“You know what we talked about last season, before… everything?”
“I just mentioned your boyfriend,” Benton said, lips quirking. “I remember our conversation.”
Adam took a deep breath and flattened his hands on the table. “Can I… use the press conference to come out?”
Benton’s brows went up. “Now who’s ballsy?”
Adam hunched his shoulders. “It’s just—I mean. I’m tired of hiding it. I want… I think it’d be a good time, if the Wolverines want to show they support me, you know?”
Benton nodded thoughtfully. “Good point. Alright. Give me an hour, then. Scott needs to write a statement for you and you’ll need to approve it. You sit tight.”
He and Grace left and Adam was alone, sitting at the table with hands that wouldn’t stop trembling. Was he doing this? He was doing it. He’d re-signed with the Wolverines, he had their support, and he was about to come out to the country. He was… going to throw up.
He was kneeling over the trash can in the corner of the room when the door opened and then Etienne was there, rubbing his back with a warm, comforting hand.
“Hey, hey, breathe,” he murmured.
Adam clutched at him blindly. “I signed,” he choked out. “I signed and I’m going to come out and—” His stomach twisted and he heaved again.
Etienne held him as he shook, murmuring to him. “You’re doing so well,” he said, over and over. “You’re being so brave. I’ve got you. You can do this. You and me, remember?”
“People are going to be shitty,” Adam managed, sitting back on his heels.
“Yeah,” Etienne agreed. “And you know how much you’re going to help kids who think they’ll never be able to play a pro sport because they’re gay?”
Adam looked up at him. “Yeah?”
Etienne’s eyes were warm with love. “If someone like you had come out when I was a kid, it would have meant the world to me. So focus on the people you’re helping, and let the other shit roll off your back. You’ve got me, and your team.”
“Do I, though?” Adam said, grabbing Etienne’s sleeve. “Do I have the team? I know I told them, but then everything happened and—what if some of them have a problem? What if—”
“Stop,” Etienne ordered. “You’ve got Jake, don’t you? And Hideki, and Victor, and Claude. Who else?”
“Hunt. And Coach.” Adam took a shaky breath. “They have my back.”
“Exactly.”
The door opened again and Scott stepped through. His eyebrows climbed toward his hairline at the sight of them crouched in a corner, but he just held up a piece of paper.
“I’ve got your statement. Want to go over it with me?”
Etienne patted Adam on the back and helped him stand. “I’ll go find you a toothbrush or some breath mints.” He dodged Adam’s half-hearted swing, grinning, and nodded at Scott before leaving.
It took about twenty minutes to revise and amend the statement until it read like him. Adam murmured the phrases to himself, committing as much as he could to memory, letting the repetition ground him as Etienne sat beside him, a solid, reassuring presence.
Five minutes before time, Benton put his head in the door. “Adam, can you come out here for a minute?”
Adam threw a baffled look at Etienne and stood. He stepped out into the hall and the question died in his throat as a cheer went up and he took in all the faces grinning at him. Jake was in front, bouncing on his toes with excitement. Beside him was Hunt, his eyes calm and a smile curving his mouth. Victor, Hideki, Claude, and the rest of the team clustered behind them. Some of them had reservation in their eyes, their smiles not as warm, but they were there.
“You—” Adam stopped, unable to get words past the boulder in his throat. “You guys… are here for m-me?”
Jake rolled his eyes. “Duh. You don’t get to hog all the spotlight!”
“We wouldn’t make you do this alone,” Hideki said. He gripped Adam’s hand, and as if that was a signal, the rest of the team crowded around, sweeping Adam up in the middle of a breathless hug.
Adam, torn between laughter and tears, looked for Etienne over their heads. He found him off to the side, smiling so hard his face had to hurt. Adam put out a hand without thinking and Jake reached out, grabbing Etienne and dragging him into the middle of the scrum until he and Adam collided.
Adam closed his eyes, pressing his face into Etienne’s shoulder.
“Ready?” Etienne whispered in his ear.
Adam took a deep breath and nodded. Behind them, Coach Benton swung open the doors to the press room, and Adam turned to face his future.
Keep reading for a sneak peek of Odd Man Rush, a Seattle Kingfishers novella and the next hockey romance from Michaela Grey!