More silence follows. No one speaks. Then the anchor again but this time, it’s not to Max. “Laurent.”
The room shifts to look at me. I cringe, my shoulders tensing.
“This was a good game for you.”
Okay, I know I’d felt disgusted and I’m quite sure it was reflected in my voice. But fuck, my response was nothing short of clipped, aggressive, and appalled. I wince as my words ring through the locker room.
The clip ends and I wait.
Someone shoves me. Not hard, but enough that I’m forced to open my eyes. Mattias looks at me with a smile. “Said well, my friend.”
“That’s why we followed you,” Ethan says, slapping his stick against Max’s. “Laurent’s the only one who had the opportunity to tell him off, but rest assured, we’d all like to.”
Max smiles a little.
“You in trouble?” Noah asks again.
Max shrugs. “Dunno. Not with my agent or lawyer, though they’re on standby.”
“With Deryke?” Larson suggests, smirking.
Max laughs. “Maybe. This might fall into the ‘being an asshole to someone’ category, though it also wasn’t unprovoked, so I might be off the hook.”
Tavis rests his hand on Max’s shoulder. “I’m proud of you. You weren’t disrespectful in any way and still said what needed to be said. This might just be your biggest win this weekend, Max.”
The room breaks out in chatter, but I just lean my weight a little further against Caulder. I feel his mouth at my ear. Quiet so only I can hear him. “I’m really proud of you for doing that. I’m not sure I’d have had the courage to.”
He’s wrong. Had he been there and in my position, he absolutely would have. This has nothing to do with me being gay. Max said what needed to be said. There was nothing that could be added that he hadn’t already said better.
This was about supporting Max. Standing by Max.
There’s a difference between being a supporter of LGBTQIA+ and an ally to the community. A supporter will agree that you should have every right to love and marry and be who you want to. They’re quiet, but they will never stand in your way.
An ally is someone who will fight alongside you. They will help you with your battles because they know you need every voice to make a difference, not just those who are affected.
What I said was as an ally more than a closeted gay man. I was showing the asshole that I stood with Max and the entire LGBTQIA+ community, regardless of my identity within it. Whether Caulder thinks he’d have been brave enough to do the same or not, I know he would have. Because it wasn’t about us individually. It wasn’t about being pissed off as a gay man that he insulted, even if he didn’t know he did. It was about everyone those words affect. It was about doing what’s right, not just from the sidelines but on the front line.
The fact that every single hockey player followed, not knowing what was said, but seeing the way Max skated off, gives me confidence that, at least in the NHL, the worldismoving in the right direction.
CHAPTER 17
CAULDER
We don’t speakwhen we get back to the room. No words at all pass between us. As soon as the door is locked, we’re on each other. Stripping and stumbling into the bathroom for a more thorough run though the shower again.
Without drying, we land on the bed. There’s a light on beside the bed and I assume housekeeping left it on. We’re usually in the dark or fucking around by the light of the television. I like that I can see him. I can admire him.
I’m not sure why, but there’s urgency in our touch tonight. Desperation to get somewhere. His fingers go right to my hole and I thinkhe wants to fuck,but it feels so good when he fingers me, I let the thought slip away.
I love to touch him. His body is perfect and sexy and I love everything about it. The shape, his height, his smooth planes with light hair on his chest. His pert nipples.
Equally, I love his hands on me. Confident, purposeful, memorizing. The way he touches me everywhere. How he reads my body and knows just how to pleasure me. He’s an expert at everything, and I’m somehow the lucky one who gets to enjoy what he does to me.
He rubs the head of his dick across my hole, placing pressure against me. My ass clenches reflexively and I groan, trying not to sound like a needy slut. His fingers dip back inside me. Two fingers. Curling them and making me shudder against him. His fingers come out and his head is back, rubbing my hole. Pressing against me. Teasing.
My entire body aches for this man, but my mind feels panicky. I can’t do this. We can’t have sex.
Lo’s fingers press into me again. Three this time. Three has a very specific burn and stretch. But I can still feel his head there. Pressing against me. Rubbing along my crack. My hole where his body connects with mine. God, it feels good.
