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“Phil called about this? Why?”

“You know him,” Grant said wearily. “Always worried about your new contract and how something like this might affect the negotiations. He wants you to call as soon as possible.”

“Anything else?”

“You should think about making a statement, for the fans. Explain that it’s not something random. They’re used to that sort of tabloid behavior from Dimitri, but not you. That’s just my guidance. It’s up to you. I can craft a message, or you can, or we can work on it together. You’re a private guy, so there’s no reason to go overboard.”

“I’ll get you a response that you can post after I talk to Aaron. I’ll call Phil back too, although not right away.”

“Okay. I’m here if you need anything, and I’ll let you know if something major comes up. I doubt it will, though. So far people are pretty happy for you.”

“Thanks, Grant.” As he was disconnected the call, he left the rink because he needed to see Aaron.

Chapter Fifteen

AARON spent Sunday morning as he often did—relaxing on the couch, enjoying coffee, and catching up on TV he’d missed from the previous week. By noon he’d laughed and cried and was ready to get on with the rest of his day.

What he hadn’t expected, when taking his phone off the charger, was a flood of text messages, emails, and Facebook notifications from the past few hours. There was nothing that could possibly warrant so much chatter. It took only one of the notifications, however, to see that he was, in fact, the news.

“How the hell did that happen?” he asked the empty apartment.

No good could come from this. Caleb would surely distance himself as soon as he saw it. It would be a distraction from returning to the team. He’d come up here, after all, to rehab, not to get into a compromising situation with a local.

Aaron scrolled through the messages. The comments ranged from congratulatory to downright mean-spirited. Aaron had read less than a fourth of them before he tossed the phone on the table. How’d they even identify him? His face was mostly obscured.

A knock at the door startled him. He was in sweats and a T-shirt, with bed head, and now someone was at the door. He couldn’t face anyone like this.

Another knock.

“It’s Caleb.” His deep voice reverberated through the door, making Aaron want to hide. “Please, Aaron.”

He couldn’t resist the pleading in the voice. Maybe Caleb wasn’t mad. Maybe he hadn’t seen it. Although that was unlikely, since Grant would’ve have alerted him, if nothing else. But why would he just show up here?

Aaron caught his reflection in the mirror by the door as he shuffled by. He looked a horror. “Hey.” He sounded as upbeat as he could while opening the door.

“Oh, did I wake you?” Caleb looked apologetic, holding a bag from FG Café.

“No, no. I’m just lazy on Sundays.” Aaron looked around behind Caleb, out at the street. He saw nothing unusual out there. “Come on in.”

“You thought it was the press or something, didn’t you?” he asked, stepping inside and closing the door. “You’ve seen the picture.”

Aaron nodded. “I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine—”

Caleb held up his hand, interrupting Aaron. “Stop. It’s certainly not your fault someone decided to snap a picture or that it was posted and shared all over the internet.” He shrugged. “Whatever. I’m certainly not sorry we kissed.”

“Really?” Did Caleb mean that? How could he?

“Really. I brought some lunch over so we could talk.” He held up the bag. “Nate gave me something to go.”

“You’ve got pull,” Aaron said, trying not to think too much about the situation. “Word is he doesn’t usually do to-go from the restaurant.”

“I told him it was important, and I think he knew why. Is this going to cause problems for you? The photo, I mean?” he asked, making his way to the small kitchen. Caleb pulled the containers from the bag and set the food out on the counter while Aaron got plates from the cabinet and utensils from the silverware drawer.

“For me? I don’t think so. I’m an out, gay, single schoolteacher. They might not expect me to be kissing a star athlete in the park, but I don’t think it’ll be an issue. What about you? I doubt a hookup is what your team was expecting while you were out of town healing from an injury.”

Caleb stopped opening containers and fixed his gaze on Aaron. “What we did was hardly a hookup. You’re not a hookup. Far from it.”

Before Aaron could react, Caleb’s lips met Aaron’s, and he surrendered to the kiss. Caleb’s tongue parted Aaron’s lips, and Aaron couldn’t hold back a moan as Caleb embraced him tightly. Aaron’s eyes closed as he relished the kiss.