Page 68 of The Blame Game

God, this whole situation was ringing alarm bells for Shea. Was there anyone he could get word to so they could keep an eye on Dom? Shit. He didn’t even know what hotel Dom was in right now.

“Maybe Murphy was right. I need to start thinking about my future but I don’t want to.”

“Murphy?” Shea frowned, trying to remember if there was anyone on the team with that name.

“Zane Murphy. American-born player. Left winger. Number 81. Drafted in ’06, retired in ’22 after he won the team’s second Cup. Married to Ryan Hartinger.”

Shea couldn’t help the smile that crept across his face. Dom would have every player’s info memorized.

“Oh, did you talk to Zane Murphy tonight?” Shea asked.

“Yeah. He works for the team’s head office now and he stopped by the box to talk to me. I think maybe he thinks I’m gay.” Dom yawned again.

“You are gay, Dom,” Shea reminded him.

“True. But you can’t tell anyone, ’kay?”

“I won’t tell anyone, Dom,” Shea reassured him.

“Bet Murphy thinks I should.” Dom sounded almost mournful now.

“I think he would understand why you don’t feel comfortable with it. From what I can tell, he’s a good guy.”

“Yeah, but he’s changing the culture. He wants to fix the whole NHL.”

“How do you feel about that?”

Dom sighed. “Dunno. Maybe it needs it. But maybe it sucks to be in the middle of all that.”

“Why? In the middle of what?” Shea asked.

“Not everyone wants it to change, you know?”

“But you don’t like some of the culture either, right?”

“No. Don’t like the things some guys say about Jonah or Jordan. Hey, their names both start with J! Did you know that?” Dom sounded very surprised by this.

Shea smiled. “Yes, they do. And I did know that.”

“Don’t like that,” Dom continued. “Not the names. The things guys say. Or the stuff they say about gay players. That’s fucked up.”

“Yes.”

“And I didn’t like it back in LA when Coach called us girls. That was shitty. Have they met girl hockey players? They’re good.” Dom sounded rather surprised by this too. “Canadian women have won more Olympic gold than the men.”

“They are very talented,” Shea agreed. He kinda wished Audra had been interested in hockey. She’d have been a menace on the ice.

“But like … I don’t want everything to change. I don’t wanna come out. I don’t wanna feel like I have to.”

“I know.”

“I think that makes me a bad person.”

Shea’s eyes welled with unexpected tears. “No. It doesn’t make you a bad person, Dom. Just a complicated one.”

“I’m conp—complicated?”

“Yeah. But that’s not bad either. You’re just a little different than some of the other guys.”

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