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Ava shared a look with Cole. They faced a decision too. Bryce might feel like he needed to make an impossible choice—move to the Gold Coast or give up his dream—but they had a stake in matters too. If Bryce left, they’d be without him, but Triple Threat tied them to Sydney, at least temporarily. Until they could sell all their houses, they couldn’t just up and leave.
Cole recognized Levi’s voice when he spoke. “Okay, mate. Easts want to push you back to reserves. They seem to have made up their mind, so let’s forget about them for the moment. Does the Gold Coast team know what’s going on? What are they saying?"
Bryce’s response sounded a little more hopeful, but he was still down. “The Gold Coast team have already done up a welcome announcement. They’ve worded the press release as if they poached me. It talks about my stats and says how I’m an asset that they’re grateful to have. They have a one liner in there at the end which says they’re ecstatic I get to be my authentic self and the entire team are 100 percent behind me in every way. They haven’t mentioned my sexuality at all, but the conversation I had with the coach was good.”
“Coach is good people,” Liam stated. “He’ll support you. The players are good guys too. They’ll probably be put out because of the media circus that’s coming, but I don’t think anyone will be overly shitty.”
A man, Nick, introduced himself as the cousin of one of Levi’s partners. “What do you want to do? It’s a big decision to move teams, especially with this hanging over your head.
“You’re not quitting,” Ava mumbled. “We’ll make it work well before you need to give up your dream.”
Bryce shot a sideways glance at their girl, and Cole grinned, pleased she’d nipped that in the bud before Bryce actually thought it was an option.
Bryce groaned. “I have no idea, but I need to have a game plan figured out so that I know how to respond. I’m floundering here.”
“Let’s put aside the contract and your agent for a moment and deal with the media,” Nick advised. “You’ve got a few options on how to tackle them.”
Levi added, “Agreed. If you’d like my help, I’m here for you.”
“Yeah.” Bryce cleared his throat, blinking back the emotion Cole could see building in his eyes.
“You’re loved, Bryce. We’re all here to help,” Cole encouraged, dropping a kiss on his leg.
“I’m not really ready to come out, but I’m also not going to lie about Cole and Ava to anyone either.” Bryce’s eyes lit up and he sat up straighter. “You run a podcast, don’t you?”
Cole’s mouth popped open, his brain going a million miles a minute to catch up with Bryce’s train of thought.
“I do,” Levi answered proudly. That was it! “We can use it to take control of the narrative if that’s what you’re thinking,”
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m thinking. How quickly can we set up a session?”
“I could be ready in twenty minutes, but I’m sure you’d need to speak with your agent and the Gold Coast team first.”
Bryce nodded. “Yeah, I will. Assuming I get their okay, could we do it later tonight? My agent has us on an early evening flight to the Goldie tonight.”
“Perfect. Where are you staying?”
“Mum and Dad’s. I’m going to talk to them when we get there. Let them know what’s happening.”
“Let’s pencil it in for tonight at like 10:00 p.m. It’ll only take an hour.” Before Bryce had a chance to answer, Levi asked, “Con, can you pick Bryce up and bring him to our place?”
“Absolutely,” another man said.
“Assuming the terms of the offer are okay, I’ll have a press conference tomorrow at noon in the club’s media room. I guess the Lightning need to sign off on any deal, but my agent doesn’t think it’ll be a problem.”
Twenty
Bryce
B
ryce undid the button on his suit jacket, tugged on the lapels to resituate it on his shoulders and re-buttoned it. He was borrowing the suit from Rogers, the prop he was replacing. The jacket wasn’t a perfect fit—Rogers had thicker muscle than him, the pants were two sizes too big—but it was the best the team could do on a few hours’ notice. Each suit was tailormade for a player, and his hadn’t even been ordered yet. But the team’s PR rep didn’t want to advertise how last minute his acquisition actually was.
By announcing it early in an attempt to distract the media, they were doing him a huge favour. He was not going to complain.
Nerves churned in his belly, but he couldn’t wipe the smile from his face. In fact, nothing could dim his happy. Except maybe one thing. Looking at what their lives would be like in a few months when they didn’t see each other often was like an anvil sitting in his gut, but Ava and Cole had promised him they’d make it work. They weren’t giving up on him, and that was all that mattered. So, he put aside the worries and basked in the knowledge that this team wanted him.
All the dreams he thought were dead in the water had been given a new lease on life. He’d walked into the team’s offices at 9:00 a.m. sharp, as per Hayden, the PR rep’s request. After his briefing, they joined the rest of the team. DJ, the player liaison, had given the team the full run-down and went through what to expect. By the time he’d walked in there, the team was firmly on his side, welcoming Bryce with back-slapping handshakes.
