Harmless(75)

"And suddenly you knew."

Seg nodded.

"I get it. Nothing to be ashamed of there."

"How do I deal with my teammates?" Seg blurted.

Phoenix didn't seem taken aback by the question. "Well, that's easy. You walk around acting weird and shit. Pretending that nothing's going on. That's the way they prefer it."

Seg drew in a deep breath. Clearly Phoenix was going to put him in his place by not actually putting him in his place. "So they're cool with it?" 

"Well … " Phoenix appeared to be considering this. "When we all sat around having coffee this morning, chirping like old ladies, they didn't seem bothered by it."

Seg laughed. "Okay, I get it."

"Do you?" Phoenix's tone turned serious.

Seg met and held his gaze.

"Is your hockey career over, Seg?"

Frowning, Seg tried to process the question.

"Because from where I stand, you've got a lot of years in front of you. It's all about what you make of it. Are all your teammates going to be okay with the fact that you're gay? No, probably not. But are you okay with the fact that Benne's a self-proclaimed womanizer? Or that Rush has something going on with Kaufman's sister? Or that Evans is still dating the same girl he dated in high school, but he hasn't been faithful? Or how about the fact that Coach Moen has five dogs?"

"This is more serious than that."

"Is it?" Phoenix didn't look convinced. "Did you think about how Coach Putnam feels about Benne? Putnam has a daughter in college and Benne met her. He's probably more worried about whether his nineteen-year-old daughter is going to get played by Benne. Or how about Kaufman? His ex-girlfriend works in media relations. Amber North? Know her? It's all relative, Seg."

Seg shook his head. The guy was a veritable gossip rag all on his own.

"They only give a shit if you give them reason to, Seg. They knew you before that article came out. Will someone come to me because they're uncomfortable that you're in the locker room at the same time they are? Probably." Phoenix sighed. "And I'm gonna tell them to grow some balls and get over it. It'll only be uncomfortable for them if you let it be."

It all sounded good, but Seg knew better. Phoenix was trying to talk him off the ledge. Granted, he was doing a decent job, but that didn't mean that Seg could ignore all the press he was getting. His name was everywhere. Reporters wanted his story. Hell, they'd started harassing his mother for exclusive information. So much so that Seg had put her on a plane and sent her home with the instruction to keep it to herself.

"Look. I can't make this easier for you. Not entirely. But I can tell you that your position within my team is stable. You're here for the duration. We just renewed you and your contract's not up for another seven years, Seg. Unless you decide to do something different, you're still playing hockey."

Seg nodded. That was all he cared about.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. He cared about Roan, but he knew without a doubt that he'd fucked that up beyond repair.

And nothing Phoenix could say or do would change that.



"IT'S TOO DAMN COLD TO be here," Dare groused, standing at the counter of the marina office. "Only a dumb ass would be here today."

Roan cocked an eyebrow.

"You know what I mean."

"Noah at work?" Cam questioned.

The three of them, along with Liam, were sitting in the marina office shooting the shit. Well, technically Liam wasn't contributing a whole lot. Then again, neither was Dare despite his mouth constantly flapping, but that wasn't anything new.

"Yeah. My man's out saving the world, one floor heater at a time." Dare hefted himself up onto the counter. "Have you talked to Milly lately? How's she doing?"

Cam grinned. "Same old Milly. Driving Gannon absolutely batshit crazy."

"How far along is she now? Seven months? Eight? I don't keep track of that shit."

"She could pop at any minute," Cam stated. "According to her anyway."




 

 

"She's thirty-seven weeks, right?" Roan asked.

All eyes turned on him.

"What?"

"I thought they went by months," Dare noted. "Not weeks."

"Nope." Cam grinned. "Apparently it's all tracked in weeks." He glanced at Roan. "And yes, she's thirty-seven weeks. She's going to the doctor once a week. They think she'll go early."

Dare glanced between the two of them. "And AJ?"

Roan laughed. He'd spent some time with Milly over the past week, and it seemed that where Milly went, AJ went. She acted like it drove her insane to have him underfoot, but her baby's daddy was quite adamant that he wasn't going to let her go into labor without him there.