“Sp-sp-spying?” my dad spluttered. “How dare you! That photo—I found it when I stopped by my office before practice. Someone slipped it under the door.”
“Hmmm. And your first thought wasn’t concern that someone is illegally spying on the hockey house, but that you were going to confront your son for holding hands with his partner?”
There was a lump in my throat growing bigger and bigger as warmth spread through my body. The way Grayson was standing up for me, remaining calm and reasonable in the face of my dad’s anger…
Speaking of my dad’s anger… I could see something else on his face now. Something unmistakable that I’d never seen before.
Shame.
Holy fuck.
“Yes. That is concerning,” my dad said eventually. He scrubbed his palm over his mouth. “Micah, just…stay out of my way. I don’t want to see your face. Cross, you’re in the next game, but if I see even a hint of trouble from you, you’re out. No second chances. I’ll reconsider my stance on your captaincy, provided your conduct remains exemplary. Now get out of here.”
I scrambled to collect my laptop and camera bag with shaking hands as Grayson carefully picked up my camera, cradling it in his palms.
He led me to the locker room, which was now empty. Slumping down onto one of the benches, I placed my head in my hands and exhaled shakily. “Fuck. That was… Fuck.”
“Yeah.” Grayson cupped the back of my neck, massaging lightly. “Your dad is an asshole.”
“I know.” I sighed. Lowering my hands, I looked up at him. “Are you mad that he knows about us?”
“No. Never.” Grayson’s response was immediate and decisive. “Yeah, it was a shock, and the photo is disturbing because it means our stalkers are stepping up their tactics, but I’m not ashamed to be with you.”
“Gray.”
He dipped down, brushing a kiss over my lips, and then straightened up. “I need to shower. We both have classes in twenty minutes, and then we’re meeting Ava outside the library.”
“Okay.” I waited until he was next to his own locker before I finished what I wanted to say. “I’m not ashamed to be with you, either.”
“Look how small this camera is!” Ava was seated on my lap, peering at Grayson’s desktop screen. “Battery powered, infra-red, motion sensor… I think this could be what we’re looking for.” She clicked the computer mouse, adding it to our basket.
We’d given her a rundown of everything that had happened this morning, and to say she had been enraged was an understatement. Enraged on our behalf. Enraged that thisstalker was spreading their fuckery outside our group. I had no idea how Cruz was going to react, but I had a feeling he’d have a similar viewpoint.
Speaking of Cruz…
“We need to talk about Cruz.”
“Do we have to?” Grayson muttered from his position on his bed. He was lying stretched out on his stomach, tapping at his phone screen, obsessively researching anything and everything that could help us.
“I’m worried about him,” Ava said immediately. “Meeting Big Dog early tomorrow morning?”
Gray immediately stiffened, his gaze flying to mine. “What the fuck?”
I grimaced. “He got an assignment from Big Dog while we were with him. I asked him about it, uh—” I glanced at Ava. “—after you fell asleep. He didn’t tell me much, just that he has to go to the quack church at four a.m. for further instructions.”
Grayson’s brows shot up. “The quack church?”
“Uh…I think he meant that weird cult one. You know, the New Horizons Fellowship of Enlightenment.”
“No, I don’t know.”
Ava cleared her throat pointedly. “Let’s cut to the chase. Are we going to follow him there?Discreetly. Just in case anything happens. I…I care about him, and I hate that he’s under Big Dog’s thumb.”
“I care about him, too,” I said firmly, my gaze sliding to Grayson’s. He looked resigned, and it made me smile.
“Okay. I guess it’s our turn to be the stalkers,” he said. He cleared his throat before grimacing. “Speaking of Cruz—not that I want to—I need to tell you what happened with him.”
Ava and I both stared at him, and he groaned, dropping his forehead to the bed.
