CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

"Wait." Dom rubbed his still-aching head. "What happened at the party last night when you went inside?"

Shea pressed a mug of coffee into his hand. "Mark hit on Birdie, Kate showed up, Mitchell appeared, Mitchell got into it with his dad, and then Mitchell confessed to being the leak."

"But why?" Dom asked. God, he should be having this conversation sober or not hungover or something . "Why did he do it?"

Shea settled on the bed beside him. "It sounds like Joe was blackmailing him too."

Dom shook his head, then immediately regretted it. "Wait, please. Speak to me like I'm very stupid and start from the beginning because none of this is making sense. How did you end up in the middle of this?"

"Well, you have been aggressively killing brain cells for the past week," Shea said drily.

Dom grunted and took a sip of his coffee, glaring over the rim.

Shea smiled. "Okay. So I came out of the bathroom to find some guy being a creep to Birdie. I stuck around to keep an eye out in case she needed me. Once I realized the man was Mark, I got worried. And then when Mitchell confessed, I wanted to hear the whole story." He let out a small laugh.

"Which was?"

"Shortly after Mitchell got hired, he met Joe. He was a little bit older, kinda charming. They met at a bar, got drunk, and hooked up."

"Tale as old as time," Dom said drily.

"Exactly. But, of course, we know Joe is actually a paparazzo and it was a setup."

"Right," Dom said slowly.

"Mitchell claims he didn't mean to leak anything at first. He thought Joe worked in finance or something and so they were having some pillow talk after sex when he let something slip that he'd overheard Kate talking about. He said Joe kept asking questions and, at the time, he thought it was just him being impressed that Mitchell worked for the team but …"

Dom grimaced. "He was pumping him for information."

"Exactly. So Mitchell sees the article in JockGossip the next day or whatever, and feels horribly guilty. He loves the job, he likes working for Kate, etc. and he never meant to share private info."

"So why did he keep feeding Joe info then?" Dom frowned.

"At first, Joe convinced him he wouldn't do it again. He manipulated him into believing he had feelings for him, strung him along with lies. Honestly, it sounds like Mitchell didn't have very good self-esteem, and Joe knew how to manipulate him. Every time he used something Mitchell told him and Mitchell rightfully got pissed, he bought him a gift, did something sweet to make up for it."

"Fuck. That's sad."

"It is. But it sounds like eventually, Mitchell saw through it and confronted him. Broke it off."

Dom frowned. "But the leaks kept happening … I mean, I know some of it was fan photos and videos that they took advantage of. But some of it had to come from Mitchell."

"Apparently, once Mitchell tried to distance himself, Joe blackmailed him."

Dom blinked. "With what ?"

"The fact that Mark had cheated on Mitchell's mom with an escort."

"Audra," Dom said grimly.

"Bingo."

"So Mitchell was protecting himself from ending up on the gossip sites?" Dom asked a little bitterly. Because he'd been starting to feel bad for the kid but …

"No. Protecting his mother."

"Oh." Dom felt a sudden pang, imagining he'd been in Mitchell's shoes. If someone had blackmailed him about his father's sexuality? Yeah, Dom would have thrown nearly anyone under the bus to protect his mom.

"Yeah." Shea looked conflicted. "It's complicated, right?"

Dom nodded. "So then what?"

"Apparently after a while, when Mitchell started to waver and was tempted to confess the whole thing anyway and risk his dad's behavior coming out anyway, Joe bought him a car. Put the title in his name and said people would never believe that he didn't leak things voluntarily. Pointed out all of the other ‘gifts' he'd given him and said everyone would think he did it for the money."

"Damn. What a manipulative asshole."

"Right?" Shea huffed.

"You know," Dom said thoughtfully. "When we started trying to find the leak, I was so sure I was going to want to punch the guy in the face but I feel bad for him now."

Shea nodded. "I do too. I mean, he made so many horrible decisions but …"

"But he kinda got suckered into it by someone who sounds like a real piece of work."

"Exactly."

"How'd Birdie take the situation?"

"She seemed pretty torn up about what Mitchell did, but by the end, she hugged him and begged Kate to give him a second chance."

"Yeah right," Dom scoffed at the idea. He felt bad for Mitchell, but that didn't mean he deserved to work for the team anymore.

Shea shook his head. "Well …"

"Really?" Dom asked skeptically. "Kate isn't exactly the pushover type."

"She's not," Shea said. "But she is compassionate. She told Mitchell she'd find him a position in the organization far from any player information. I think it's the equivalent of scrubbing toilets with a toothbrush as penance. But he seemed grateful and Birdie was happy with that outcome."

"So what about his father? Mark's one of the executive directors. Kate can't exactly demote him."

"Oh, he's gone," Shea said with a laugh. "Kate wrote a resignation letter, printed it off, and made him sign it."

"Is that legal?"

Shea shrugged. "I don't know. But your GM, Pat, backed her and Mark looked cowed enough that I don't think he's going to cause a fuss about it. He'll have to find work elsewhere. I think the head office is just fucking grateful the escort thing was never made public."

"I'd imagine," Dom said drily. He was feeling pretty grateful about that too. "But it still could, right?"

Shea grinned. "Doesn't sound like it. While we talked to Joe in the park, apparently Kate went, well, full Kate and spoke to someone at JockGossip . She got a low level employee there to put her in contact with someone higher up. She reminded them that if they printed Joe's information, they'd be an accessory to blackmail."

"Is that true?" Dom asked. "Like, could they legally be held responsible?"

"I have no idea. But it sounds like she convinced them of it."

"So what about Joe? What happens to him?" Dom asked.

Shea grimaced. "Unfortunately, he seems to have disappeared. He's not at the apartment Mitchell went to previously. The number he used to contact you and Mitchell is no longer in service. The team is using a discreet investigator to try to dig up some info, but no one seems to be able to find anything."

"Fuck. Is anyone thinking about taking it to the police?"

"It doesn't sound like it. We could. But then it all comes out and …"

"True. Damn," Dom muttered.

"I know."

"But we're in the clear?" Dom asked. "I mean, none of this is going to go public?"

"It seems like we're safe," Shea said with a shrug. "There's enough mutually assured destruction that no one is willing to pull the trigger."

Dom nodded. "That's good for the team and for the two of us, so I can't be upset about it. It would have been nice to see that asshole get what he deserved though."

"It would have been," Shea agreed. "But hey, the team won a Stanley Cup and the leak has been taken care of. On the whole, I'd call that a success."

"Yeah, me too."

ONE WEEK LATER

"Welcome to the Puck Thoughts Podcast," Catherine Newman said warmly as Shea got comfortable in front of his microphone. "I'm your host and this is my co-host, Tad Taber."

"Hello, everyone." He gave them a friendly nod.

Catherine continued. "We're here today to speak to some of the Toronto Fisher Cats SAPs—the collective name for the spouses and partners of the team's players. We'd like to welcome Charlie Monaghan, August Manning, Antoni Bianchi-Carlson, and, newest to the group, Shea Barnett."

"Thank you for having us," Charlie said and Shea echoed the sentiment.

There was a little bit of small talk to start off the episode, before Catherine gave Shea a smile. "So, Shea, what we've been trying to do lately is get some of the newly out players on the podcast and get their perspectives. Unfortunately, your partner, Dominic Olson, declined. Do you think that's because he's too busy celebrating his Cup win?"

"Well." Shea gave them a wry grin. "I think it has more to do with the fact that he's a very private person."

"What do you think it would take to get him on the show?" she asked.

Shea laughed. "Uhh, well, probably hell freezing over. If that happens, you might have a shot at it."

Everyone laughed and Tad Taber leaned in, clearly sensing an opening. "Olson is notoriously tight-lipped about his personal life. Do you feel like the two of you were forced into revealing your relationship when certain sports gossip sites posted rather shocking allegations about how you met?"

Shea took a deep breath. He and Dom and Kate had discussed how they wanted to handle this, along with the other guys here.

He had this.

"As I said, Dom is very private," he acknowledged. "And I think that, yes, the speculation about how our relationship started did shift our timeline. But the truth is, Dom and I were already on a path to our relationship deepening. If that had never come out, we probably would have handled it a little more quietly."

Tad frowned. "So are you saying that the rumors about you being an escort were all a lie? Or is that how you met?"

"Dom and I met when he hired me as a stylist," Shea said firmly. "And as I keep reminding everyone, he did make the best dressed in the NHL list for several years running. So I think I'm pretty good at my job! I don't know why everyone keeps questioning that."

Everyone laughed, exactly like Shea had hoped. He leaned forward, growing more serious.

"The truth is, when Dom and I met, I honestly thought I was straight. I thought I would eventually meet a woman and fall in love and settle down with her. But Dom was … Dom was something special. Under all of that reserve and what other people call standoffishness, he was someone with a kind heart, someone who loves very deeply. Someone I couldn't help but fall for. So if you need some interesting angle to our relationship, that's the real story. The one very few people know."

Catherine looked a little stunned but before she could respond, Charlie arched a brow.

"And really," he said with a toss of his head. "Why are we as a society so puritanical about the idea of sex work anyway? Why are we trying to shame people for using escorts?"

Shea suppressed a smile. Kate had known that Shea defending sex work would look suspicious. But the other SAPs doing it, especially someone as outspoken and charming as Charlie, would be far more effective.

Tad looked skeptical. "You don't think that hiring escorts violates the code of conduct?"

"No, why would it?" Charlie said, his tone challenging. "It's a consensual relationship between adults, no?"

"Well, ideally." Tad frowned. "But money exchanges hands and—"

"Money exchanges hands between couples all of the time," Charlie argued. "Do you think Dustin didn't pay to help me move from Chicago to Toronto when we got married? He bought me a car!"

"Nico pays most of our bills," August pointed out in a measured and reasonable tone. "After I was banned for refereeing, I didn't exactly have any money except for my savings."

"And I went from struggling financially to having Matty lavish me and the kids with more than I ever could have imagined." Antoni shrugged. "It happens all of the time."

"Well, sure," Tad sputtered. "But you can hardly compare those situations!"

"Did your wife work while you played hockey, Tad?" Charlie pressed.

"No," he admitted.

"Well, it's a hard life for SAPs!" Charlie shook his head. "I do work but I had the advantage of working for a design firm that has a location here in Toronto. And my husband is the team's captain and has spoken openly about wanting to retire as a Fisher Cat so I didn't have to worry that we'd get traded soon. But the average player's partner or spouse has to deal with loss of income, loss of a job. They're at the whim of being traded at any point. They're often financially dependent on their spouse or partner."

"Sure," Tad said. "But that's supporting someone you love. We're talking about paying for sex. Sex should be sacred and—"

Charlie snorted. "According to whom? It can be, absolutely. It can be sacred and meaningful and incredibly emotional. But let's be honest, millions of people have casual, meaningless sex for all sorts of reasons."

"I was not in love with Nico Arents when we first got involved," August said drily. "The first time we had sex was not meaningful or emotional, and it certainly wasn't sacred. However, no money exchanged hands. Why does that make it better?"

Tad looked flabbergasted. "So you're implying that sex work can be meaningful and emotional?"

Charlie shrugged. "I can't personally attest to that because I've never done sex work or paid for it, but why is that impossible? Money doesn't inherently cheapen the act."

"But it's transactional. A person is selling their body for sex."

Shea cleared his throat. "I sold my body for hockey. Isn't that similar?"

Catherine frowned. "Can you explain what you mean?"

He nodded, explaining his knee injuries and making the comparison he'd made to Dom before. "Why is one socially acceptable while the other isn't?" he pressed when he was done.

"Sex, love and money are all tied up together," Charlie added before either Catherine or Tad could get a word in. "And Shea's right, people have all kinds of expectations about what is appropriate but I think we need to take a look at where those ideas are coming from."

"Honestly, I think this conversation has veered a little off-topic," Catherine said, clearing her throat.

Charlie gave her an innocent smile. "I get very passionate about certain topics. You understand."

Tad chuckled, relaxing. "We can certainly see that."

Catherine nodded. "But to circle around to what we were discussing earlier, it seems like you're implying that the life of a SAP is difficult?"

"First of all, I don't think I can speak for anyone else," Charlie said. "And I'm the first to acknowledge that I lead a very privileged life. When Dustin and I met, I was drowning in medical debt and living in a very small apartment, worried that every check would bounce. I now have a beautiful house, drive an adorable pink Jeep, and live a very charmed life in many ways. But I think only looking on the surface of a SAP's life ignores some of the very real difficulties that many face."

"Can you give us some examples?" Catherine asked.

"Well, many of us give up our careers," August pointed out. "My situation was a little unusual because I was a referee, but it's very common overall. As Charlie said, many spouses and partners have to give up work when their player gets traded and it can be very difficult for them to find a new position once they're in a new location. For journeyman players, they could easily be traded half a dozen times or more. That kind of instability is very hard on the person they're with."

The conversation easily flowed from there.

Antoni mentioned some of the struggles he'd faced as a single parent and Charlie tied that into how often players were gone and Elena's experiences raising six kids and by the time they reached the end of the conversation, Tad and Catherine were nodding their agreement.

"So, Charlie," she said. "It sounds like you're quite passionate about this topic too. Do you have anything else you'd like to add?"

"Well," he said. "We're still working out some of the details, but I'm creating a league-wide network of support for the SAPs. It can be very isolating moving to a new city. I've been extremely lucky because this team is amazingly supportive but I want to ensure that all spouses and partners have access to that kind of community. It'll be open to people of any gender and we're working on an app where people can connect, share their experiences, ask questions or get help navigating a situation."

"Social media for SAPs?" Catherine asked with a laugh.

"Well, hopefully we'll have a catchier name than that by the time we finish. But yes, that's the general idea."

Tad nodded. "I think my wife would have loved that when I was playing."

Charlie beamed. "It will be available to alumni as well. So people with years or decades of experience can chime in too."

"Well that sounds wonderful," Catherine said warmly. "And thank you for the spirited discussion earlier."

"Any time." Charlie winked. "Thank you for having us."

Everyone said their goodbyes and after they left the studio and walked into the warm spring air, Shea let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, guys. You were amazing in there."

Antoni chuckled. "It was mostly Charlie."

August nodded his agreement. "Absolutely."

"Well, I still appreciate it," Shea assured them. "I think Kate was right—"

"Kate is always right." Charlie grinned.

"I mean about making this a group effort. And your idea for the networking group for SAPs sounds amazing. I had no idea you were working on that."

"Me neither," August said.

Charlie giggled. "Yeah, about that … I totally made it up off the cuff."

"Damn, you're quick on your feet," Antoni said, sounding impressed.

"I'm a marvel," Charlie said breezily, striking a pose. "Now, what do you say to lunch, boys? I think we have a networking group and app to design. Because I don't know about you, but now that I've come up with the idea, I intend to make it a reality."