“Okay? That’s it? That’s all you’re gonna say?” My voice hitches with how surprised I am.
“Yeah. I don’t care what you do in your spare time. As long as you’re not hurting anybody.” He looks at the TV again. “You’re clearly not hurting anyone. You’re just posting pictures and videos of yourself. Nothing wrong with that.”
Relief washes through me. But then I feel a little guilty. Because of course he wouldn’t care that I have a secret account where I post sexy photos and videos of myself. Of course hewouldn’t judge me for it. He’s not like that. He’s never been like that.
“I’m guessing you didn’t want this to go public though?” he asks me.
I huff out a heavy breath and shake my head. “Nope. I don’t know how this got out there.” I tug a hand through my hair. “Fuck.”
Just then, the front door opens. Travis and Nick walk inside.
Nick is laughing while Travis is rolling his eyes.
“I’m just saying, you could totally get away with it. You just…” Nick trails off when he sees the three of us standing in the living room. He chuckles. “We having a party in the living room?” he jokes. His smile fades when he sees the TV screen.
Travis’ brow furrows when he sees the images of me on the TV screen. I hold my breath, waiting for them to put it together.
“Dude, is that you?” Travis asks.
“Yeah.”
“You have a sexy Instagram account?” Nick asks.
I nod. “It’s a secret. No one knows about it.”
“Then why is it on the news?” he asks.
I huff out a breath. “I have no idea. I think someone must have figured out it was my account after images of that tunnel brawl went viral. But I have no idea how. I never show my face on my secret account.”
“I think I know how they figured it out,” Briar says.
We all turn to her. She’s sitting on the couch, staring at her phone. She looks up at me. “That scar on your chest.”
“What?” I walk over to her, and she shows me her phone.
“Your jersey got pulled down in the middle of the tunnel fight, which showed that scar over your clavicle,” she says. “Some online sleuths pointed out That Shirtless Guy has the same scar in the same spot. That’s how they figured out it’s you.”
I skim the comments on the posts she shows me. My head spins. They figured all this out just from a random scar?
I think about everything that’s at stake now that my secret account has been exposed. It’s only a matter of time before Coach Sawyer finds out about this. I’m sure it’s already spreading like wildfire across the Hollis U campus.
And when he finds out, he’s gonna kick me off the team, no question. He hates it when his players get into trouble or do something to bring negative attention to the hockey team. He’s an old-fashioned guy, so he’s gonna be pissed when he finds out one of his top players gets half-naked on social media for money and followers.
And if that happens, I could lose my spot on the Nashville Wolves. They’re not gonna want me on their team, dirtying their reputation with the way I get half-naked and make suggestive content on social media.
That sick feeling claws deeper through my gut.
Everything I’ve worked so hard for…everything I’ve wanted my whole life is about to be gone…all because I was stupid.
“It’s not a big deal, dude,” Nick says.
His casual tone snaps me out of my thoughts. I look at him.
“We don’t care that you have a secret account where you post sexy pictures and videos,” Nick says.
“Yeah. Do whatever you want,” Travis says.
A small fraction of my anxiety and dread dials back. It feels good that my teammates have my back…but their support isn’t going to keep me from losing everything I’ve worked for.
