Safe Harbor 2: Hiding in Plain Sight (18 page)

“I wanted to talk to you away from the other guys.”

“Okay.”

“I do not know how to say this.”

“Try,” Pat urged. “I’ll listen to whatever you have to say.”

“I’m gay.”

Now Pat’s eyebrows shot up. “Get the fuck out.”

He hadn’t reached over the table, which Vlad took for a good sign. “I am. This is my boyfriend.”

Pat’s gaze shot to Joey, who hadn’t said a word yet and was sitting with his arms folded over his sizeable chest. “Good taste.”

“Excuse me?”

Laughing, Pat said, “It’s cool, man. I have to admit, you totally surprised me, and I want to hear the story behind what the hell happened in Geneva and why you did what you did, but I’ve got your back.” He shrugged. “It’s no one’s business who a man loves.” Holding his arms out in front of him, he continued. “I mean, I’m not gay—I love women way too much—but I have no problem with anybody who is.”

Vlad couldn’t decide if he wanted to puke, cry, or have a good laugh. “You’re the first person I’ve told.”

“I assume Joey knows.”

“You never change. And please don’t. You make me laugh every day. I was talking about the first hockey-related person.”

“I figured. So the whole being-gay thing is what’s got you so upset?”

“No.” Vlad proceeded to give him the real story of his disastrous time in the Olympics.

When he finished, Pat shook his head. “Damn, those Russians don’t mess around. I’ve heard of the Russian mob, but I wasn’t sure if it was a real thing or not.”

“Oh, they’re real.”

“No shit.” He jerked his head toward Joey. “So how did you hook up with him?”

Joey, who had been mostly silent to this point, said, totally deadpan, “I chased him down the street.”

Pat sputtered, droplets of beer landing all over his hand and the table. “You did
what
?”

“Long story, but yeah.” Now Joey smiled. “I wasn’t going to hurt him. I just wanted to talk.”

“So you run after the guy so you could ‘talk’ to him?” Pat sounded incredulous, and Joey laughed.

“Like I said, long story. But we’ve been together for, what,” he glanced at Vlad, “four or so months now?”

“I think so.” He turned his attention back to Pat. “There’s more.”

“I’m gonna need another beer.”

“Since you spilled yours all over your suit?” Vlad asked, smirking.

Pat flipped him off. He waved over the server after a moment and asked for another round. With the task completed, he sat back.

“Okay, hit me with it.”

“Russia wants me to play in the World Championships.”

“After what they did to you? Assholes.”

“Exactly. I have no intention of playing for them. I’m actually an American citizen now, so I don’t know if I’d even be allowed to play for Russia in an international tournament.” An idea formed, and Vlad spoke. “I need to use whatever fame I have to do something about their attitude toward gays.”

Both Joey and Pat gaped. “Exactly what are you saying?” Joey asked, recovering first.

“I want to do a press conference.”

“Are you out of your fucking mind?”

“I think he should,” Pat interjected.

Joey snorted. “Easy for you to say. You wouldn’t be the one with your career on the line.”

“I know.” Pat looked at Vlad, his expression dead serious. “I think if you tell some of the other guys, they’ll back you up. Some might even come to the press conference and say they don’t care if you’re gay.”

Vlad’s gaze darted around the room, but no one seemed to be paying them any attention. He couldn’t believe he was actually considering this, but it felt right. Hell, he’d already fucked himself in the eyes of tons of people when he’d caved to the Russian mob pressure and called Stephen a fag at the Olympics last year. How much worse could this be? At least he would have the freedom to finally live his life on his own terms. His family would probably disown him, and though he cared about them and their well-being, he couldn’t let what his family would or would not do influence his decision.

“I want to do it.”

“I’ll help you however I can,” Pat said with a firm nod. After taking a sip of his beer, he said, “I have an idea. We’re off tomorrow. I’ll call a bunch of the guys and invite them over to my place. You can tell them with me right by your side. And Joey, of course.”

“What time?” Joey asked. “I have a shift at the airport until three in the afternoon.”

Pat shrugged. “Four?”

“Are you sure about this?” Vlad asked. His hand shook as he picked up his beer, and when he looked down, he realized the bottle was empty. Joey slid his over without a word.

“Totally, man. I can’t even imagine what it must be like to be in your position.”

“It sucks.”

“I hear that’s a popular activity with your crowd, though,” Pat responded with a wicked grin.

Vlad rolled his eyes. “Whatever. I’m hungry.”

* * * *

Joey raced home to change before going to Pat’s house. Normally he would’ve gone in what he’d worn to work, but an oil spill had leaked right through his coveralls, leaving him grimy. After the quickest shower he could remember taking since leaving the military, he got dressed and headed over to Pat’s place. Vlad was already there, pacing.

“Go ahead,” Pat told him. “Give him a hug and calm him down. He’s gonna ruin my floors.”

“Thanks. I will. Baby, stop.” Grabbing hold of Vlad’s upper arms, he physically stilled him. “Look at me.” Vlad’s eyes finally focused on him. “Good. Now breathe.” With a stiff nod, Vlad did as he bade. “Now kiss me.”

A startled laugh escaped Vlad. “Seriously?” He glanced over at Pat.

With exaggerated movements, Pat headed toward the kitchen. “I’ll just give you kids some alone time. Don’t do anything that’ll stain. The guys will be here soon.”

Joey retained his grip on Vlad. “Everything is going to be fine. Do you know why?”

“Why?”

“Because I love you. And I’ll be right here. Oh, and maybe more importantly, I will kill a man with my bare hands if they give you any trouble.”

“Why does hearing you say that make me so horny?”

“I dunno, but I’ll let you show me exactly how hot that makes you later.”

The doorbell rang, and Vlad groaned. “I guess it’s time. I love you.”

“Love you too.” Joey released him and stepped out of personal-space territory.

As the guys entered, several glanced at Joey, who had taken up residence leaning on the wall by the archway into the kitchen, his arms folded over his chest and the same expression he’d used to intimidate bad guys while in Delta Force. Everyone gave him a wide berth. That was fine. If they were afraid of him, maybe they’d be less likely to give Vlad a hard time.

When everyone was there and seated, Vlad cleared his throat. “I…um…” His gaze sought Joey’s, who gave a subtle nod. “I…wanted to talk to you guys.”

Pat came to stand next to Vlad. “Go ahead.”

Joey wanted to be the one lending support, but this was Vlad’s show and he didn’t want to pressure him.

“So you guys know what happened at the Olympics. We never talked about it, but you know. What you don’t know is why.” Vlad took a deep breath. “I was forced. See, the Russian mob is involved in the hockey program. I assume you’ve all at least heard rumors about them, right?”

Seven stunned faces peered back at him, a few nodding.
Wait’ll he tells them the rest.

“Well, a lot of those rumors are true, and I was too scared to say no.”

“Keep going,” Pat encouraged him.

Vlad nodded. “I am. There’s more to the story. When I got kicked off the team and came back here, I was miserable.”

He looked at Joe once more. Smiling, Joey nodded again, hoping it would give him the push he needed. “I was dying of guilt because I’d said such a horrible thing. Most of all, because I said it even though I’m gay.”

Several guys gasped or muttered, but no one got up to charge Vlad or started screaming homophobic slurs. A good sign. Vlad motioned toward him. “Meet my boyfriend. You should know he’s ex-Delta Force.”

A couple of the guys laughed nervously, but one rose. “Nice to meet you. I never believed Vlad was the kind of guy to think, much less say, something so idiotic. I’m happy he has some support.” He held out his hand, and after a few beats, Joey took it.

“Good to meet you too, man.”

“How about some names?” the man suggested.

Joey laughed. “Oh, sorry. I’m Joe. Vlad over there calls me Joey, but everyone else calls me Joe.”

The man nodded. “Good to meet you, Joe. I’m Sampson.”

“Sampson?”

“Sorry, last name. It’s a habit. Tyler Sampson. The guys call me Sammie, so whatever you want is fine. I promise not to call you Joey if you promise not to break me in two. I’m Vlad’s road roommate.”

Tyler was one of the smaller players on the team. Joey nodded. “You got it, bud.”

Gradually the rest of the guys rose, making their way over to Vlad and Joe. Pat clamped a huge arm around Vlad’s shoulders and squeezed. Joey winced just as his lover did. Yeah, that’s gonna bruise.
Oh well, they can add to the ones I’ll put on his hips when I fuck him into oblivion later.

“I told you it’d be fine,” Joey heard Pat say.

“This is great, but it’s only a third of the team.”

“The others will find out when you do the press conference.”

One of the guys spun. “Press conference?”

“Oh, yeah, I did not tell you. I got my US citizenship recently. You might not have known. I didn’t talk about it a lot.”

Several guys murmured they hadn’t heard, and Vlad continued. Joey watched them closely to gauge their reactions.

“Russia invited me to play in the World Championships. Obviously with the way they treat people like me, plus what they did at the Olympics, there’s not a chance in hell I will ever play hockey for them again.”

“Why do you need to call a press conference?”

“Because I want to say why I won’t. I will not talk about the pressure during the Games, because it would make the Russian mob mad, and I don’t want to have a problem with them, but I’m coming out. Living in secret is not fun, and I do not want to do it anymore. I want to walk down the street with my hot boyfriend and put my arm around him.”

Joey barked out a laugh, and thankfully the other guys joined in.

Pat spoke up. “We were hoping some of you guys would agree to attend, to support Vlad.”

Vlad jumped back in. “No pressure, though. I wouldn’t ever want you to do something you were uncomfortable with.”

Tyler, apparently the spokesperson for the group, looked around and said, “Tell us when and where, and we’ll be there.” The other guys murmured their agreement.

Tears welled up in Vlad’s eyes, and Joey finally moved away from the wall to rub Vlad’s back.

“I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?” Tyler asked.

“I feel so…”

“Relieved? Happy? You don’t look it. But I know it’s got to be a shit ton to deal with. Like I said, we support you, on and off the ice.”

Pat piped up, a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth. “If you can play, you can play,” repeating the slogan of the You Can Play organization the NHL had recently begun supporting.

Everyone laughed, and Joey decided he really liked the guy, even if he was the size of a small sequoia.

Wiping hastily as more tears gathered in the corners of his eyes, Vlad choked out, “Thanks, guys.”

“Give the poor kid a hug, Joe,” Pat said with a not-very-subtle shove to Vlad’s shoulder.

Joey looked around.

“Go ahead,” Tyler said. “He needs you. The rest of us need beer. You’re a terrible host, dude.”

And just like that, the tension dissipated. Joey released his first deep breath of the day. He couldn’t even imagine how Vlad was feeling.

* * * *

The next day, Joey slept in a little after Vlad left for practice. He was awoken by a thump and got up to investigate. Outside his door was a package. His mouth opened in shock when he saw the return address was Brendan’s parents.

Oh, fuck.

Handling the thing like it was a bomb, he brought it inside and set it on the kitchen table. Had Brendan’s parents discovered his secret?

With shaking hands, he opened the box. Inside was a bunch of items, but he picked up the handwritten letter on top first.

Joe,

Brendan sent a box back before he came home, so his load would be lighter. We thought you would like these things. Your name and address were in the box. I know he was planning to come see you, and I hope you’re doing well. He spoke highly of what a good friend you were to him. We think of Brendan often.

Mrs. Booth

His gaze flew between the letter and the contents of the box. He started pulling things out—mostly wrinkled pictures of the two of them together and other mementos. Joey chewed on the inside of his cheek to quell the rising tears. There was no mention of his parents knowing Brendan was gay in the admittedly short note, and Joey couldn’t help but hope they were ignorant of that information. He had no clue how they would have reacted if Brendan had come out to them, but he wanted Brendan’s parents to remember their son as the hero he was and nothing else.

Once he’d gathered everything together, he brought it into his bedroom and set the box on his dresser. Later, when the season was over, he’d show everything to Vlad, but for now, there were other things to contend with. He made a note to send a thank-you letter to Brendan’s parents.

If Vlad’s team lost tonight, they were officially eliminated from the play-offs. Vlad had decided he’d call the press conference the next day if they lost. Just to be on the safe side, Joey had taken the day off, but he still had a shift later, so he got ready for the day and headed to the gym to work off some of the roiling nervousness he was feeling on Vlad’s behalf before work.

The team suffered a defeat at the hands of Buffalo, and when Vlad arrived at Joey’s house, he sat down heavily on the couch and regarded Joey.

“This day sucks in so many ways.”

“Having second thoughts?” Joey asked as he handed over a bottle of water.

“No.”

“You sure? It’s not your job to be the spokesperson against Russia.”