Breaking through the Bond (Espen Jetties #2)

38. Hayes

38

HAYES

Jamie left this morning when King and I went to training. We told him he could stay but I could tell he was itching to get out of here. He didn’t seem well rested, even though he told us he was fine. I was sure it had to do with his dad. I just wished he’d talk to us about it. I wasn’t the kind of person who would push and push until he did. I’d push a little. But I didn’t want to force him into talking when he wasn’t ready.

King and I wanted to be there for him for whatever he needed. It felt like this was the one part of his life he was holding back from us. We didn’t care what he said, we would be with him no matter what.

As soon as we got out of training, and into King’s car with the air-conditioning blasting, we both checked our phones. Neither of us had done so yet today. Since we saw Jamie before we left, there was no reason to.

Devon was tiptoeing around us for some reason when we were on the ice and though King ribbed him about it, Devon never said why he was doing it. It was odd but sometimes Devon got into his head a little too much and became quiet. I brushed it off but looking at the phone now, I knew it wasn’t something to do with Devon and everything to do with King and me.

There were text messages from Katie. Some from our teammates. And a bunch of social media mentions. What the hell was going on?

“Your phone light up like the Fourth of July too?” I asked King.

“Yeah, what the fuck?”

I opened the one from Katie first. It was a message to both King and me.

Katie: You two sure know how to make a splash. I shouldn’t be surprised since King’s involved. *wink emoji* Here are some of the links to the sites you’re both on. I didn’t send them all. Too many. I’m here for any statement you want to put out if you do. Knowing King, I have a feeling he’s going to do it on his own.

Then there was at least half a dozen links to articles. I clicked the first one. The headline caught my attention first.

Jetties’ Kingston Walker and Hayes Garner Spotted at Local Pub with James Deary.

Okay, that wasn’t terrible. Then I scrolled down. There were pictures someone must have taken last night when we went to get Jamie from O’Malley’s. We both had our hands on his back, leaning behind him to talk, closely. One picture had Jamie kissing King. Another had Jamie kissing me.

The article went on to talk about how patrons saw the three of us acting very much like we were all together. We obviously were but this wasn’t how we wanted to tell people about our relationship.

“Fucking bullshit Espen Gazette ,” King growled.

“They’re a trash publication, but they aren’t reporting anything that isn’t true.” One of us had to be the voice of reason. For as much as King loved the media, he hated seeing anything happen to someone he cared about, and his anger had everything to do with worrying about what this would do to Jamie. He didn’t have to say it for me to know.

King hit Jamie’s contact on his phone and put it on speaker. The phone rang and rang until Jamie’s voicemail picked up. He didn’t bother leaving a message.

King’s fingers flew over the phone as he typed out a message to him. I dropped my head back on the seat and closed my eyes. It was different when King and Jamie were photographed together at the gala. They knew they would be. But the three of us… That took this to another level. Poly relationships weren’t something we saw every day in the news. Sure, a lot of people were in them, but athletes, celebrities, others who always had the press trailing them? Not as much.

I could hear King grumbling as he no doubt scrolled through more articles. He told me how they were describing Jamie as someone who liked to party all the time. They were questioning if we were committed to one another or just having fun. Wondering what else there was in Jamie’s past they hadn’t dug up yet.

Then he went on to read comments.

“You know better than that,” I told him. “Half of those people are trolls who get off on being nasty to people online.”

He ignored what I said and started reading the comments out loud. “King and Jamie were fine on their own. Why did they have to bring in Hayes?”

“King…”

“I thought Hayes was straight. He was one of the few players on the team I liked.”

“Will you stop?”

“Kingston Walker is nothing but a playboy. He took me home one night and was gone before the sun came up.” He paused. “She’s not wrong. I never liked to stay and cuddle with the hookups.”

“Jesus, enough.” I reached for his phone, but he had a death grip on it and wouldn’t release it.

“Jamie can do better than two hockey players. Isn’t he super smart? Why would he want to be in bed with two guys who are below him in intellect?”

“Either put it down or I’m getting out and calling a car.”

King lifted his gaze to mine and must have seen how serious I was and put his phone down. I didn’t want to listen to this shit. I wasn’t na?ve enough to think the attention we got was all positive, but I stayed off social media for a reason. This, right here, was why. I didn’t care what people thought of my relationship. They could all go to hell. What I did care about were these two men. My performance on the ice. My contract with the Jetties. I didn’t want to be away from King or Jamie ever. Luckily, I knew this wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize what King and I had with our team. This was tame compared to some of the shit the guys were in the spotlight for.

“It’s going to be fine,” King said. I wasn’t sure if it was to himself or me.

“I hope.”

“What do you mean you hope?”

“You and I are used to this. Jamie isn’t. I don’t want this to drive him away.”

“Nope. There will be none of that. He’s not going anywhere. He’s in this as much as we are.”

I dropped my voice, letting my nerves bleed through. “What if he’s not?”

King turned in his seat. The car was small, but there was enough room for him to reach for me and cup my cheek. “Jamie isn’t leaving us. He knew what he was getting into. The Gazette and everyone else will forget about us once something else happens to knock us out of the top gossip spot.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“I am. Now, how do we want to handle this? We can have Katie issue a statement or I can.”

“You should, but we need to get Jamie to agree to it. I don’t want to put anything out there without his knowledge.”

“Agreed.”

King’s phone vibrated. He picked it up. “It’s from Jamie. He said he saw the news and he’s fine. See, Hayes? He’s good.”

“Is he or is he saying that so we won’t worry?”

King’s fingers flew over the phone again. The reply text came quickly. “He’s busy working on something and he’s fine with me putting out a statement. He doesn’t want to hide our relationship.” King’s eyes lifted to mine. “He’s being honest, and he’s said before he doesn’t want to hide us.”

“I know, but then everything happened with his dad, and it’s obviously taken a toll on him.”

“Yeah.”

“Better put out the statement before anyone else says something.”

King typed on his phone and read it to me as he did so. “You may or may not have seen news about me this morning. Hayes Garner, James Deary, and I are in a committed relationship. While some might not agree with this, we’re doing what works for us, and that is being together. There’s a lot of love to give in this world. We’ve found ours. I hope all of you do the same. We ask that you respect our privacy, and we appreciate your support.”

I scoffed. “Privacy. Any time we leave home, we lose that.”

“The price of being a professional athlete.”

“I just wish it didn’t come down so hard on Jamie.”

“Me too.”

“We need to do something to help him with this stuff with his dad.”

King’s eyes met mine. “We do but I’m not sure what.”

“I’m not either. I wish he’d open up to us.”

King leaned forward and gave me a quick kiss. “Let’s post this and find out when Jamie will be free.”

I nodded. It was only seconds after King posted the statement to his social media account, tagging me, before my phone started blowing up with notifications. I ended up going into my settings and shutting them off for all the social media apps. While I was grateful for any support we got, the negative comments would hurt, and I didn’t need to see them.

More text messages came through from Katie, our teammates, and even Kasper.

“You handle Kasper and D,” King told me. “I’ll reply to Knox and Kenna.”

I opened Kasper’s message first. It was sent to both of us, as were the others from our friends.

Kasper: I’m very happy for you two and Jamie. You couldn’t have found better partners. If you ever need anything, my door is always open, whether at work or home. I’ve got your backs.

Me: Thank you, Kasper. That means more to us than you could know.

Kasper: Anytime. How’s training going?

Me: Good. We’ve been working our asses off.

Kasper: That’s what I like to hear.

King would get these messages so he could read them later. I saw texts go back and forth with him and Knox. I pulled up Devon’s text.

Devon: I know it wasn’t the way you wanted it to happen. Hell, I know that better than anyone. The attention will die down eventually. If you need us, we’re here for you.

Me: Thanks, man. You’re a great friend.

King: Fuck yeah, he is! Thanks, D!

“Really?” I said to King.

“What? You could have said something to Knox.”

“I thought we were dividing it up.”

“We are but I’d never miss a chance to tell D how awesome he is.”

My phone vibrated. “Kenna’s getting impatient.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m texting him next.”

I opened the message so I could jump in after King.

Kenna: Congrats on the relationship, guys! I’m so happy for you both.

Kenna: You better not be messaging Knox back before me.

Kenna: You are, aren’t you?

Kenna: I see where I stand.

King: Stop being so fucking dramatic.

Kenna: Suck my dick, King.

King: Nah, I got Jamie and Hayes. I don’t need more.

Me: Damn right.

Kenna: Oh, I see how it is. Hayes is the jealous type.

King: Possessive too. It’s so damn hot.

Me: Glad I finally opened my eyes to what was right in front of me.

King: Awww my man is so sweet.

Kenna: You didn’t just get one guy, Hayes. You got two. Go big or go home, right?

Me: Absolutely. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Kenna: We need to get together soon. I feel like we haven’t talked in forever.

King: Definitely!

Me: Name the time and place.

Kenna: Will do.

I turned to King. “Okay, let’s get moving.”

“Jamie said he’s not free now but we can come by later.”

“Let’s go home and wait until he’s ready.”

“I might crawl out of my skin.”

“I know. I want to get to Jamie’s and have you both in my arms.”

We drove back toward the city from the rink. King and I talked about a bunch of shit other than what was going on. When we got back to our condo, we were both restless.

By the time we could head to Jamie’s, my knee wouldn’t stop bouncing. The closer we got to his place, the more I worried. I believed King when he said Jamie was fine and while he might be okay with this, there was still a lot going on with him we didn’t know about. Hopefully he’d talk to us. Neither King nor I were going anywhere. We both wanted to support him anyway we could.