“Mr. Hastings, please tell our followers why you came to blows with the Darren twins.”
So many questions fired so fast, they all got lost in the noise. Perry ignored them all. Right up until someone asked if I had started the fight out of jealousy.
I swear I saw smoke spew from his nostrils as he turned on the questioner.
“Per—”
He held up a hand, catching mine and holding on tight. “Take a good pic of this,” he said, pointing to his black eye. “And of Jason’s face, and maybe his knuckles, then ask him again who threw punches and why. I came here today with my team to play a clean game of curling. We did that, and I’m proud of how my guys conducted themselves under all of this unexpected stress today. Now if you don’t mind, we’d all love to get home to our families and celebrate a well-played game, and a well-played tournament. Have a nice day, y’all.” He waved and turned his back.
“Is it true you and your second are your own family, Mr. Hastings?” someone asked.
Before Perry could even decided if he wanted to answer that, Shaw stepped up to the guy. “That’s no one else’s business. But if you insist on asking about private lives, I’ll let you know now, I have a huge crush on another guy. I’ll probably ask him out later.”
“Same,” Darby spoke up, waving a hand in the air. “Gay as a hatter over here.”
“Oh thank god,” Shaw whispered, though I think I might have been the only one who heard him.
“Me three,” Robbie chimed in.
“So the whole team is gay?”
“Who cares?” Shaw asked.
Perry squeezed my hand and I nodded. No one would talk to me for more than three minutes and not know I was gay. I had no interest in pretending otherwise, so it wasn’t like he was outing me to anyone with a brain and eyes in their head.
“I’m going to guess that most of you asking these questions have no idea how the curling world works. If you did, you’d never ask such invasive questions. Yes, if you want to know, Evan and I are together. Yes, the whole team is gay. What that has to do with the game, I have no idea, but now you know. Can we go home now, please? My face hurts.”
The guy who’d asked the gay questions turned three shades of red and moved out of our way.
“And make sure you spell his last name right,” Shaw said as he passed. “There’s no ‘s’ on the end.”
“Right. Of course.”
The other reporters also moved.
“Thank you,” I said to them as they parted to let us pass. I leaned in and kissed Perry’s cheek. “Very nice.”
“Considering I really wanted to punch something.”
“That’s why you rock and the Darren twins do not.”
“Just get in the car, babe.”
“Getting.”
It was a crowded ride back to our building, where Shaw had parked. He and Darby said their goodbyes and left to carpool back out to the back of beyond.
“Think they’ll make out in the back seat?” Robbie asked.
I raised an eyebrow at him and glanced pointedly to the back of our ride’s head.
“No,” Robbie warned. “Do not.”
“I didn’t.” I grinned at him. “Good luck with that, though.”
He sighed. “I’ll need it.”
“Fortune favours the bold, or some shit.”
