Page 163 of Over the Line

It wasn’t something that could get me disciplined, and I didn’t think it would be a disaster in the locker room. But it could mess with my teammates’ trust in me. The captaincy was already heavy on my shoulders; it was a responsibility I took very seriously.

And if I was honest, I didn’t know how the team would feel about me dating another teammate’s parent. I just had no idea. And I didn’t like that uncertainty. That feeling that I could announce “Hey, Kanes’s dad is my boyfriend,” and the reactions could range from “Whatever, man; who’s ordering the next round?” to full-on locker room mutiny.

As I rolled a sip of beer around in my mouth, I moved my gaze from one face to the next.

How would these men react?

Would they even care?

Was I worrying myself stupid over nothing? Or was I underthinking what a disaster this could be?

I just didn’t fucking know.

But sooner than later, I was going to find out.

CHAPTER 38

GARRETT

My grandson arrived at 5:38 that morning. Chris was at Jasmine’s side through it all, and everything went as smoothly as anyone could have asked. Until the day I died, I’d never forget my son walking into that waiting room, tears running down his smiling face, as he told me everyone was fine. Asher was perfect, and his parents were instantly in love with him. So was I.

I was holding Asher when Chris called his mom to tell her. I got to hear her cry of joy, and I watched her face light up on the screen as she saw him on camera for the first time.

Chris, of course, called his siblings as well. I talked to both Nick and Katie, and I stayed quiet and out of the frame while Chris talked to Ally. Hearing her voice on the speaker made my throat tight; that was the most bittersweet part of this whole thing.

We’ll get there, I reassured myself, but it won’t be today. Today is about Chris and his family. Not me and Ally.

It still hurt, though. I couldn’t pretend it didn’t.

And there was also a layer of guilt when I got a couple of texts from Liam. He texted Chris as well, and I felt guilty for not telling my son I was exchanging messages with his teammate.

Liam

Congrats! Feel weird to be a grandfather?

A bit, yeah. But I love it so far!

That’s awesome.

It is. Kind of overwhelming, but all in good ways.

Any chance you want to FaceTime later?

I always do. I’ll be at the hotel in a couple of hours. Ping you then?

Sounds good.

He didn’t reply after that, which was fine. I’d quickly learned that road trips were relentlessly busy. Between flying, practicing, team meetings, playing, and eating, he didn’t have a ton of downtime. Some of that downtime was spent socializing with his teammates, which I totally understood.

But he texted whenever he could—usually on the bus or plane—and we FaceTimed when he was in his rooms. It sucked being away from him, but we managed.

And missing him now felt strange for all the reasons I’d long ago figured out. No shit, it felt weird to be missing my boyfriend while I was with my son, who didn’t know about said boyfriend.

We need to tell him.

Either man up and tell him, or man up and end things.

Keeping it a secret is just going to blow up in my face.