Spite Crush (Rock Hard #2)

Chapter Twenty-Four

~Zak~

“This is fucking ridiculous!” Sutherland yelled, slamming his hand against a locker as he glared around at the team. “We’ve made it this far and we’re not going to fucking fall apart now.”

Except that’s exactly what we were doing. And it was ridiculous. After our win at home, we’d just lost three straight on the road and it wasn’t looking good. One more loss and we’d be out of the playoffs .

If there were one person on the team we could blame, it would have been easier. But we were all playing like shit. We were stressed, exhausted and terrified of letting our fans down.

“Okay.” Sutherland blew out a heavy sigh. “Okay. We’re at home on Saturday. We can do this. We are going to do this. Hit the showers and get some sleep. We’ll fly home tomorrow and regroup.”

He stormed out of the locker room, leaving us in depressed silence .

“You need to have Kellen at the game Saturday,” Josh said firmly and I was shocked when the rest of the team nodded in agreement. “He’s like a fucking good luck charm or something.”

“Guys. I’m not his social secretary. I can’t just demand he come to our games,” I said.

“Dempsey,” Ozzy said. “He’s going to show up for you.”

“What do you mean?” I turned a cold glare on the goalie, but Oz didn’t even flinch .

“Come on, man,” he said, rolling his eyes. “We’re your friends. We know .”

“Seriously, do you think we care?” Leo added. “The dude flies all over the country to watch you play. And you’re both handling it like experts in the press but…”

“But you’re obviously fucking each other,” Henry finished for him. “Which is great. Really. I’m glad you’ve found someone.”

“He suits you,” Carl agreed.

“Wait a minute.” I looked around my teammates, all of whom were staring back at me with completely neutral expressions on their faces. Except Josh, who was smirking but doing his best to hide it. “How long have you guys known about this?”

“Since he came to the bar in Cleveland,” Ozzy admitted. “I mean, I suspected for a while that you were into dudes. But with Kellen…I mean…”

“It’s really fucking obvious,” Carl said. “The way you two look at each other? It’s how Josh has looked at Naomi for a year and a half. ”

“Hey!” Josh snapped. “This isn’t about me.”

“Nope, it’s about Zak’s boyfriend helping us win.” Henry said. “So suck it up and call our pet rock star.”

This was fucking unbelievable. All this time they knew and they didn’t say anything? And more than that, they truly didn’t care? I’d hidden the truth about myself for years to keep from dealing with the ostracization that I was sure I’d be faced with from my team. But they not only accepted it, but approved ?

And now they wanted me to get my boyfriend to fly across the country to come to our next game.

“Breathe,” Josh said, punching me in the shoulder and pulling me out of my head. “You’re such a dumbass. Did you really think the team was going to abandon you?”

“Kind of,” I admitted.

“Dude!” Carl said, glaring at me. “We’re your friends. Why would we care who you sleep with?”

“Right?” Henry agreed. “I mean, Josh is fucking a reporter and we still like him. ”

“Hey!’ Josh snapped. “This isn’t about me. He fucks guys.”

“He’s not fucking me,” Ozzy said, shrugging. “So what do I care?”

I was so totally overwhelmed by their acceptance that I felt actual tears pricking at my eyes and had to turn away to face my locker so I could blink them back without anyone seeing. Knowing I’m gay was one thing, seeing me cry was something they’d never let go.

“You’re going to call him, right?” Leo asked .

“Yeah,” I said, coughing as I turned around to face them again. “I’ll call him tomorrow when I get home. But like I said, I can’t force him to come.”

“Oh, you’re not the top then?” Josh asked.

“Motherfucker—”

But everyone just burst out laughing over me then turned to strip and shower as if the conversation had never happened.

“Feel better?” Josh asked as he ripped his tarp off and shoved it into his bag .

“I can’t believe how much better I feel,” I admitted. “You didn’t tell them, did you?”

“I would never,” he said firmly. “You really have no idea how you and Kellen look at each other, do you?”

I just shrugged. I knew how I felt about him, but I guess I never realized other people would be able to see it.

“Well, it’s fucking gross,” he continued.

“As gross as you and Naomi?” I shot back .

“Probably.” He reached out and we fist bumped. “Damn, we’re going to win a championship, we’re in love, and we’re all one big happy family with no more secrets between us. That does feel pretty great.”

It certainly did.