchell was supposed to be working that night. He wasn’t attending as a guest so I didn’t think he was supposed to bring a plus one. When I asked, Mitchell said that Joe showed up unexpectedly and acted like he thought he’d been invited. They got into an argument about it, actually.”

“That sounds a little suspicious too,” Dom admitted.

“It does.” Birdie looked sick.

“Do you know what Joe does for a living?”

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