Holy shit. He didn’t even know the half of it. Would armed guards be useful against shifters? Possibly, but they’d be taken by surprise when they were shooting at a man and were lunged at by a wolf instead.
“I want everyone here to keep an eye out for any suspicious behavior.” Harrison scanned the room with a penetrating set of frigid blue eyes. “Report anything directly to me. Even if it’s something odd with one of your teammates.”
That statement sent a different kind of chill through the room. I tensed.
“What’s that mean?” The question had come from Emmy.
“I’m not here to instill paranoia, especially among my own team, but I think there’s some kind of information being passed over to them.”
Coach Julian stood up. “Now, Harrison, I respect you and understand you’re doing everything to keep these guys safe, but I don’t like that implication.” He seemed offended by even the thought that one of his players would be feeding that kind of information to the rival team. I’d seen him red in the face plenty of times before, but this moment was different. There was a quiet anger, a silent threat in the way his jaw set and his fists loosely balled at his side. He was clearly defensive about this.
Harrison seemed to get the message, even though thegeneral manager outranked the coach. He took a small step back. “Just keep an eye open,” he said to the room. “And don’t let this affect you—on or off the ice. It’s what they want. To get into your heads. Don’t let them.” With that, Harrison left the room. The door closed, and the space erupted with voices.
Coach couldn’t regain control. He shouted at us to get to the locker rooms and meet on the ice for practice in five. Anyone late got bagged with extra conditioning skates after practice.
Chris walked next to me on the way back to the locker rooms. He dropped his voice low. “You doing good?”
It was a simple question, but I understood he wasn’t just talking about getting chewed up in the video session or learning about the freshly made bomb threats. “I think so.”
“This isn’t easy, learning everything, especially the way you learned it.” He kept everything vague since words tended to echo in these wide hallways, and there were other teammates around us who weren’t in on the whole “shifter” thing. “Do you want to hang out this weekend? I can answer any other questions you got. Or we can just chill, hang, watch some games.”
I glanced at my side, smiling. Making new friends wasn’t ever easy for me. I tended to latch on to one person and neglect all my other connections. I also sometimes had a difficult time clicking with the hypermasculine culture that permeated the sports world. I was an out gay man who could sink a puck as easily as I could recite the lines to “Lady Marmalade.” So it was nice to have Chris express an interest in just being friends.
I could use a good friend. And maybe I could ask him more about this whole fated mates situation too. “Yeah, that’d be cool.”
“Alright, good. I’ll text you then. Maybe we can have dinner at a new spot my father’s opening up in town.”
“Perfect.” We reached the locker room. Chris clapped me on the shoulder and smiled again. He was one of those guys who had some premature grays popping up on his black beard. He was around my age but already rocking that salt-and-pepper look. And he wore it well.
“Hey, Eli, hold up.” I would recognize that voice anywhere.
I waited outside as the rest of the guys filtered into the locker room.
Gabe had been talking to Emmy. They gave each other a look before separating, Emmy going into the locker room and Gabe standing in front of me. He wasn’t all that much taller than me, but I still found myself having to tip my head back a bit to look into his eyes. “I just wanted to ask if you’re okay after all that?”
“After hearing that our team’s being threatened with bombs? Not exactly, no. And…” I looked around, making sure the hall was empty. “Does it have to do with the shifters? What if it’s the same shifter that keeps coming after me? Viktor?”
Gabe gave me a solemn nod. A silver chain glittered around his neck. “It might have something to do with it. But I spoke with Emmy. We’re going to figure out what’s going on. And I’m going to keep you safe.”
Gabe surprised me in that moment by reaching out and grabbing my hand. I tensed. If anyone walked out and saw…
“I won’t let anyone ever hurt you, ever.” His hand squeezed mine and let go, leaving me instantly yearning to have that firm,warm grip again.
“I appreciate that,” I said. “Now, let’s get ready before we get bagged by Coach.”
“Wait, one more thing.” He grabbed my wrist and pulled me a little closer to him. I could feel his breath on my face. Count the beauty marks that dotted his cheeks and forehead. Two, three, six, eight. “Would you go on a date with me? I want to take you to my favorite spot over in Shipman Hill. Have a picnic. Tomorrow after practice?”
I felt like he’d not just grabbed my wrist but had scooped me up and swept me off my feet. But before I could answer, we heard the loud voices of our teammates walking toward the door.
Gabe and I separated as if an invisible wall had been inflated between us.
What a fucking whiplash of emotions. I’d felt like a swoony, lovestruck puppy getting asked on a date one second and then relegated to a dirty secret the next. I didn’t like doing this. I was hit with the bitter reminder of why closeted relationships sucked major fucking donkey balls in the first place.
Still, whatever was happening between us, whether determined by fate or by chance, deserved a real shot.
“Yes,” I said to him as we entered the locker room. “Let’s do it.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
