Page 80 of These Wicked Games
“I’m on my way over now,” Grey says before hanging up. It’s now I notice Andre’s fingers are trembling.
“What’s going on?” He peels his eyes away from his phone, and they’re swimming. “What’s wrong?”
“I shouldn’t have . . . The gate. It must not have latched. I’m so fucking sorry.”
“Andre, I need you to tell me right now what’s wrong.” Swallowing hard, he hands me his phone. It takes a minute to understand what I’m looking at, but when I do I feel numb.
No.No fucking way!
I grip his phone hard in my hand with a picture of us on some trashy fucking gossip site.
Enemies to Lovers: Hockey’s Hottest Rivals Heat Up Off and On the Ice!!
It’s the two of us from last night. Andre kissing me on my doorstep. Fuck! I didn’t even think. I was in shock, seeing him on my doorstep after not speaking to me. Whoever took this must have followed him into my fucking yard. “Oli, I’m so fucking sorry.” His head falls into his hands, and sobs shake him. I don’t know what to do. For the first time ever I’m lost. I have no clue how to fix this.
But Andre is depending on me to, and I won’t leave him like I did when Grey found us. I’m done running. Whatever happens going forward happens to both of us. Together.
“Greyson’s on his way over. Please get dressed.” Andre’s face pulls from his hands. “My clothes are in that dresser. Pick what youwant.” I feel numb. I feel like the world around me is crumbling and I have no clue how to stop it. I don’t know how to fix this.
“Oli.” I turn to him. I don’t know what to do. Fuck, I’m still naked! My mind is a mess. I can’t focus on one thing. “What are we going to do?”
I hate myself but I have no answers for him. Not one time during this thing with Andre did I think I’d have to face the public. I’m not even sure what’s happening myself. How am I supposed to explain this to my fans, to our public, when I can’t even explain it to myself?
And why the fuck should I?
Why is my personal life anyone’s fucking business? “I don’t know.” The room feels like it’s spinning. Running my fingers through my hair, I focus on what I need to do. My doorbell rings. Fuck. Still naked.
I cup his face in my hands, begging him to look at me. “Can you answer that please? Only if it’s Jessica, Grey, Atlas, or Coach. That’s it. You know what . . . not if it’s Coach. I’m not ready to die yet.”
Andre laughs a little with a nod and gets up, and I don’t even get a chance to admire the way my sweats fit his gorgeous ass. This’ll be fine, right? What are they going to do? Kick me off the team? While we are few and far between, I’m not the only queer player in the game.
I pause. Oh my fucking god. This is the first time I’ve said it. Thought it. I am, though, right? Still, I don’t really care about the label. It’s meaningless. Who I’m with is literally only my business and my partner’s.
No.
It’s only Andre’s and my business.
I focus on what I can control right now, and that is not having my dick swinging when my best friends and agent come over. Grabbing a pair of jeans and boxers, I pull them on, then find a black shirt and tug it down over my head.
Taking a giant breath, I walk down my stairs. I instantly relax seeing Grey and Atlas sitting at the island. Atlas isn’t looking at me, but he’s stewing. I can see it. Atlas is doing that bratty pinched thing with his lips he does when he gets pissed. Grey’s sympathetic eyes land on me. “So,” I say. “What’s up?”
Atlas barks out a laugh, shaking his head, then must remember he’s mad at me and pinches his lips again. “You have balls, dude.”
I glance at Andre, who looks like he wants to peel the fucking skin from his body. Fuck it, everything is out now, and I don’t want to hide anymore. Grey already knows, and if I’m not mistaken I see a little bit of hurt in Atlas’s eyes. I walk over to Andre, cupping his face and turning it to me. His eyes are still shining. “This doesn’t change shit, you hear me?” My thumb runs along his cheekbone. “I fucked up before, but I’m not leaving you now. Okay?” I wait for him to answer. He nods, then pulls his face out of my hold. I know he doesn’t believe me, but I’m going to prove it. “How bad?” I turn to my friends. “Scale of one to Jessica is ready to pluck my eyes and balls from my body and switch them?”
Grey shakes his head. “It’s just a shock to them.”
“And to me.” Atlas glares, folding his arms over his chest.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I was going to tell you I was queer and seeing someone, I just didn’t get a chance.”
“This asshole knew and I didn’t.” He swings a thumb to Grey.
“Technically, this asshole let himself into our home and saw us in bed together.” Andre’s gaze whips to mine. “What?” I ask.
“Our?”Andre blinks.
Fuck, did I say that out loud? “Have you called Coach yet?” Grey distracts me.
