I shook my head. Ryan Detenbeck was a hell of a competitor on the ice, but he had no common sense.
“And it’s just as well,” he said. “That would be a disaster for the team.”
“What would be a disaster?”
“If you and Erik De Ruiter were really doing the mattress mambo, you know.”
I froze and stared at him. No, Ididn’tknow what he meant. Being Ryan Detenbeck, smartass extraordinaire, he would enlighten me, though. For the moment, he was busy slipping one index finger in and out of a hole made by the thumb and index finger of his opposite hand.
So mature.
“I’m just talking theoretically,” he said. “It would be a huge distraction to the team.”
“That figures.”
“You don’t think so?”
Now I realized I’d dug myself in far too deep. Like, now that he’d said it, I had to defend myself—without outing me or Erik.No matter what, I couldn’t let him get away with talking shit like that.
“I dunno, I hadn’t thought about it,” I said.
A total pile of bullshit, sure, but I had to do something to get him off my back.
“Hey, did you see that server?” my teammate asked.
“Which one?”
“You can’t be serious. The blonde that was seating everyone.”
“We walked right to the bar.”
“I know, but you’re supposed to be like a radar, dude. At least you used to be. I remember when you could’ve spotted a hot blonde a mile away.”
So, this was it. Yet another way to chip away at me until I had no closet left to hide in. Oh yeah, maybe he really wanted to talk about the sexy blonde server, but can you blame me for thinking anything else?
But hey, I couldn’t pass up the chance to change the subject.
“I saw her,” I said.
He glanced over to the far end of the restaurant as if looking for her.
“Why don’t you go talk her up, lay on some of that Kayden Preston charm?”
He even elbowed my ribs when he said it.
I shrugged, keeping my eyes on the Sabres-Bruins game on the TV. Had Detenbeck seen my eyes, he would’ve known how badly I’d been lying.
In truth, I hadn’t noticed a blonde bombshell at all. I hadn’t noticed very many women in general, not like I used to. That didn’t mean I’d sworn off any and all attraction to women. They just seemed not to catch my eye like they once had. But I could say the same for men. It’s not the mystery you might think. You could say I only had eyes for Erik De Ruiter.
But I couldn’t say that to Ryan Detenbeck, not after he’d confirmed my worst fears: that the team wouldn’t accept Erik and me. Worse, we would be seen as a problem.
Oh yeah, I know he didn’t speak for the whole team, but I could . If one teammate made a colossally stupid comment, others would probably follow. Here’s the thing: I could’ve made all sorts of comments about how I wanted that server’s body in the worst way. It wouldn’t have mattered in the long run. Erik and I might not have been able to hide forever. Being outed was inevitable, and not how you would think. The truth could just slip out, even if I’d done everything in my power to keep a lid on it.
“I don’t know, bro,” I said. “I’ve been pretty focused.”
“And taking cold showers, apparently. You’re saying you’re too focused?”
“Yeah.”
