“It feels like we’ve been gone for months,” Noah tells me.
“Feels like it,” Marcus agrees as he walks out with us. “I hate the long road stretches.”
“I just want to sleep in my own bed,” I whine. “I hate road hotel rooms.”
“Do you think Boston knows where we stay and changes out the mattresses to make them the worst in the entire world?” Dax jogs up to us as the cold night air greets us as we head outside.
“Wouldn’t put it past ’em.” Noah nods in thanks to the security guy as fans are lining up around the barricades.
A few Nashville fans are in attendance as guys sign autographs for them. The downside? Drunk Boston fans are also lining up to sling insults our way.
“Too bad you couldn’t pull off the win. The Knights suck!” someone throws out. “Bet you wish you were still playing for Colorado, Fields!”
“What a dick,” I mutter under my breath as I give a Sharpie back to someone after signing their jersey.
“Just ignore them,” Noah whispers to me.
“Aww. Crying to your boyfriend? I don’t think he can make this feel better for you.”
“Nice one, bro.”
I stop dead in my tracks and turn toward the voices. The men, looking to be in their late fifties based on their appearance, are high-fiving one another.
“Keep walking. They’re just being dickheads.”
Jasper pushes me forward, but the gut feeling that sinks in my stomach is a hard one to swallow.
I move toward the bus in a fog. Listening to their words on repeat.
Crying to your boyfriend?
Honestly? I have no idea what Noah and I are to each other. It feels like more than just a friends-with-benefits situation. If this thing were to end tomorrow, I don’t know if I’d want to be with anyone but Noah.
But does that mean I’m ready to be out to the world? Based on that guy’s comments, I don’t know if I could take it. One well-timed insult has my head spinning.
“You know they didn’t mean anything by that, right?” Noah tells me as he takes his seat next to me on the bus.
“Right.”
They might not have meant anything by it, but it feels like something to me. I’m sure Noah has heard it all before. It doesn’t make it okay.
Noah pats my leg as the bus pulls out of the arena and heads toward the airport. Pulling out my headphones, I pop them into my ears and crank a noisy playlist.
I need to get lost in something other than my thoughts. I’m not quite sure how to handle what that guy said.
If Noah and I were together for real, the comments would be even worse than that. Is that something I’m ready for? Is that something I can handle?
I don’t know if I’m at that point yet. Does that mean this thing with Noah has to end? I’m not sure if I’m ready for that either.
Fuck me. I have no idea what I’m ready for, and it’s all because of one drunk-ass fan.
Chapter Nineteen
NOAH
It’s late in the afternoon when I wake up. With the season more than half over and a late game tonight, I needed the extra sleep. The clouds hang heavy outside my window.
Considering that I spend most of my time at the rink or in Graham’s room, the decorations in here are pretty pitiful. As in, I put nothing up.
