Page 66 of All In: The Price We Pay

My mouth opens, but no words come out.

“You have to believe me. I didn’t say a word to him about you or our agreement.”

Oh, shit. That thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. “Okay?”

“But . . . we’ve fallen in love.” She raises both hands as if in defense. “I’m not saying this lightly. I’ve never been in love before. And I have no idea how this is supposed to work. He’s here in New York and I’m in LA, and I’m sure you’ll tell me this is a completely stupid idea.” Her eyes glaze over and her gaze becomes dreamy. “But we’re serious. And Sid can’t even sleep anymore because he’s panicked about you.”

“But we’re not serious.”

“That’s what I told him, too. I’m sticking completely to our story that we’re just good friends. But somehow the online gossip sticks more to him than I thought. We did a good job. He thinks you might be into me though.” Once again, she covers her face with her hand.

My faith in Valentina hasn’t been shaken. I trust her completely to keep my secret. But I can’t even grasp what this change means for me, for Sid, and for the team.

What I do know, though, is that my lie will make for a difficult start to Valentina’s relationship.

She misinterprets my silence, though. “Of course, we’re not going to go public right away. But we also don’t want to spend the rest of the season pretending we don’t know each other. I want you to be forewarned.”

The irony of what this means for Valentina hits me immediately. Like me, she’s at risk of an unwanted outing. But if it happens to her, people might be surprised. But in the end, they’ll accept it. No one will doubt the core of their relationship. An actress and a hockey player are a dream match.

“Thanks,” I say, still lost in thought. “You know you don’t need my permission.”

“I’m not asking for it,” she says defiantly, and I laugh.

“We’ll have to let Parker know.”

She grimaces. “Yeah, I think so too. I guess that’s the premature end of our deal.”

I wave it off. “I’m in the process of wrapping things up, anyway. The end was near either way.”

She grins. “Sid says you guys need to talk to the coach.” She bites her lower lip.

Nodding, I take her hand. “Yeah, probably. He needs to know this ahead of time. And also that there won’t be any trouble between Sid and me. Just like you, I can stick with our story. Easy. I’m truly sorry you have to lie to Sid. For my sake. That’s not right. But I have to ask you to hang in there a bit longer. I want to come out. At least gradually. Over the summer, I’ll figure out how to go about it. I realize this isn’t an ideal foundation for your relationship.”

Valentina shakes her head vigorously. “You don’t have to worry about that. Sid doesn’t need to know anything about your sexual orientation to be with me.”

That’s true. “Thanks, Valentina.”

She smiles. “It might be completely pointless anyway, since we are masters at hiding. But I couldn’t take it anymore.”

“Is that why you didn’t go to the game today?” I slap my forehead. “You weren’t even there the last few times because of me or because you suddenly became a hockey fan. You were there because of Sid.”

“Quick on your feet, huh?”

“You fooled me.”

She nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“No need to be. You know how these things go.”

“Unfortunately.” She pauses. “So you’re not mad at us? We weren’t together, but we had a deal that I wanted to honor, but . . . Sid.”

“I understand. Genuinely. A partner . . . ” I don’t finish the sentence.

“Do you have someone, too?” She leans toward me.

“I should be as open with you now as you’ve been with me. However . . . ”

She shakes her head. “Never mind, tell me when you’re ready. We’re friends, right?”