Page 132 of Role Model

Harris’s eyes were suddenly a little wet too. “Troy...” he whispered.

Troy started laughing, his body shaking with as much force as when he’d been crying. “I’m sorry,” he squeaked out.

But then Harris’s arms were around him, fierce and tight. Harris kissed his temple. “I love you, too. God, Troy. Of course I do.”

Troy’s heart felt like it would burst out of him. Everything bad was a distant memory. “I could have picked a better time to tell you,” he said, his laughter subsiding.

“It’s okay,” Harris said. “We’ll get it right eventually. I plan on saying it a lot.”

Troy pulled back so he could see Harris’s smile. It didn’t disappoint.

They kissed, even though Troy was a mess. Harris didn’t seem to mind at all, climbing into Troy’s lap and devouring him.

By the time they stopped kissing, Troy was sprawled out on the floor, Harris on top of him.

“Well,” Harris said. “This is unprofessional.”

“I should probably let you work.”

“Yeah,” Harris sighed. “I do have a ton of stuff to do, honestly.”

He pushed himself up off Troy, and offered Troy his hand to pull him up. They both looked like they’d been making out in a hurricane.

“I’m going to post the video now,” Troy said.

“Yeah?”

Troy spotted his phone where he’d left it earlier on Harris’s desk. He opened Instagram, then frowned. “Wait. How do I post it?”

Harris laughed, and held out his hand for the phone. “I’ll do it.”

Troy watched as Harris did whatever needed to be done, then handed the phone to Troy to write the caption underneath. Troy kept it simple: This is me.

He added emojis of a rainbow flag, a heart, and a hockey stick. Then he posted it.

Holy shit. He fucking posted it.

Harris wrapped his arms around him from behind and kissed his shoulder. “I’m proud of you.”

Troy covered one of his hands with his own, holding it tight over his own heart. “Thank you. I couldn’t have done any of this without you.” He turned so he could face Harris. “I love you.”

Harris beamed at him. “Better already. I love you, too. And you can thank me by kicking Toronto’s ass tonight. Don’t make me have to post about losing after all this!”

Troy grinned. “They don’t stand a chance.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Troy didn’t look at Instagram for the rest of the day after he posted the video. He told Harris not to tell him what the reaction was, and not to read him any of the comments. He needed to play this game with as clear a head as he could manage.

Now he was in the dressing room, getting ready for the warm-ups. Everyone on the team was wearing their Pride jerseys that featured rainbow Centaurs logos on the chest, and had their sticks wrapped with rainbow tape. They wouldn’t wear the jerseys during the game—they would be sold online to raise money for local LGBTQ charities, and the sticks would be swapped for ones wrapped in black or white tape; most hockey players were particular about their tape colors during games. Troy had already decided he would use rainbow tape on his stick for the entire game, even if it was a bit flashy. He figured he may as well go all in.

The room was as lively as ever before a game. Music was playing and there was lots of yelling and laughter. Troy was quiet, but it wasn’t because he was miserable. He was simply trying to absorb this moment.

No turning back.

When it was time to head to the ice to warm up, Troy spotted Harris in the hallway outside the locker room. He was taking video with his phone of the guys leaving the room. When he saw Troy, he nearly blinded him with his smile. Troy tried to keep his expression neutral for the camera, but it probably wasn’t working. Especially not when he noticed the tears in Harris’s eyes.

“Don’t start,” Troy warned. “You’ll get me going.”

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