Page 100 of Overtime Goal
The noise died down, but the mood stayed high. Everyone was grinning, and there were lots of proud looks. A few guys seemed shocked, like they couldn’t believe we’d actually admitted it.
Packy raised his glass. “To Riley and Logan. You had us guessing, but damn if it wasn’t worth the wait.”
“To figuring your shit out,” Dog added.
“To looking at each other like idiots in love,” Abby said.
I cleared my throat and lifted my iced tea. “To all of you for being the nosiest, loudest, most impossible team in the league.”
“And the best damn family we could’ve asked for,” Logan added.
Everyone clinked glasses, and Holky grinned at me across the table. “What are all the women in the world going to do now that we’re off the market? Remember when the paper called us Buffalo’s Most Eligible Bachelors? Now I bet they’ll say there’s something in the water at Warrior Arena.”
After more laughter, Harpy raised his glass again. “To a double wedding, Holky and Dog, and Riley and Logan.”
Before any of us could respond, Mason said, “Just so you four know, we’re all in. As in wedding-speech-level.”
Blunt slapped the table. “Goddamn right we are.”
“Groomsman rotation’s already underway,” Packy deadpanned.
“If anyone gives a speech at my wedding, it’ll be me,” Dog said. “I’m the emotional one.”
Brody sighed. “You literally started a food fight at my birthday party.”
Dog gave Brody a thumbs-up. “Exactly. Depth.”
The celebration continued as Harpy ordered glasses of champagne for everyone. While they carried on, all I could do was hold on to Logan’s hand and grin. We didn’t have to dodge or deflect, and we’d known that all along. We could just be us, surrounded by the biggest bunch of good-hearted goofballs anyone had ever known.
An hour later, after we climbed into my Range Rover to head home, I grinned at Logan. “We survived.”
“Yes we did. Did you expect something else?”
I shook my head. “Not really, and definitely not about me being bi. There are too many other gay and bi guys on the team for that to be a problem. I’d wondered how some of them might feel about having two more teammates who are a couple, but that was me being stupid.”
“Not stupid,” he said. “Uncertain, maybe. This is all new to you, babe. Give yourself some slack.”
“Thank you. I’ll do my best.”
While I started the engine, he asked, “Did Holky say something to you about matching jerseys?”
“No, but Dog told me Holky’s trying tomakesomething. He’s been watching YouTube videos.”
Logan looked horrified. “Oh my God. I doubt Holky’s ever made anything.”
I backed out of the parking space and started toward the road. “It’ll be fascinating to see what happens, not to mention amusing.”
He reached across the console and rested a hand on my thigh. I put my hand on top of his and said, “I’m happier than I’ve ever been, Blue Eyes. I’m glad everyone’s being supportive, but even if they weren’t, it wouldn’t change how much I want to be with you.”
“I love you,” he said, “and it wouldn’t make any difference to me either.”
Never one to miss an opportunity to angle for sex, I said, “Sounds like something to celebrate. Let’s go home.”
37/
logan
A few days later,we had set up our first unofficial morning skate before training camp, a chance to shake the rust and get our legs back. Harpy had organized it, and eighteen Warriors showed up at the practice facility in Amherst. After stretching, we started with simple laps around the ice. The laps soon turned into races, but even those got boring. A bunch of hockey players can never just skate around for long, so we were soon playing shinny, basically street hockey on ice. Rules were thrown out the window as we went at each other like kids on a frozen pond.
