No. Not that voice.
“I prayed to God I would see you again some day, and here you are.”
Whose voice was it? And why did hearing it make him feel like his mind was shattering?
“I was sorry to hear about your father.”
Something about a room. A room with a bookshelf and a blinking red light. It was always cold—but why was it always cold?
“I don’t believe the crap they’re posting right now.”
It was cold because he was terrified. August was always terrified of that room—that light—
“There’s no way you’re out here dating men when I know you and this guy are friendly from high school, bunch of morons.”
A hand clamped down on August’s shoulder with enough weight to make his knees start to buckle, and he met cold, grey eyes that made him feel like he was staring down the barrel of a loaded gun.
“Besides,” said the man who had been haunting the shadows of his mind. A man who had gone to church with his father every week, and had once been like an uncle to August. “You wouldn’t want to disappoint your father, would you?”
August didn’t move. He didn’t breathe.
His vision was going black. His head felt like someone had struck him with a pickaxe. His blood turned to cement in his veins, making every movement feel astronomically heavy.
“I—”
Blood spilled from his nose into his open mouth—so much of it that he choked on his next breath.
He needed to run. He needed to run now before Coach grabbed him and dragged him into his office, put him in a chair and—
August let go of Quinn’s wrist andbolted.
Chapter 30
Quinn
Quinn watched August sprint away from him, crashing through one of the lobby doors so hard heknewit had to hurt. The murmurs of excitement that had once filled the space turned to murmurs of disappointment as the NHL player disappeared in a flash, leaving Quinn to deal with the fallout.
He turned to Coach Perry, who stared after August with a frown, and offered his apologies. “August doesn’t like crowds,” Quinn explained. “He’ll come back when everyone clears out.”
Quinn didn’t know how he felt about Coach Perry’s feelings regarding whatever news had broken about him and August, but he didn’t want to snap at the guy without knowing the truth. For all Quinn knew, the old coach could be worried about unconfirmed rumours putting pressure on what he assumed was an old student of his. It didn’t have to be a homophobia issue.
Coach Perry nodded, saying nothing as he left for the locker room with the kids and the rest of the parents.
“Look,” said Bea, holding her phone up to Quinn’s face. “Some assholes brought up old trade rumours about August, and I kid you not, this shit dropped an hour later.”
Quinn flicked through the lines of allegations and pictures that showed him and August together, but none of it wasbad. August hadn’t cared about being seen in public, but the nosebleed and the sheer panic of his reaction didn’t sit right with Quinn.
Something was wrong, but he was torn. Quinn wanted to go to him, but he didn’t know if he had the right when they were justfriends.
Friends whomightbe inlove.
“I can’t leave the girls,” said Quinn. “And August will return. He didn’t drive his car here, so unless he gets an Uber home, he’s stuck with me.”
August may have panicked because of the nosebleed, too. There had been plenty of parents and kids with their phones taking pictures, andone good shot of blood on a hockey player could start illness speculation, so it made sense.
Still, Quinn texted August the second that he sat on the cold bench beside Bea. He hated how shaky his fingers were as they stumbled over the letters, but if he didn’t check on August, he was going to have an anxiety attack.
Quinn: Are you okay?
