Page 16 of The Blame Game

Dom winced. That wasn’t a good sign. He’d been working hard to not think about what Kate was here to meet with him about but the fact that she’d shown up at his building instead of calling him into the office was concerning.

He’d hoped it was nothing more than her paranoia about the leak that had recently been discovered within the organization but clearly she knew about the fire.

They rode the rest of the way up to his floor in silence, and Kate didn’t speak until they were in the apartment.

“Nice place,” she said, glancing around.

“Thanks.”

She made herself at home at the dining table he never used, setting out food before she opened her laptop. “Help yourself.”

Too stressed to be hungry, Dom reached for a cup of coffee, remaining standing.

It wasn’t a power move or anything. Kate was absolutely the one in charge here, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to sit still to save his life.

A raspy cough came from the other room and Dom tensed.

“Is someone else here?” she asked, glancing up at him with a frown.

“Yes.”

Kate arched an eyebrow at him. “Would you care to share the name of this person?”

Dom swallowed hard, trying to decide which name to go with. “Uh, Sawyer Barnett. My stylist.”

She blinked, studying his face. “Is this the person you were spotted and photographed with at the High Park Towers fire last night?”

“Yes,” Dom said. “How bad is it?”

“At this point, mainly speculation.”

“JockGossip?”

“Yes.” She took a sip of coffee.

Dom made a face. “Of course it fucking is.”

“They are nothing if not predictable.” There was a touch of wry humor in her tone.

“So if it’s mainly speculation, why this urgency to meet? I mean, no, I don’t want to be outed to the public but c’mon. Half the fucking team is gay or bi.” He strode over to the wall, pointing at the photo from the team’s Stanley Cup win in 2021. “See exhibits A-E.”

He pointed at Dustin, Nico, Felix, Jonah, and Matty.

A glimmer of a smile crossed Kate’s face. “That’s closer to a third and I believe Nico identifies as pansexual but yes, you are correct. It’s hardly a scandal for a player on this team to be dating a man. But I was under the impression you wished to remain in the closet.”

“I do.”

“Well, then for one, I’m here to see how you want to handle the gossip. And I thought you’d appreciate a private meeting, especially since we haven’t pinpointed who the leak is yet.”

“I do appreciate it.” He sighed, sinking into the chair across the table from her. “I’m sorry if I seem short. It’s just been a weird twelve hours.”

“I would imagine.” Her expression softened. “I also wanted to see how you were feeling.”

Dom studied her face, gently furrowed with concern.

Unlike many of his teammates, he was actually a few years older than Kate. She was terrifying, yes, and wielded a lot of influence within the organization, but still, she was his peer on some level.

She rarely took the same motherly tone with him that she took with some of the other guys. Then again, he never caused her problems, either. Although, since the moment he’d signed with the Fisher Cats organization and disclosed his sexuality, they’d both known this day would come.

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