"I think you've made yourself pretty clear already."
"Roan … " Seg wasn't beyond begging.
A defeated sigh was the only thing he heard. Seg waited. He wasn't going to give up. Not yet. This man was far too important to him for Seg to allow Roan to walk away without a fight. Yes, he needed to do some groveling, but he was prepared to. In fact, Seg was prepared to do any damn thing he had to in order to keep Roan in his life.
"I want to talk. To explain. At least let me do that."
"Fine," Roan groaned.
"Can I meet you at your place?" Seg asked.
"There're reporters there."
"We'll ignore them."
"It's only going to give them more shit to write about."
Seg shrugged. "I don't care. The only thing that matters is setting things right with you."
He prayed that was even a possibility.
"Fine." The sound of muffled voices followed before Roan returned to the phone. "I'll head home in about fifteen minutes. You can stop by after that."
Relief swamped him. "Okay. I'm in the parking lot of the marina, so I'll be there in a few."
"Why are you at the marina?"
"I was looking for you."
No response.
"Roan?"
"What?"
"Thanks for hearing me out."
"Yeah." Pause. "It's kind of inevitable if I want to get my life back in order."
Seg wasn't sure exactly what Roan meant by that, but unfortunately, he didn't think it meant something good for him. If he wanted Roan back, he was clearly going to have to work for it.
Considering Roan was the only thing in the world he did want, Seg was going to make every effort.
Half an hour later, Seg was following Roan up his front steps while a half dozen reporters shouted at them from the street. Of course, the circus taking place in the front yard was drawing the neighbors out of their houses. Seg hated that he'd brought this shit down on Roan, but for the life of him, he didn't know how to change it.
Part of him didn't want to change it.
Oh, sure, he would've preferred not to have the news media camping out in Roan's front lawn simply to get dirt on their relationship-if they even had a relationship at this point.
He didn't even want to contemplate this being over. Not yet.
While Roan unlocked the front door, Seg turned to the reporters. Their eyes grew wide as though he was about to make a big announcement.
"I'm going to tell you this one time. This is private property. You do not have permission to be here. We will press charges." He didn't bother to listen to their rebuttals, choosing to turn and follow Roan in the house.
Once inside, Roan flipped on the lights and Seg closed and locked the door.
"We should probably close all the blinds," Seg told him, his gut churning.
Roan pinned him with a glare, then headed for the front windows. Seg took on the task of closing the ones at the back. The tension in the air thickened as they blocked out the view from the outside. Seg's heart was beating faster than when they did drills on the ice. His mouth had long ago gone dry. He knew he had to make the first move, try to calm the waters between them. Not that he thought Roan was going to give him a second chance, but Seg had to hope.
It was all he had left.
"I'm sorry you were dragged into this."
Roan spun around, his face a mask of anger. "This? Is that what you're calling … whatever this thing is between us?"
"No. God, no." Shit, Seg was fucking this up already. "I meant the reporters."
Roan's eyes narrowed.
"Look, Roan … "
"No." Roan stood straight. "I don't want to hear it. I let you come over here so you could see that I'm through. My tolerance for bullshit is so low I can't … no, I don't want to deal with this shit."
Well.
That wasn't how Seg had hoped this would go.
Neither of them said anything for several tense seconds. A million things ran through Seg's mind. But only one thing made sense.
"I love you."
Roan's snort of derision echoed in the living room. "You've got a fucking funny way of showing it. Fucking puck bunnies? Is that how you profess your love, Seg? No fucking wonder you're single."
Ouch.
Seg's heart constricted and he held Roan's gaze. "I don't want to be single," he said softly. The tortured tone of his voice should've made him wince, but it was truly how he felt. He loved this man. "I know I fucked up, but I swear to God, I didn't do anything with that woman. I was … "
"What? You were what? Pissed? Hurt? Scared?" Roan shook his head, his gaze dropping to the floor. "And you think flaunting a chick is going to make you straight?"