CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Matty was still in a great mood the following morning as he drove to the practice facility.

He belted out the words to the song playing on the radio and when he was stopped at a light a lady in the car next to him shot him a funny look, then did a double-take like she'd recognized him.

He waved cheerfully, too happy to care if she thought he was a weirdo.

It was media day today, and Matty hummed to himself as he walked down the hall, fist-bumping security guards and joking around with the cleaning staff.

He did a quick workout, shaking his ass to the tune playing in his earbuds as he stripped down in the locker room after.

He was still moving and grooving by the time he got done with his shower.

A few guys were beginning to arrive and Matty dropped his towel on the ground so he could grab his uniform. He'd spend the morning posing for official headshots and recording little sound bites and interviews for social media.

It was usually fun. A good way to start off the season.

Tomorrow they'd hit the ground running for training camp and the first pre-season game would be on Sunday.

A sharp pop echoed through the air before Matty felt the sting on his ass.

"Damn it," he howled, grabbing the spot. That fucking stung. "What was that for?"

He turned to see a grinning Jordan Stokes toss the offending towel in the bin. "What else was I supposed to do when you were shaking that big old thing in my face?"

"Fuck off," Matty said cheerfully.

"So, I hear congratulations are in order," Jordan said as he stripped off his street clothes. "Antoni seemed like a good dude. I'm happy for you guys."

"Uhh," Matty said. "Thanks. How'd you find out about the wedding?"

Jordan shot him a funny look. "Dude, team chat's been blowing up all fucking weekend. Didn't you notice?"

"No. I haven't been on. Antoni's parents took the kids so we, um, kind of … tuned out the rest of the world for a few days."

Fuck! That reminded him. He needed to call his parents.

"Say no more." Jordan smirked, though he quickly sobered. "You should know though, guys seem kinda hurt they didn't hear it from you though. You might owe them some apologies."

"Ugh, I haven't told anyone yet."

"Uhh, well, JockGossip got the scoop as usual. I don't know how they always fucking manage it but there are pics of you guys all over it. You wanna see?"

"Not really." Matty felt a little sick. He should have seen this coming, he supposed, but he could never quite wrap his head around that he was a celebrity in this town and that what he did always made the news.

Their officiant, Dave, had been a Fisher Cats fan but Matty hadn't thought he'd do something like sell their private moments to the gossip blogs. "Are they pics from our wedding?" Matty asked. "Like the ceremony and everything?"

"No, no, not the ceremony. Looked like after, maybe? On the steps of city hall and in the restaurant."

"Jesus," Matty whispered. Still weird and invasive but they had been in public so he should have expected fans to take pictures of them. He'd never get used to Toronto though, where it felt like everyone and their brother recognized him.

Jordan gave him a sympathetic look. "They were cute pics, but—"

"So you are still alive, asshole," Dom snarled.

Matty turned to see his pissed-off teammate and friend stalking toward him with Dustin and Colton on his heels. "What?"

"I thought maybe something terrible had happened to you because I couldn't figure out why you were ignoring my fucking calls this weekend. And while we're on the subject, how about letting me know you were getting married?"

"Shit, Dom," Matty said, holding his palms up, surprised by Dom's anger. He'd expected him to be pissed but this was a little more than he'd bargained for. "Look, I didn't tell anyone."

"Yeah, we noticed," Dustin said, frowning. "What is going on, Matty?"

"Nothing!" he protested. "We just … Antoni and I wanted to keep the ceremony small."

"Yeah, that's not fishy at all," Dom said, folding his arms and glowering. "A wedding a couple of weeks after you meet the guy and you don't even invite your friends to it or tell them it's happening? That doesn't raise any alarm bells."

"It was over a month!" Matty said heatedly. Not that that argument really helped that much but if Dom was going to call him out, he should at least get his fucking facts straight.

"Hey! Knock it off, guys!" Gilly hollered and Matty jerked in surprise.

He groaned when he turned to see his new coach and Kate Foster, the vice president of communications and public relations.

Kate pursed her lips. "Matthew, we need to have a chat."

He stifled a groan. He should have known this was coming. But there was no arguing with Kate when she had that look on her face. Besides, she'd Matthew-ed him. That was always serious.

"But we have head shots now?" he said weakly, knowing it was futile but unable to resist.

"Too bad. You should have thought of that earlier. Come along."

"Yes, ma'am," he said, tugging on a pair of shorts and a hoodie and shoving his feet into slides.

She gave him an unamused look, turning on her heel and walking away, Gilly falling into step beside her, glowering.

Matty scrambled to catch up.

As they wound through the practice facility toward the offices, Matty thought about the way Antoni had looked this morning, half-asleep as he stumbled out of bed.

He thought about the sleepy smile Matty had gotten when he'd handed Antoni a travel mug of coffee and their slow, lingering kiss by the door.

Whatever lecture Matty got today, it would be worth it.

As Kate walked into her office, Matty spotted Birdie Pope—Colton Yates' girlfriend—who was chatting with Kate's assistant, Mitchell Nash.

Matty grimaced at them, making an exaggerated "yikes, I'm in trouble" expression.

They both grinned and Mitchell waggled his fingers in greeting as he passed by while Birdie mouthed a "congrats" to him.

But one look from Kate had him following her and Gilly through the door and into her office, tail between his legs.

"So, uh, I'm guessing you heard about the wedding?" Matty said weakly when they were all seated.

Gilly scowled, crossing his arms. "What did I tell you about getting your name in the gossip pages?"

"Antoni and I got married!" Matty protested. "We didn't have an orgy on the steps of city hall or anything!"

"I don't care if you handed out goddamn loaves and fishes to starving orphans!" Gilly scoffed. "No news is good news, do you hear me?"

"Well, Michael, don't be too hasty," Kate said, a glimmer of her humor showing through her annoyance. "Feeding orphans is good PR."

"Look," Matty said. "I get it, okay? You want to keep gossip about the team quiet, but what the fuck did you want me to do, Gilly? Not marry Antoni?"

"Of course we're not saying that," Kate said in a soothing tone. Gilly scoffed like he was about to argue that but Kate continued. "What we're saying is we would have liked to have a heads-up about this."

"And save the personal shit for the off-season like every other player out there," Gilly muttered.

Sure, a lot of players did get married and have babies in the off-season but Matty bit his tongue instead of pointing out that technically the season hadn't started yet. "I wasn't trying to cause any problems for the team."

"I know that," Kate said but she still looked frustrated. "However, the fact that this was so sudden and secretive is absolutely raising some questions and stirring up interest in the relationship."

Matty sighed. "I know. But sometimes you just—you know it's the right time." That was about the closest he could get to telling the truth without making this whole thing worse.

"Well, I suppose it's true what they say. When you know, you know," Kate said with a little shake of her head. "I certainly did with my husband."

A jolt went through Matty when he realized the words she'd spoken matched the ones engraved on the inside of his wedding ring. He glanced down at it, twisting it around his finger. "Uhh, yeah. I guess you do."

What were Eliza and Enzo trying to tell him and Antoni?

Kate continued. "What Michael and I are trying to say is that when you knew you were planning to marry Antoni, you should have said something to us. This team has been the focus of some rather intense scrutiny in the past year. We've had weddings and engagements out the wazoo and that's really ramped up the attention paid to the team's personal lives. We would have appreciated a heads-up that this wedding was about to take place so we could get the proper social media posts scheduled. You understand that, right?"

"I do," Matty said with a sigh, debating how honest he wanted to be with them about the situation. "And I am sorry. This was kind of a whirlwind. We just … look, Antoni is in the middle of trying to get permanent custody of the kids. Their grandparents are trying to cause trouble and we wanted to be sure that Antoni's situation looked as stable as possible."

He looked Kate in the eye, hoping she could see how important this was to him.

"I understand that," Kate said softly. "And I'm deeply sympathetic. But we could have helped you manage the PR aspect of it if you'd given us some prior notice. Given your … previous history with the gossip blogs and your ex's penchant for getting her thirty seconds of fame whenever it's offered, it was obvious that this was going to be more than a short blurb about your nuptials."

"True."

Kate held his gaze. "This was also bound to be especially big because this is the first time you've ever publicly acknowledged your bisexuality. You are bisexual, yes?"

"Yeah," Matty said because while he didn't personally care that much what he got labeled as, it always seemed really important to other people.

Bi worked.

"We could have helped head all that off with a simple statement from the organization," Kate pointed out.

"You'd probably have had to pay Courtney off to keep her quiet," Matty said bitterly. If she hadn't said anything to JockGossip yet, it was only a matter of time.

"Well, sometimes these things can be … arranged discreetly," Kate said. "We try to avoid it when at all possible but it is an option if necessary."

Matty blinked. Shit, he'd never thought about that.

He idly wondered about what they'd paid people off to keep quiet about in the past. And then he thought about the situation in Evanston a few years ago and shuddered.

Yeah, he could see that happening.

Kate was an amazing woman and Matty loved the sport but he couldn't ignore the fact that some shady shit went down in hockey sometimes. And protecting the franchise—especially one as valuable as Toronto—was usually the priority.

"I should have told you guys sooner," he admitted. He probably should have checked his phone this weekend too.

"Have you spoken to your agent?" Kate asked.

"Uhh, no," Matty admitted.

"Well, you'd better do that ASAP."

"I will."

Gilly leaned forward. "What I really don't like is the shit we walked in on in the locker room earlier. Look, I get it, Carlson. Sometimes there are hot tempers and teammates argue. That's normal. But it better be on-ice shit you're beefing about. Personal issues need to stay out of the locker room, especially amongst the leadership. I expect you, Fowler, and Olson to set the tone in there and what I saw earlier was childish, immature behavior. I won't have it in my locker room and if the three of you can't get your shit together, I will find leaders who can."

Matty clenched his jaw. "Understood, Gilly."

"Good." He glanced over at Kate. "I have never seen a team like this, I swear to God."

Kate chuckled. "They do seem determined to send us to an early grave."

Matty winced. "We don't mean to."

She waved it off. "I know. Now, how are we going to address this going forward? I think you better get your agent on the phone if you can."

After a call to his agent and some strategy talk about how they were going to deal with the media stuff, Matty was finally set free.

He hustled through the halls back to the locker room but Kelsey Lambert—one of the interns from last year who they'd recently hired full time—snagged his sleeve as he passed by at a jog. "Hey, Matty, you need to be dressed in your gear. You're in the group doing headshots first and you're running way behind schedule. Don't get me in trouble for not keeping you guys wrangled."

"I know, I know," Matty said, making a face. "Sorry, Kels. I had a meeting with Kate and Gilly."

Kelsey grimaced. "Yikes. That sounds serious."

"Yeah, I'm the one in big trouble today," he said with a laugh. "But it'll be fine. Give me two seconds to get ready and I can do the headshots." At least he had short hair so it was already dry and the stylist shouldn't have much to do beyond smoothing it down a little.

"Go, go," Kelsey said, shooing him away. "Oh, and congrats on the marriage! Your new family is adorable!"

"Aww, thanks!" Matty beamed as he jogged toward the locker room, the worry fading a little as he thought about Antoni and the kids.

This drama with the gossip site wasn't great but they'd figure it out.

Matty spent the day posing for pictures, recording silly videos, thanking people for their congratulations and well-wishes, and ignoring the dirty looks Dom kept sending him.

He got plenty of ribbing from the rest of the team when they paused for lunch too.

Dom pointedly didn't sit near him, instead, choosing to sit with Anton Makarov—their starting goaltender—and their backup, Jesse Webber.

Jesse was new-ish to the team. He was twenty-four and had been called up from the Black Bears—their AHL affiliate team—last season. He hadn't gotten a ton of starts until the playoffs and he'd had to stand on his head to even get them a shot at making it to the second round.

He also had the kind of square-jawed handsomeness that social media ate up and he seemed to fit well with the team. Following Anton's hip surgery over the summer and the fact that he was still rehabbing, Matty would bet they saw a lot more of Webby in net this season.

Dom was good about keeping an eye on the new guys and making sure they were handling the transition to full-time NHL players as well as possible, but today, he was definitely making a point.

And Matty was already tired of it.

"So, uh, I've gotta ask, what the fuck, Matty?" Colton said while they ate. "No bachelor party or engagement party? Weren't you the one giving Dustin shit for that last season?"

"Well," Matty said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess I understand it better now. Besides, I've been married before. I didn't need to do all that again."

"Yeah, but what about Antoni?" Nico asked with a frown. "He hasn't been married before, has he?"

"No," Matty admitted. And then he wondered. Would Antoni have wanted all that if this had been a real wedding? Had Matty cheated Antoni out of some important moments?

But there was no way to know right now and they had more team stuff to do this afternoon, so Matty put his head down and shoveled food in.

He'd have to worry about that later.

"We're kidnapping you for a bit," Dustin said firmly as they left the locker room that afternoon, his hand snug around Matty's bicep like he thought Matty would try to make a run for it.

"Uhh, what?" Matty asked. "Where are we going?"

"My place. I'd like some privacy."

"Look, I've gotta text Antoni's parents and make sure we're good on childcare first," Matty pointed out. "They were expecting me home in like an hour and I don't want to leave them hanging."

Dustin's expression softened a little. "Yeah. Of course."

Dustin leaned against the wall, his gaze assessing as Matty typed out a text to the group chat that consisted of Eliza, Enzo, Antoni, Andrea, Stephanie, and himself.

Once Matty was sure that Eliza and Enzo could stay at the house until Antoni got home from work, he stuffed his phone in his pocket.

"I'm all yours," he told his captain with a sigh. "Kidnap away."

Matty wasn't really sure they could call it kidnapping when he drove to Dustin's house of his own free will. But he also figured the guys knew where he lived so there was really no point in trying to avoid this talk.

It would only delay the inevitable.

Matty waited for the lecture to start as the team's core assembled in Dustin and Charlie's living room.

"Okay," Dustin said when everyone had arrived. "We have some questions for you, Matty."

Dom scowled. "Yeah, like what the fuck were you—"

"Can it, Dom," Dustin said cooly. "You're pissed and I get that, but that isn't going to help right now."

Dom's scowl deepened, but he sat back.

Dustin sighed. "Matty, we know you have a big heart. And we were all totally on board with the idea of you moving Antoni into your place and yeah, we all saw that you and Antoni had a—a connection. And we support that! We were happy with the idea of you guys dating. He seems like a really good guy and you deserve that from whoever you date! But marriage—"

"It's fake," Matty blurted out. He glanced around the room, taking in the shocked faces of Dustin, Dom, Nico, Jonah, Felix, Colton, and Jordan. "It's … look, we got married for custody reasons."

"What the fuck?" Dom whispered. "Matty—"

Dustin shot him a look. "Not fucking helping, man!"

Dom's expression turned murderous but he clenched his jaw and didn't say anything else.

Felix chuckled. "Decided to take a page out of our books, huh?" he joked, gesturing between him and Jonah.

Matty chuckled. "Kind of. But look, guys, this is really serious. You don't know everything that is going on."

The guys listened intently as Matty told them that the Swansons were trying to get custody and how they'd treated Eli in the past.

"Antoni and I, we can't let that happen."

"Of course not," Dustin said soberly. "I—Matty, if there's any way we can help …"

"There isn't," Matty said, swallowing thickly. "I appreciate it and I'll let you know if I think of anything. But this wedding, I think it will help Eli and all of the kids. That's why we did it."

"Okay, well that's good," Nico said. "I mean, you do what you gotta do to protect them, right?"

"Exactly," Matty said, grateful that at least a few of the guys understood. He glanced around, trying to get a feel for how everyone else was reacting. Their expressions varied from suspicion to outright hostility.

"Yeah, but Matty …" Jordan winced. "Look, I saw the way you were dancing around the locker room this morning. And you—you've got marks like someone was loving you up real good all weekend. I'm happy for you, but I have a hard time believing this is all fake."

"Uhh." Matty felt his ears go hot. "Okay, so not all of it is fake. Antoni and I, uhm, we figured out we're compatible in the bedroom, you know? And like, I don't know what's going to happen in the future or how this is going to play out at the end with him. We're kinda taking it one day at a time. All I know is that those kids need help and that's the priority for both of us."

"I definitely think doing what you can for the kids is amazing, Matty," Jonah said. "They're lucky they have you and Antoni fighting for them. And I agree with Dustin. If I can help, I want to."

He exchanged a look with Felix, who said, "We don't want to see you get hurt, bud. That's all."

"I know that," Matty said. "And I appreciate it. I do. But I'm a big boy. I can take care of myself."

"Oh yeah?" Dom snarled, rising to his feet. "Then why the fuck was I the one scraping you up off your tennis court and sitting beside you all night to make sure you didn't choke on your own vomit when you got blackout drunk after Courtney left you?"

"If it was such a big problem for you, maybe you shouldn't have bothered," Matty snapped, standing too, knowing he was probably overreacting but really fucking sick of the attitude he kept getting from Dom.

"You fucking called me crying," Dom snapped. "What was I supposed to do?"

"I—" Matty scrambled to come up with a response but Dom cut him off.

"Look, I'm not shaming you for being heartbroken after your divorce, Matty. I'm not. What she did was fucking awful and you deserved better."

"Antoni is better," Matty argued.

"Yeah, well, we'll see." Dom pursed his lips. "Because this secrecy about the wedding and shit? It's not exactly making me feel good about what you're doing. Helping the kids is great. It is. If I had the Swansons in front of me now, I'd give them a piece of my mind. What they did to Eli was fucking awful and I don't stand for that kind of shit either. But I don't wanna watch you go down that road to heartbreak again, okay? I love you too much to do that, man."

"Secrecy?" Matty bristled, leaning in. "Right. Okay, let's talk about secrecy, you hypocrite. Let's talk about the fact that we have been friends for how many years now? And I still don't know what the fuck you get up to on Sunday nights. I don't know who you're dating or—"

"I'm not dating anyone!" Dom protested.

"Who you're hooking up with or whatever then." Matty waved it off. That part wasn't important. "Or how about the fact that we talk about hockey and what's going on in my life but you never, ever fucking talking about your own? In four weeks I've gotten to know Antoni better than I've gotten to know you in four years. You never talk about your family or your friends outside of the team. And why is that Dom? Because it's not because I'm not willing to listen! Don't even fucking try to pretend like I don't care about you. You're the one who fucking won't let me in, man."

"Guys," Dustin said, stepping between them. "C'mon. I know there are strong feelings here but we need to chill. This isn't productive and—"

"No, you're right," Dom said. "It's fucking pointless to have this argument because Matty's going to do what he's going to do and then we're gonna be left to pick up the pieces after it's over. Like the last time. So fuck you. I'm out of here."

"No, Dom …" Matty said helplessly because he probably shouldn't have said that shit about Dom's personal life. Even if it was true, it wasn't nice to call Dom out in front of other people and by now, Matty should know he was only going to clam up further.

But Dom just kept walking.

"Damn," Colton muttered when Dom left with a slam of the front door. "Why's he being such a dick to you, Matty?"

Matty turned, swallowing hard and sinking onto the couch again. "He's—he's worried about me."

"Doesn't mean he should act like an asshole," Colton said.

"No, it doesn't," Matty agreed. "But I know he's only saying it because he cares. He has a shitty way of showing it but he's—he's got his own bullshit to deal with, I think."

"If you say so, man." Colton gave him a skeptical look and the rest of the guys looked equally concerned.

"We'll work it out," Matty assured the guys. "We always do."

But as Matty caught sight of Dustin's raised eyebrow, he had to wonder how much impact this would have on the team before that happened.

Shit. So much for his promise to Gilly about keeping the drama to a minimum.