“I don’t want that either.”
“I know Tessa said not to spiral there. I am not spiraling. I am calmly placing it on the list of nightmares.”
“It’s on mine too.”
That seemed to settle him more than reassurance would have. I had learned that about Jace. Empty comfort made him feel handled. Truth gave him something solid to press against, even when it hurt.
He looked down. “My dad’s going to find out eventually.”
“Yes.”
“Harper too.”
“Yes.”
“She’ll call me an idiot.”
“Probably.”
“She’ll mean it with love, but she will absolutely say it.”
“I look forward to earning her review.”
He let out a small laugh, then rubbed at his chest like the sound had caught on something. “I keep thinking about Olivia.”
“So do I.”
“And Vanessa. I don’t want to. That sounds awful, but I mean I don’t want to sit here with you and think about my ex-girlfriend. Then I feel like garbage because she didn’t stop being a person just because I stopped being in love with her.”
“She didn’t.”
“And Olivia didn’t stop being your wife because you love me.”
“No,” I said. “She didn’t.”
His gaze lifted. “That’s why we have to do this right.”
“As right as we can from here.”
“Yeah.” He nodded slowly. “No more hiding from the people who need to know.”
The sentence moved through me with a quiet finality.
Not everyone. Not the public. Not the locker room by rumor. But the people with the authority to either help us build a structure or tear one down after discovering we’d built it in secret.
Ownership. Hockey operations. The ones who would ask hard questions and deserve straight answers.
I turned the tea cup between my hands. “We need personal counsel before disclosure.”
“Both of us?”
“Yes. Marlene was clear. We need our own advice. Then we decide who goes in first and what we say.”
“Tessa?”
“She helps us understand the room. Not carry the confession.”
Jace nodded. “Okay.”
