Every Gray Hair I Have Is from That Kid （9）

"Alright. Hey, hang in there, OK? It's…it'll be OK. Whatever happens, we'll deal with it…I know you didn't, JT…He won't…I love you, too. Bye."

Ryan Baylor ended the call with JT and exhaled loudly, running a hand through his thinning hair and shaking his head. He and Hayes had been working out some scheduling logistics for an upcoming 10u tournament in the office when he saw JT was calling.

"I have to take this. I'll be right back," he'd told his husband as he exited the office, took the call, and instantly developed a migraine as JT dropped his most recent drama bomb on him.

As he headed back toward the office to fill his husband in and hopefully prevent him from hopping on a plane to Pennsylvania and murdering Jacob Tyler DiMara, Ryan heard a familiar voice call his name.

"Hey, Matt. What's going on?" The two shook hands quickly in the lobby, Ryan taking notice of some possible tension between them as they touched, but refusing to give it another thought. The 28-year-old 10u coach had just started over the last month, and he was really good.

And also, really hot.

A former NHL prospect forced to retire early due to complications from repeated concussions, he'd gone into coaching following his final season with the Coachella Valley Firebirds of the AHL.

"Any word on the tourney times yet?" he asked Ryan.

Ryan shook his head. "We're actually finalizing the details now. I just…had to take a quick phone call. But as soon as I know, you'll know."

"Cool, cool. You know, Ryan, I'd love to sit down with you and pick your brain about some defensive drills for the kids. It's the one area where they're so weak. You're just…you're really good, and you know so much from all your time in the NHL. I'd love to get your input, see what you think we could do to get them up to level."

"Yeah, definitely. Anything to help. Maybe we can, like, run a clinic, if you think it'd be beneficial."

"Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Here," Matt said, pulling his phone out. "Maybe we can, like, talk over dinner or drinks, whatever. What's your number?"

Ryan.

Dear, sweet Ryan, as oblivious as he was handsome, rattled off the digits to his employee, who quickly texted him a winking emoji with its tongue out.

"There. Now you have mine, too. And, just so you know, you can call or text me whenever you want , OK?"

There it was.

Oh shit.

"Yeah. Listen, I'm gonna…go find my husband, who I love very much. I'll see you around. And I'll have Hayes text you the details of the tournament times when we figure everything out."

With that, he hauled ass back toward the office and away from the gorgeous man who was 17 years his junior and very clearly hitting on him.

Closing the office door behind him, he took a moment to stare at Hayes as he worked: bent over the binder, pencil in one hand, forehead resting on the other as he counted aloud and then scribbled something.

The man was beautiful.

Despite everything Hayes had been through, he'd held up phenomenally. He'd kept himself in decent physical condition, as much as the scar tissue in his shoulder would allow, and much of his hair had turned silver, which Ryan found insanely hot.

Truth be told, their relationship had become somewhat strained between the demands of the high-profile business and raising Amara's son, but they'd always worked through whatever problems arose because, like Ryan had told him on their wedding day, their wedding rings meant that this was forever.

The good, the bad, and the ugly.

All of it.

And while they'd had some of the good, they'd had more than their fair share of the bad and the ugly. Addictions, anxiety and depression, cheating, a break up, the death of three good friends, and nonstop drama with JT were all things that probably would have had most couples calling it quits, but these two men refused to give up on each other.

It wasn't even a fucking option.

As tended to happen with time and age, their once-active sex life had slowed down over the years, but over the course of the past few months, ever since JT was arrested for banging a bartender in a back alley, it'd ground to a halt. Whenever Ryan would try and get things going, Hayes would make excuses: headache, tired, his shoulder was bothering him.

"Is it me?" Ryan had finally asked him one time, as Hayes had rolled away from him in bed. "Are you not attracted to me anymore, baby?"

Hayes's heart had damn near broken, and he promptly rolled back to face his husband, running a hand across his cheek and using his thumb to wipe away some of the tears that had escaped Ryan's eyes. "Never. Rook, don't you ever even entertain that ridiculous fuckin' thought again. It's…it's me, OK? I promise you."

"You sure?" Ryan had whispered, reaching up and clutching Hayes's hand.

"Of course. I don't lie to you, Rook. You know that, right?"

Ryan had nodded, then Hayes had kissed him and rolled away from him again, tears forming in his own eyes as he wondered how the hell he was supposed to tell his husband that his dick wouldn't get hard anymore.

Unsure if it was stress, or if his T levels had dropped with age, nothingseemed to work, not even solo play. He hadn't been to a doctor because he was beyond embarrassed, but he knew that it was probably something that needed to happen.

And soon.

"Hey. You figure the schedule out?" Ryan asked quietly, having a seat next to Hayes as he slammed the binder shut in celebration.

"Done!" Hayes exclaimed. "I had to move a few of the figure skatin' class times around, but I think it'll work. Kelly said it's cool, that they'll work around it, even if they run late. Ugh, finally! I've been workin' on that schedule for two days, baby." He leaned back in the chair and ran both hands through his hair, then reached over and grabbed Ryan's hand. "Who was on the phone anyway?"

"Um, so it was…JT. Hayes, I need to tell you something, but I need you to promise me that you won't flip out."

Hayes pulled his hand away from Ryan's, pressed both palms up the sides of his face, and squeezed, closing his eyes. "What'd he do now?"

"In his defense, this wasn't really his fault…"

"Bullshit," Hayes interrupted. "Everything is his fault."

"That's completely unfair!" Ryan snapped back. "This wasn't his fault."

"Whatever. Just lay it on me, Rook. What kinda damage control are we lookin' at this time?"

"OK, so I'm just gonna say it, and you're gonna take a moment before you react. Is that understood?"

Hayes nodded.

Ryan took a deep breath, then released all of the words on the exhale. "He went to a party, hooked up with three frat guys, and one of them recorded the whole thing without his knowledge or consent and posted it to his OnlyFans."

"Are you fuckin' shittin'…"

"I said take a moment," Ryan interrupted. "Take. A. Moment."

"Fine." Hayes leaned back, counted to 10 inside his head, then spoke using a technique they'd learned while in couple's counseling a few years back. "So, what I think I'm hearin' you say is that there's a video of our kid, who needs to keep his image clean, on the internet gettin' railed by three dudes. Did I hear you correctly, Rook?"

"Um," Ryan fidgeted uncomfortably. "I'm not sure ‘railed' is the right word, exactly. It was just…from what I could gather, it was just…you know, some blowjobs."

"Oh, even better!" Hayes yelled, clapping and throwing his hands up. "So, there's a video of our kid on the internet suckin' three dudes' dicks. Awesome. This is…just fuckin' awesome ."

"Hayes, they violated him…"

"Three fuckin' cocks at once? Yeah, I'd say so…"

"Hey!" Ryan yelled, standing up and taking Hayes by surprise. "The kid was in tears, OK? He's completely torn up about it."

Hayes dropped his head between his knees. " Fuuuck ," he groaned, before sitting back upright. "So, what do we do?"

"The team is backing him up. They're gonna pay the guys a visit tonight and try to get it taken down. From what I understand, his face wasn't shown. You could see his tats though, and they called him Redshirt, but there's still plausible deniability, if it ever gets to that point."

"What's he doin' now?" Hayes asked quietly, realizing that perhaps he'd overreacted. "Is he OK?"

Ryan nodded. "He's going to meet up with Audrey and go for a hike."

"Audrey?" Hayes asked, confused. "Who the fuck is Audrey?"

"Seriously? His tutor , babe. The one you hired for him?"

"Oh, shit. Alright, well, at least he's still keepin' up on his classes and his studyin'."

"Yeah, definitely. Um, also, while we're doing this, he…so, he thinks he might be falling in love with her." Ryan grinned forcefully.

"She's like, 33 years old, isn't she?" Hayes asked dismissively.

"Tyler Alexander Hayes. Do I need to remind you how we became friends with that boy's mother?"

Hayes closed his eyes and pretended to scream, before opening them back up and staring at his husband. "You know, I am really tryin' to stay sober here, Rook."

"It'll be OK. Let's see what happens with his teammates. He said they've got his back. He seems…it seems like he's making some really good connections with people there, baby."

"Yeah, he's connected with at least three people's…"

"Stop it," Ryan cut him off. "He's young, dumb, and full of cum, just like we were. Shit, we all know I had sex with half the free world. But this was not his fault. You know why he even ended up with the guys in the first place? They were trying to gangbang some chick who was too wasted to even stand up. He intervened, got her to safety, then took one for the team so they didn't rape someone else."

"That's very noble of him," Hayes deadpanned.

"Yeah, it is. Fine, so he's a bit of a dumbass sometimes, but he's a good person, Hayes. Let's just wait it out. Though, if they aren't able to handle it, we may need to get him legal rep. That's gotta be some sort of crime, I would imagine."

"Rook?" Hayes closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. "Every gray hair I have is from that kid."

"Well, then," Ryan said, getting up and moving over to where Hayes was seated. "I guess I should thank him." Ryan straddled Hayes's lap, ran his hands through Hayes's hair, and leaned in to kiss him. "Because it's incredibly sexy."

"You keep sayin' that, Rook, but we both know I look like I'm fuckin' 90 years old."

"Well." Ryan let his lips trail down the side of Hayes's neck to his shoulder. "I'll still gladly suck that 90-year-old cock any time. In fact," Ryan moved his hands to Hayes's waistband, but Hayes pushed them away gently. "Come on. I'll go lock the door."

"I…not now, Rook."

Ryan climbed off Hayes's lap and stood up, visibly frustrated.

"I'm sorry. It's…"

"It's you. I know. I know that." He reached down and touched Hayes's cheek, letting him know that he would wait as long as it took, then adjusted the front of his pants. "Anyway, I'm gonna go get set up for the defensive clinic. Um, also, because I love you and I'm always honest with you as well, I'm pretty sure Matt, the new 10u coach, just made a pass at me."

"Rook?" Hayes warned, rubbing his forehead. "You know I love you more than anything in this world, but get the fuck outta my office. I literally cannot with you right now."

"Right. Love you, too," Ryan said, leaving and closing the door behind him.

Sighing, Hayes picked up his phone, called his urologist's office, and made an appointment for this upcoming week.

If some 28-year-old little shit thought he could waltz into his business and steal his man's attention, he had another fucking thing coming.