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“No one is saying that,” Bennett said at the same time that Noah said, “Or bi, yeah.”
“Huh,” was Pence’s response. “I never thought of it that way.” He looked at Noah. “I know you’re married. Are you bisexual?”
Noah’s eyes narrowed in a terrifying way, like he was staring down a forward on a fast break. “You can’t just ask someone that. It’s private, man.”
The entire room was paying very close attention and Bennett wanted to crawl inside a hole. A deep, deep hole that would swallow him up.
“Why?” Sewell asked, joining in as he wrapped a towel around his waist. “We’re a team. We’re tight. If someone likes dudes, we should know.”
Bennett froze, his mind blanking. He’d lost control of the room, of this conversation. But there was nothing he could do or say right now, because he was stuck in a loop of pure terror, his feet rooted to the rubber mats.
“No, you shouldn’t know, Welly,” Bergy said. “Forcing someone to come out is, like, not cool.”
Cross stripped off his compression shirt. “Yeah, and who cares if someone likes dudes? Mind your own fucking business, losers.”
“The whole league would care,” Singh said. “So that’s why no one shares, bro.”
Nyström, their starting goalie, looked up from where he was showing the equipment manager an issue with his pads. “Sweden is very LGBTQ friendly. It is not such a big deal there.”
“Even in hockey?” Singh asked, one eyebrow raised skeptically. “Name one gay Swedish player.” When Nyström opened his mouth, Singh clarified, “Men’s player.”
Nyström closed his mouth and went back to his pad conversation.
“That statistic isn’t totally accurate,” Bergy said. “And it varies by generation. Roughly twenty percent of Gen Z overall identify as LGBTQ+, with most of them as bi. For older generations, it’s more like ten percent.”
“How do you know all this?” Cross asked.
Bergy shrugged. “PFLAG.”
With this, Bennett somehow found his voice. Shoulders back, he announced, “Okay, listen up. Bottom line? We don’t use those words or any other words that would make someone in this room uncomfortable. We’re a family. If you have any questions or problems with it, come talk to me or Brownie privately. This conversation is now over.”
The guys dropped it after that and the world moved on. Well, moved on for everyone except Bennett. As he showered, he replayed the entire conversation twice. The topic had come up, briefly, over the years. Of course it had. Hockey players were full of testosterone and stupidity, and Bennett had corrected players for saying slurs before.
But the topic had never been discussed like this—with statistics and Bergy having a lesbian sister and Swedes being so friendly to queer folks. With guys saying it was no one’s business and that it wasn’t cool to out someone.
And never before had it seemed like so many of the guys would be accepting of a gay player.
Was this a generational thing? Was Bennett part of the old guard that kept players from living their authentic lives? Alone in the showers, he rinsed his hair and thought about this. Times and attitudes were changing. So, why weren’t they changing in hockey? Were players of Bennett’s generation keeping a homophobic system in place, even without meaning to?
Honestly? He would be thrilled if a guy in the league came out. It wouldn’t make a difference for Bennett, but he’d be super supportive. All he knew was the first out player wouldn’t be him.
“You asshole,” a deep voice hissed in Nico’s ear.
Seated in his dining room, Nico cradled his phone in one hand and used the other to fork up another bite of steak. “Is there a problem, Mr. Mayor?”
“You’re bribing a member of the IOC behind my back.”
“Annoyed at being cut out of the deal?”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
The delusion of this man. Nico chewed and swallowed, then wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin. “I would absolutely dare. I want someone who will make things happen, not make excuses.”
“I was not making an excuse! They were complaining you didn’t have enough legitimate businesses on the books. You look too shady, Marzano.”
“Allora . . . I am not too shady now.”
“Wrong. It’s worse, because now everyone is questioning why someone on the IOC’s board is trying to push the contract through without allowing for due diligence.”
