I’d told my dad I was where I belonged, and I’d truly believed it when I’d said that. Looking around at what Nashville hockey had already built and what we were going to build upon, I knew in my soul this was where I was meant to be. For now and always.

“It’s pretty amazing,” the league commissioner said to me as the anthem concluded.

I nodded in affirmation. “Yeah. Breathtaking, really.” I didn’t know if we were talking about the same thing or not, but I agreed with him regardless.

“You know, Lincoln, the league isn’t really that big. Word gets around pretty fast.”

I looked over at him, studying his face and body language to see where he was going.

“I heard some rumblings of protest on the NHL’s cancellation of Pride Night.”

“Just a few,” I said with a smile. A few being the Grizzlies having their uniforms changed to include rainbow jersey numbers and the Parliament players agreeing to use rainbow tape as their stick grip for the season. We’d also heard of more than a few players from around both leagues making similar gestures.

“Yeah.” He chuckled. “Just so you know, there will not be any repercussions for celebrating inclusion in any way any team sees fit.”

I was still processing his words when the spotlight nearly blinded me and I realized it was my cue to step forward. The ref handed me the puck, the team captains skated to a stop in front of me, and a cameraman and a photographer were crouched on either side of the players, catching every move on film.

With Easton on one side, Daisy on the other, and a nearly sold-out crowd surrounding me, I nodded to each player, smiled wide, and dropped the puck between the two sticks. Applause rang out as a new season of my life officially began.

Through all the ups and downs I’d experienced during my time in Nashville, I’d never felt more at home with a group of people. Daisy, Tom, and the Parliament had become where I belonged, and Easton had given me a home. Eight years earlier, I’d been young and scared of reality. Today, I was standing by Easton as my own man, no longer subject to a family I could never please or a life I had no control over. I owed my new life to the man beside me.

He had given me the confidence and desire to finally stand up for myself and what I wanted. He’d held my hand when I’d needed comfort, sent me flying when I’d needed to forget, all the while there at my side as he silently handed me the tools to figure out what I wanted.

Standing on a sheet of ice with thousands of strangers cheering around me, I knew this was exactly where my path had been leading me, as unexpected as it might have been.

Fate had given me a second chance with Easton, and this time around, I’d gotten my priorities straight. He’d become my home and he, Nashville, and the Parliament—as surprising as it was to admit—were all I would ever need to be happy. He was my safe space, my Dom, my Sir, and the one man who could take me apart and rebuild me stronger than I’d been before. I was going to do everything I could to hold onto him, because love like this didn’t happen every day.

With the cheers dying down, I leaned toward Easton. “Go show ‘em what you’re made of, Coach.”

He planted a quick kiss on my lips before saluting me. “Whatever you say, sir.” He turned to walk to his bench but looked back and gave me a wink. “Remember, we’ve got plans later.”

“Asshole,” I said to myself as my cock throbbed against its cage. But he was my asshole, and I didn’t want him any other way.

~*~

Coach Irvin Cunningham has his hands full as the head coach of the Nashville Grizzlies. Add to that Ali, his best friend and ex-wife, and his daughter, he doesn’t have time to think about relationships, especially not one with a player.

When the world conspires against him, Irvin starts to realize he’s not as straight or vanilla as he thought he was. Dating not one but two players is going to add an extra level of complication to his life, and when those players are younger than his daughter, there are bound to be awkward situations just ahead.

Source: www.seynovel.com