CHAPTER TWELVE

F inn

Apparently, what happens in Vegas doesn't actually stay in Vegas.

The news breaks one day later, as we prepare to play Los Angeles. Noah and I are sitting beside each other, getting dressed. A few players have massages in one of the adjoining rooms, and others meet with their athletic trainers.

We're relaxed, happy about our win against Vegas, and optimistic for our upcoming game this evening. I love the ice, I love the adrenaline rushes, I love playing against actual people...but this is my second favorite part of hockey: hanging out with the team.

All of a sudden, I notice Troy grinning at us. He shows his phone to Luke, who stares at us, wide-eyed.

I blink.

"Why is everyone acting weird?" Noah asks, his voice low, just for me.

"I'm not sure." I scramble for my phone, my heart sinking.

I open X.

And there it is.

An article that we eloped in Vegas yesterday.

I slide my phone over to Noah, my fingers trembling, but he's already craning his neck to read from my screen. Our heads touch, and we stare at each other wide-eyed.

This is not good .

No no no no no.

"Dudes," Axel asks finally. "You guys got hitched?"

"Um..."

"And you didn't invite us to your wedding." Troy flings his dirty clothes at me.

I toss them back. "Shut up, Troy."

"Aw... It was an intimate moment for them," Luke says. "Why would they want you on their big day?"

Troy punches Luke's arm.

Axel continues to stare at us. "So you really got married?"

The others in the room quiet, thinking about the implications.

"You're in love?" Jason asks. "You're bi?"

My heartbeat quickens. Everyone in the room stares. No one is laughing.

My mouth dries.

"They met a week ago," Vinnie says, his voice booming through the room. "Finn has never mentioned an interest in men. They're not in love."

People blink, taking in that information. Their eyes harden, and I want to sink into the bench. Noah trembles beside me, and I want to pull him toward me and calm him.

Instead, I cower and hate myself.

Vinnie stalks toward us. "Are you making fun of us, Finn?"

"N-no."

"Because everyone knows you're straight."

It suddenly occurs to me how terrible this is. This is the news that makes national headlines. Have any two players on any team, in any sport ever gotten married?

"Why would it be bad?" I ask.

"Because you're not taking marriage seriously," Vinnie snaps.

His gaze darts to Evan, then he looks away quickly.

Maybe he wanted to ask Evan to marry him.

And maybe I've made a mockery of their love. Can I announce that it was a joke? That Noah and I got married in Vegas because we could?

No one would be happy with us. The team's reactions make that perfectly clear. They can tease us for secretly running off together, but they don't want to think we did this to mock gay marriage.

"The last thing I remember from when we were last in the locker room was you spouting homophobic statements."

"I wasn't," I say.

"It doesn't look good," Vinnie says.

And I'll give him that.

It looks terrible.

I glance at Noah. We're supposed to meet with Coach and be sent to HR for further training on how to be decent people. Noah almost got sent back to the AHL. Plenty of people are willing to take his place. In a battle between the captain of our exceedingly awesome team who has been a Blizzard for most of his career, and Noah, who got here a week ago and had the worst entrance to the NHL in NHL history... Well, this doesn't look good.

I won't ruin Noah's career. No way. Absolutely not.

This is his chance. I won't destroy his life because he made the mistake of becoming my friend.

I need to fix this .

I rise, so I'm practically eye-to-eye with Vinnie. I am not going to have him lecturing to us while we're sitting.

"Obviously, we did not intend for this to get out." I grab hold of Noah's hand, noting his wide green eyes and the zing that moves through me as he tumbles up beside me. "Excuse us, while I confer with my husband."

I drag Noah out of the room before he can say anything, my heart pounding fast, fast, fast, as I feel everyone's eyes on us.