Page 219 of The Blame Game

“Yeah, me too.”

ONE WEEK LATER

“Welcome to the Puck Thoughts Podcast,” Catherine Newman said warmly as Shea got comfortable in front of his microphone. “I’m your host and this is my co-host, Tad Taber.”

“Hello, everyone.” He gave them a friendly nod.

Catherine continued. “We’re here today to speak to some of the Toronto Fisher Cats SAPs—the collective name for the spouses and partners of the team’s players. We’d like to welcome Charlie Monaghan, August Manning, Antoni Bianchi-Carlson, and, newest to the group, Shea Barnett.”

“Thank you for having us,” Charlie said and Shea echoed the sentiment.

There was a little bit of small talk to start off the episode, before Catherine gave Shea a smile. “So, Shea, what we’ve been trying to do lately is get some of the newly out players on the podcast and get their perspectives. Unfortunately, your partner, Dominic Olson, declined. Do you think that’s because he’s too busy celebrating his Cup win?”

“Well.” Shea gave them a wry grin. “I think it has more to do with the fact that he’s a very private person.”

“What do you think it would take to get him on the show?” she asked.

Shea laughed. “Uhh, well, probably hell freezing over. If that happens, you might have a shot at it.”

Everyone laughed and Tad Taber leaned in, clearly sensing an opening. “Olson is notoriously tight-lipped about his personal life. Do you feel like the two of you were forced into revealing your relationship when certain sports gossip sites posted rather shocking allegations about how you met?”

Shea took a deep breath. He and Dom and Kate had discussed how they wanted to handle this, along with the other guys here.

He had this.

“As I said, Dom is very private,” he acknowledged. “And I think that, yes, the speculation about how our relationship started did shift our timeline. But the truth is, Dom and I were already on a path to our relationship deepening. If that had never come out, we probably would have handled it a little more quietly.”

Tad frowned. “So are you saying that the rumors about you being an escort were all a lie? Or is that how you met?”

“Dom and I met when he hired me as a stylist,” Shea said firmly. “And as I keep reminding everyone, he did make the best dressed in the NHL list for several years running. So I think I’m pretty good at my job! I don’t know why everyone keeps questioning that.”

Everyone laughed, exactly like Shea had hoped. He leaned forward, growing more serious.

“The truth is, when Dom and I met, I honestly thought I was straight. I thought I would eventually meet a woman and fall in love and settle down with her. But Dom was … Dom was something special. Under all of that reserve and what other people call standoffishness, he was someone with a kind heart, someone who loves very deeply. Someone I couldn’t help but fall for. So if you need some interesting angle to our relationship, that’s the real story. The one very few people know.”

Catherine looked a little stunned but before she could respond, Charlie arched a brow.

“And really,” he said with a toss of his head. “Why are we as a society so puritanical about the idea of sex work anyway? Why are we trying to shame people for using escorts?”

Shea suppressed a smile. Kate had known that Shea defending sex work would look suspicious. But the other SAPs doing it, especially someone as outspoken and charming as Charlie, would be far more effective.

Tad looked skeptical. “You don’t think that hiring escorts violates the code of conduct?”

“No, why would it?” Charlie said, his tone challenging. “It’s a consensual relationship between adults, no?”

“Well, ideally.” Tad frowned. “But money exchanges hands and—”

“Money exchanges hands between couples all of the time,” Charlie argued. “Do you think Dustin didn’t pay to help me move from Chicago to Toronto when we got married? He bought me a car!”

“Nico pays most of our bills,” August pointed out in a measured and reasonable tone. “After I was banned for refereeing, I didn’t exactly have any money except for my savings.”

“And I went from struggling financially to having Matty lavish me and the kids with more than I ever could have imagined.” Antoni shrugged. “It happens all of the time.”

“Well, sure,” Tad sputtered. “But you can hardly compare those situations!”

“Did your wife work while you played hockey, Tad?” Charlie pressed.

“No,” he admitted.

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