Page 88 of The Official Problem
Kieran
I’ll tell him, but only once there is nothing he can do about it.
I want to help. We both know he won’t let me.
A string of messages followed, photos of bills with numbers so high they made Kieran’s eyes cross. It was worse than Matthieu had said, closer to three hundred thousand. The debt stretched back almost five years, the interest and penalties inflating it far beyond the original balance. There were also the more recent ones, for Matthieu’s mother’s multiple hospital stays.
It confirmed what Kieran had feared: Matthieu would never dig his way out of this. Debt like this would follow him for the rest of his life. He wouldn’t be able to breathe for as long as this hung over him.
Kieran
Consider it done.
He couldn’t handle it right away, but once he was back from the next road trip, the last of the season, he’d make all this disappear. He just had to pray that Matthieu wouldn’t disappear with it.
THIRTY-TWO
MATTHIEU
April 2024 - Newark
The distant hum of the stadium crowd vibrated in the air. Even in the officials’ changing room, buried deep in the arena, the crowd’s energy buzzed like an electric current. It was the final game of the regular season: New Jersey vs. Detroit.
For most teams, the final game held little significance. Playoff spots were clinched. Matchups locked. These games were little more than fanfare, an encore for the home crowd, a send-off before the real fight began.
Not for the Inferno. For them, tonight was everything. Win in regulation or watch the season end. No overtime. No second chances. Just sixty minutes to claw into the final playoff spot, or let it all slip through their fingers.
Alexei flopped onto the bench across from Matthieu, shooting him one of those knowing looks. It was just the two of them for now, though it wouldn’t be for long. Harvey was off doing God knows what in the back office, and Jamison was taking his sweet time showing up. Matthieu resisted a smile at the irony. The same guys who’d been on the ice with him that fateful night last March—the day everything changed, the dayhis life cracked wide open. The day he nearly lost everything, and somehow ended up with more than he ever believed he deserved.
“Doing okay?” The question was casual, but Alexei’s look was anything but. The kind you gave someone you knew too well.
Matthieu rolled his eyes. “Yes. Why wouldn’t I be?”
Alexei glanced over his shoulder to make sure they were still alone. “A lot riding on tonight.” What he meant lingered in the silence between them:Think you can stay objective?
“Not for me or you,” Matthieu replied, tone even. “Tonight’s just another night reffing hockey.”
Alexei huffed. “If you’re sure.”
“I’d like to think you know me better than to believe I’d do something stupid and tilt the game toward one team.” He hesitated. “If anything, I’ve more to gain from a loss than a win.”
It wasn’t a lie. The part of him that wanted to be a good boyfriend rooted for the Inferno. The selfish part, the louder part, wanted them to lose. Wanted Kieran’s season to end tonight, so his summer could start tomorrow.
Kieran had talked about leaving the city. Going overseas. Maybe visiting Paris to see Julie before her semester ended. Matthieu had never been abroad, but that wasn’t what excited him the most. In Paris, Kieran wasn’t famous. They could be just another couple, wandering the city of love. Matthieu could hold his hand in public. They could simply exist, no hiding, no secrecy.
“Maybe I should ask you the same.” He shot back, unfairly bitter. Alexei had asked a perfectly valid question, but it got under his skin. “Does this mutual friend of yours with a certain captain have any influence over how you’re planning to ref tonight?”
A quiet knock hit the door before Alexei could bite back a response. Probably for the best—he looked like he’d beengearing up for a fight. Matthieu didn’t know where the hostile energy was coming from. They never fought. He knew Alexei well enough not to take it personally. Something was up, but the locker room door creaked open and a sheepish head of blond hair peeked in, cutting Matthieu off before he could ask.
“Are you stupid hockey player?” Alexei snapped as more of Kieran’s torso came into view.
Kieran ignored him, eyes locked on Matthieu. “You got a minute?”
“Uh… yeah. Give me a second, I’ll meet you out in the hall.”
The door clicked closed. Matthieu stood before Alexei could launch into the lecture he was clearly preparing.
Kieran waited around the corner, back against the cinderblock wall, eyes closed, head tipped back like he was trying to steady himself. The crowd noise was louder out here, cheers and chants echoing through the tunnels like war drums. He was fully dressed from the waist down, skates laced, pants secured, gloves tucked under one arm. His black compression shirt stretched tight across his chest and shoulders, warm-up sweat clinging to his neck. He looked like a man carrying something heavy on his back.
