Over and over I read all the abuse Cole received. Occasionally, there was a positive message from a fan, but they were rare. I kept scrolling, in disbelief by what I was seeing.
“This is… eighty-five messages. All in the past two hours! I knew celebrities got abuse, but not this volume…”
“And today’s a light day. You should see how many I get on days when we have a game.” Cole took the phone back. “I can handle all of this abuse because I’m paid well. It comes with the job. But Alice…”
He paused to smile at her. When he turned back to me, his eyes were shimmering with tears.
“The internet brings out the worst in people. I don’t want her to be exposed to that.”
Alice cut in: “Aside from my sweet dance moves, the only thing I have going for me is a positive attitude. I’m happy to avoid anyone who might damage that.”
I chuckled at her joke. “I don’t blame you.”
“Cole doesn’t hide me away. He protects me.”
Cole squeezed her hand, and her lips flickered in a smile. Their love filled my chest with immeasurable joy. I could understand why Cole kept her a secret, especially after all the threats with the maintenance guy.
“Thank you for letting me get to know her,” I said.
“Better than what you originally expected, eh?” Cole asked.
“What did she assume?” Alice asked.
“I thought Cole was having a secret affair or something.”
Alice used the computer to laugh. “I like the idea of being someone’s secret affair.”
“I’m your brother,” Cole said. “Don’t be gross.”
“You’d be lucky to get with someone this sexy,” Alice added, wiggling the wheelchair back and forth like she was dancing.
Cole groaned, but I said, “I really like her.”
38
June
The second half of the hockey season went by a lot quicker than the first. Now that nobody was distracting the team with threats and deadly peanut butter cookies, the team was able to get into a nice groove. We went on a seven-game winning streak, then won six of the next eight after that.
We put a pause on our romantic adventures when we were on the road—no more sneaking around stairwells for hotel room quickies. But when we were at home, we found a way to juggle my time among the three men. Sometimes I went home with Rhett, and other times Cole came back to my place. Elias lived half an hour from the arena, so he usually came home with me when we wanted to hook up.
And Rhett and Cole continued sharing me in wonderful, toe-curling threesomes. They were more rare—both men liked their alone time with me—but when they happened, the sparks of our chemistryreallyflew. The way they passed me back and forth on the bed like I was a sex toy fulfilled my fantasies in a way that I never imagined.
But it wasn’t just physical. We watched TV together, went to the movies and shared popcorn. The four of us started goingout for pizza on Friday nights when we didn’t have a game scheduled. Between the four of us, we shared three pizzas: one pepperoni, one meat lovers, and one Hawaiian.
Elias was the one who liked pineapple, and the rest of us teased him mercilessly for it.
At the end of the season, we finished in second place in our conference. The first round of the playoffs was against the Washington Capitals. It was an intense matchup, eventually going to a decisive Game Seven.
Rhett got into a fight in the second period. When he skated out of the penalty box and back to the bench, he saw me glaring at him.
“They jabbed an elbow into Elias while he was in the crease! Ihadto throw fists.”
“You’ve done a good job of avoiding fights this season,” I admitted. “So I’ll allow it this once.”
We ended up winning the game in the third period, and the celebratory sex I had with Cole and Rhett that night was rough and hard and full of energy. The three of us passed out in bed, nude and glistening with sweat.
The second round of the playoffs didn’t go so well. After winning the first game against the Boston Bruins, the Reapers lost the next four in a row to get knocked out.
