Game Changer (Game Changers, #1)

by Rachel Reid

“Please tell me you’re gonna surprise me by walking through that door in a second,” Kip said. “I wish. Believe me.”

Scott knew the item well. A large black dildo that, for about a year now, had been his most reliable romantic partner.

“How was your day?” Scott asked when he was done. Kip’s heart thumped happily in his chest. “Better now.”

“Oh, there’s this pub, in the Village—the Kingfisher. I used to go there a lot, but I don’t go out as much these days. When I do meet my friends, though, it’s usually there.”

“Kip,” Maria said, “you didn’t tell me that all of your cute dude friends are gay. What is even the point of me being here?” “I did tell you and, if you want, later we can go to Olive Garden or wherever straight people go.”

“Do you have a copy of it somewhere? I’d like to read it.” Kip blinked at him. “You want to read my thesis?” “Of course. If you wrote it, I want to read it.”

“It’s, like, ninety pages long,” he said, instead of lunging for his big, adorable boyfriend. “And probably boring as hell.” “I can read ninety pages,” Scott said, smirking. “I’m an athlete, not a moron.”

“Hey, have you seen this before? This was always one of my favorite things here. This was worn by Henry VIII.” “I’ve heard of that guy!” “See? Not dumb at all!” Scott frowned at the golden armor. “I thought he was fat. Wasn’t he, like, a big fat guy with a beard? This suit looks really small.” “This was his armor when he was a young man,” Kip said.

It was a picture of Scott gazing (a little too lovingly) at Kip as Kip stared up at a statue of Perseus. The scene definitely looked romantic, and the statue’s marble penis hovering between their faces didn’t help tone things down.

He loved Scott so much, and he would do almost anything to stay with him. But he couldn’t lie about who he was. And he didn’t want to lie about who Scott was to him.

The truth was he’d been spending a lot of time alone lately. It wasn’t like he didn’t have friends; he just didn’t have friends who knew about Scott, besides Elena. His family didn’t know about Scott. His family that he technically lived with. It was getting harder.

It would be ridiculous for Kip to say that he felt like a prisoner in Scott’s apartment.

bedroom. “Long day. And I’ve got an early morning tomorrow.” “Sure. Yeah.” My day sucked, thanks for asking. Scott disappeared into the bedroom, and Kip sank onto the sofa. He knew he was probably overreacting because he had been in a bad mood to begin with, but in that moment he felt like Scott’s fucking pet.

Kip listened to Scott vent all evening. He kept his own problems to himself.

Stopped by the Boston goaltender. “Sorry, Scott,” Huff said. “Fuck.” “That was a cute move!” Rozanov chirped as he skated by Scott. “I fucking love old-timers hockey!”

“Come on, guys. Rozanov, stop being a dick. Hunter, stop listening to Rozanov.” “How many minutes would I get if I just killed him?” Scott grumbled as he watched Rozanov skate away. “I’d have to give you at least ten,” Hal said dryly. “Not worth it in the playoffs.”

What the fuck was he even mad about? That his shitty life was changing? That the people around him were bettering themselves? It wasn’t like he wanted everything to stay the same forever. He’d had his heart secretly set on that museum job until recently. Even now he was waiting to hear back from grad schools. He couldn’t possibly be mad at his friends for moving on.

He had no idea what was going on, or how to fix it. What he did know was that he really didn’t need any distractions right now.

“Good evening, Ilya,” Scott said. He was standing opposite Rozanov at the face-off circle, ready for the first puck drop of the game. “Don’t worry, old man,” Rozanov said with a grin, “I know you must be getting tired. I’ll make sure you lose so you can get started on your summer vacation.” “My only summer plans involve a Stanley Cup parade.” They bent for the face-off, and Scott winked at him. Scott won the face-off.

work. This is how…affairs work. Dirty secrets. I’m not ashamed of you. At all. And I’m not ashamed of me. I’ve never been ashamed of myself, and I’ve been out since I was eighteen.”

“My life has already changed. And not only in a good way, Scott. I feel like I’ve been shoved back into the closet. It’s not you being famous or whatever that’s making this hard for me. I’ve never been with someone who is ashamed of who they are.”

“I can’t believe you’re even suggesting any of this! Have I treated you badly? Have I not shown you how much you mean to me?” “I can’t mean that much to you. You’re obviously embarrassed to be with me.”

Kip was drunk. Scott was in Detroit, and Kip was drunk.

And for a second, Kip was too stunned, too confused, too drunk to do anything but kiss him back. Kyle was a good kisser. But holy shit, no! Kip shoved him away, and stumbled forward. “Hey, what the fuck?” Kyle said, catching himself before almost landing on his ass.

Dad smiled at him knowingly, then his face sobered. “I know he must be busy right now, with the playoffs, but it seems like maybe something worse than that is going on.” What the hell? “What are you—?” “Scott Hunter,” his dad said calmly. “You’ve been seeing him.” “Dad, come on. There’s no way that Scott would ever—I mean, Scott Hunter isn’t—” “I don’t know anything about Scott Hunter, but I know you. And I like to think I’d be able to tell when my son is in love.”

She picked up a knife and held it near the center of the cucumber. “Okay, you tell me when I hit the approximate length.” “No.” She moved the knife a bit. “Come on. I’m not doing this.” She moved it again and raised an eyebrow. Kip glared at her, and then rolled his eyes and said, “A bit farther.” Maria screamed. “Oh my god! I knew it! You lucky bitch!”

Elena hugged him and wished him luck. They’d had a long conversation before the game. Her opinion was that Kip and Scott were both idiots.

Scott slept well for the first time in a week. As he blinked awake, he heard a content little sigh next to him.

“I’m just a private person. Or, as private as I can be, anyway.” “Well, it wouldn’t hurt for you to be seen with someone. Otherwise they’re gonna start saying you’re gay!” Carter laughed. Scott didn’t. “Jesus, Scott. Lighten up. No one is saying that. Relax.”

“I don’t want that heat,” Scott said, “but I’ll take it. I can’t live like this anymore. And maybe—maybe I can make it easier for others. By going first.”

“Thank god,” Huff said. “I thought you were gonna say you were secretly dating Rozanov.” “Rozanov wishes,” Scott said.

“We’ve got your back, Scott,” Huff said as they were leaving. “Whatever you decide, we’re with you.” Scott nodded, and swallowed the lump in his throat. He closed the door behind them before they could see him cry.

Kip shoveled some mashed potatoes into his mouth. Then he heard Mom exclaim, “Oh my goodness!” He stood. “Mom?” “It’s—it’s Scott Hunter!”

“He’s cooked for you?” Mom asked, delighted. “That’s nice to hear. So how long have you two been seeing each other, then?” Kip wasn’t sure how to answer her. “Since, um…” “We met in January,” Scott said.

“Does it make me look like a hot lumberjack?” “You remember that?” Kip laughed. “Man, I was trying to be smooth. Didn’t actually think there was a chance with you, but I had to at least let you know that I might be interested.” “It worked,” Scott said, crawling back up to meet Kip’s lips. “Couldn’t stop thinking about you after you said that.”

“Because I don’t want to live a lie anymore. And… I’m with someone. It isn’t fair to him.” “Ah. You’re in love. That makes sense. Love makes men do all sorts of dumbass things.” Scott gave a small smile. “I think this actually might be the smartest thing I’ve done.”

“Thank you, Coach.” They shook hands, and Murdock said, “It’s not Rozanov, is it?” “Jesus. No! Why does everyone—?” “Good. I don’t need that kind of circus.”

“I just hate thinking you were, like, all alone. All that time.” Scott glanced up at his friend. God, I’ve been such an idiot.

“One being the worst kisser in the world, aka my prom date—” “No.” “And ten being, like, that Brokeback Mountain kiss where Heath Ledger broke Jack Gyllenhaal’s nose by kissing him so hard…”

Maria: Aaaahhh!!! What the FUCK???!! That was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen????? Shawn: You. Fucking. Bitch. You lying fucking bitch. We’re getting lunch together. SOON. Kyle: First of all, congratulations and I am happy for you. Secondly, holy fucking shit! Megan: Um… WHAT?!

Elena had left the game at some point, but she had texted him. Congratulations. You boys just made history. A second text said, Seriously, though, I almost cried.

“First of all, thank you for this. All of my fellow nominees are just as deserving. Even Rozanov.” There was more laughter.

“And, uh, one of the gay clubs here in Vegas is having a Scott Hunter night tonight, so that’s where I’ll be later, if any of you wanna come dance.”

It took Scott a moment to recognize him, and when he did, he couldn’t believe his eyes. “Rozanov?” he asked. Ilya Rozanov grinned lazily as Scott headed toward him.

He needed to get out of here, or make peace with the fact that he was going to fuck Kip against a wall in front of god and Ilya Rozanov.

Eric just danced by himself, oblivious to the guys who were trying to engage him, and seemed to be enjoying himself immensely.

And Scott didn’t have much experience at clubs, but the way Rozanov moved against the men he danced with seemed a lot more deliberate and practiced than someone who was just trying to get into the spirit of the place. Huh.

A year ago—hell, a month ago—Scott would never have imagined this scenario. Out at a gay club with his best friends—his teammates—and his boyfriend and, uh, Ilya Rozanov.