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“I am not sure this is best time for that,” I say, rising from my seat again. The Mules plane is completely empty aside from me and the crew, all of whom are looking at me from the front of the plane, waiting to be able to deboard.

“That’s true,” Ander says. “But hey, at least you know he’s great when it comes to dealing with big gay scandals.”

“Nikolai!” Coach Chris yells again. Despite Ander’s reassurances, a sense of dread washes over me.

“I better go. I will call you later.”

“All right,” Ander says, sounding much less panicked than he was when he first answered the phone. That’s at least one of us. Once I step off this plane, reality will be crashing down on me.

“Try to get some rest,” I tell him. “You have game tonight.”

Feeling grateful that I don’t have a game to play, I pocket my phone and head out of the plane down the stairs to face the music on the tarmac.

Once outside, Coach Chris is staring at me with his hands on his hips. “You better not be asking for a trade to Buffalo.”

A laugh bubbles out of me. That is not what I was expecting him to say. “No,” I assure him. “I do not want trade to Buffalo. I do not want trade to anywhere. I like being Mule.”

“Good,” he says as he claps me on the shoulder. “Because I am never giving you up. Not even for Ander Vezina-Winner Bouchard.”

“Do not forget Stanley Cup Champion,” I say.

“Yeah, yeah,” he says, then flashes me a half smile. “And gold fucking medalist, too. You really snagged yourself a winner with that one.”

I really did. And now it looks like it’s time for me to tell the world about it.

THIRTY-ONE

Ander

After hanging up with Nikolai, I feel better. Not perfect, but better. At least now I know he’s not planning on bailing. But even I’m not dense enough to think that this situation isn’t going to have larger repercussions.

Yes, Coach Matthews is pissed. But he’ll get over that after we win tonight and secure our place in the playoffs. And it sounded like Coach Chris had some words for Nikolai too, but I’m definitely not worried about him. He was great when it came to Gavin and Connor, and even better with Brandon and Ryan. Nikolai is in good hands.

But I need to prepare myself for what happens next, so I call the one person who probably knows best. Brandon.

“I was just going to call you,” Brandon says as soon as he answers my call. “I was waiting until we got to our hotel room. I didn’t want to have this conversation on the bus. Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I say, my heart beating about a mile a minute. “I’m fine.”

“Really? Because I’d be freaking out right now.”

I laugh lightly. “Okay. I am freaking out a little.”

“I’d be more worried about you if you weren’t.”

“Is Ryan with you?” I ask, unsure if I want him to be or not. While I love Ryan like another brother, he’s not Brandon. And right now, I think what I need is to talk to the one person on this planet who’s known me the longest while I attempt to sort this out.

“No,” Brandon says. “He went to talk to Ivanov and Coach Chris with the captain. A little divide and conquer situation here.”

“I appreciate you staying behind to call me.” I feel myself start to relax a little. Reclined in bed, talking to Brandon, it’s almost like we’re kids again sharing a bedroom, but hundreds of miles apart. It’s still nice.

“But seriously, Ander. Are you alright? I’m worried about you.”

“Why? It’s not like I’m dying. I just got outed in a very strange way. And maybe it hasn’t spread that far.”

“When was the last time you flipped on ESPN?”

“I haven’t.”