38. Wyatt

I’d hoped our flirtation this morning would be enough to keep Anthony’s mood light until he came home, but I’d known it probably wouldn’t. Not after driving in, practicing with his team, attending a team meeting, and whatever else he’d had to do before Simon dropped him off back here. I’d hoped it would help, at least, but I’d fully expected him to come home tired and frustrated.

What I didn’t anticipate was how visibly rattled he’d be when he shuffled in through the door. Even his cats thundering into the kitchen and onto the counter, chirping and purring, wasn’t enough to brighten his mood.

Alarm had me on my feet and hurrying into the kitchen. “Hey.” I touched the small of his back. “You okay?”

Anthony pressed his lips together, refusing to look at me as he petted Moose, who was purring and bumping his head against him.

“Anthony?” I rubbed my hand up and down his back. “What’s going on?”

He sighed and faced me, wrapping his arms around me. That much was a relief—whatever the issue was, he wasn’t pushing me away. Voice heavy with frustration and fatigue, he said, “Simon knows about us.”

“Oh.” I studied him. “That’s… I mean, you said he had his suspicions, right?”

“Yeah.” Anthony let me go and sagged against the counter, rubbing his forehead. He dropped his hand onto the counter’s edge and met my gaze with worried, exhausted eyes. “But he knows.” Scowling, he gestured above the cabinets.

I turned to see what he was pointing at, and when I made the connection, my heart plummeted into my feet. Head snapping back toward Anthony, I said, “He’s been watching us?”

Anthony nodded slowly. “I don’t know how much he’s seen. I don’t know how many times he’s—” His shoulders sagged as he deflated and raked a hand through his hair. “It didn’t even occur to me that he’d check them. I knew he still had access, but like, why would he bother checking if there wasn’t an alarm, you know? I didn’t think he’d…”

“Hey. Hey.” I cupped his face in both hands. “Baby. Look at me.” When he did, I whispered, “This isn’t your fault. I knew the cameras were there too, and I didn’t think about it either. It’s a douchey fucking thing to do.”

“It is. I shouldn’t even be surprised, but…” He sighed. “Here we fucking are.”

Yeah. There we fucking were.

I studied him. “Is he going to out us?”

Anthony pursed his lips. After a moment, he gave his head a slow shake. “I don’t think so. We both know I’m way more fucked than he is if this gets out, but he doesn’t want to cause problems for other teammate couples.” He sighed. “I don’t think he wants the gossip either. It makes his skin crawl when people are talking about us in positive ways. I… don’t think he’d like what happens if we’re at the center of a scandal.”

Well, that was a relief.

“I just feel disgusting.” He chafed his arms, eyeing the camera above the cabinets. “I’m so tempted to take those things down for good.”

“You could change the password.”

Anthony scowled. Then he took out his phone. “I’m going to do that right the hell now.”

“Good.” While he went through those motions, I gnawed my lip. I felt disgusting, knowing Simon had creeped on us while we were fooling around, but more than anything, I was worried. About what Simon might do with that information. About Anthony. About what Simon’s bullshit might mean for us going forward. Anthony was already stressed enough over keeping their breakup a secret. How much more did he want to pile on his plate?

“There.” He put his phone facedown on the counter. “Password is changed. He won’t have access to any of it.” He cut his eyes toward the door. “I’m half-tempted to change the locks and reprogram the garage door opener, too.”

“Might not be a bad idea.”

He seemed to consider it for a moment, then slowly shook his head. “No. It is his house. I don’t like him being able to barge in whenever he feels like it, but I have to keep the peace with him, too.”

“You should be able to have some peace, though,” I said gently. “He shouldn’t be able to cause you this much headache, you know? Especially in your own home?”

“I know,” he whispered. “I…” Shoulders sagging, he leaned against the island. “Not gonna lie—I’m afraid to provoke him.”

I straightened. “Do you think he’d do something out of pocket?”

“No, no. I mean, I don’t think he’d get violent or anything.” A faint laugh escaped his lips. “This is someone who’s gone his whole hockey career without ever getting into a fight. He can be an asshole, but he’s not that kind of asshole.”

“That’s good, I guess. But what do you think he would do?”

Sighing, Anthony rubbed the back of his neck, looking for all the world like exhaustion was about to knock him on his ass. “Out us to the team? Be a dick to you? Just… be insufferable when we’re stuck together on the road?” He dropped his hand to the counter’s edge with a heavy smack. “Hell, you know what I figured out this morning?”

I raised my eyebrows.

Anthony laughed bitterly. “He’s always done this thing where if we’re arguing about something or I’m upset about something, he says, ‘Let’s talk about it in the car.’ On the way to practice or a game—whatever. And I’m so fucking stupid, it took me until today to realize he does that because he knows I’ll back down.”

“What do you mean?”

“We have to look like a happy couple whenever we’re out in public,” he explained. “Especially when we’re practicing or playing. If we’ve been fighting, it’s pretty obvious, so I always try to defuse things if we’re on our way to someplace where we have to be a happy couple.” He rolled his eyes and raked a hand through his hair. “Son of a bitch has been deliberately putting off any arguments or confrontations until he knows I won’t argue or confront him.”

“Because he knows you’ll let it go,” I murmured, my heart sinking at the same time fury rose in my chest.

“Exactly. God, I’m so stupid.”

“No, you’re not.” I put my hands on his waist and kissed him softly. “You were trying to make things work with him. You’re trying to make things work with your team. It’s not your fault he was manipulating you.”

“I should’ve seen it, though.”

I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him in close. “You’re not stupid. And you try to see the best in people. Especially people you love.”

Anthony returned my embrace as he pushed out another breath. “I need to grow a spine with him, though. Tell him how it is, and how it’s going to be going forward.” He paused. “And not in the car on the way to the arena.”

“Maybe it’s time to do it on your terms, then.” I drew back to meet his tired eyes. “Confront him and tell him you’re having it out, then and there.”

Anthony’s lips quirked. “I do know where he lives. He’ll be pissed as hell if I show up on his doorstep, but…” He shrugged tightly. “Honestly, I don’t even care right now. I’m just done.”

“As well you should be. Is that what you want to do, then? Show up and have it out with him?”

He seemed to consider it, then nodded. “Yeah. Not right this minute, but… yeah. I think that’s what I need to do.”

I didn’t blame him for putting it off. He’d just come home from practice and probably still wanted to wind down a bit. Tired as he was right now, I didn’t imagine he was in the headspace for a confrontation.

“Well, for right now, there’s still some daylight left and the weather is decent.” I tipped my head toward the front window, where the afternoon sun was peering through the clouds. “Let’s take the animals out.”

Anthony looked in that direction, and as he released his breath, some tension left his neck and shoulders. Slowly, a smile formed. Meeting my gaze, he said, “That sounds like a great idea. Let’s go.”