| |
Harper’s phone began to ping as they pulled the rental car into the parking garage. Even though they hadn’t slept well, they’d taken the keys from Pietr to make the drive, figuring the focus would keep them going. In the back seat, Isaac had fallen back asleep while Anya and Yuri chatted with Pietr, occasionally taking breaks to play games on their cell phones.
“Do you want me to see what that is?” Pietr asked, pointing at their phone tucked in the cupholder.
“It’s the Discord. It can wait.”
Then it pinged again. And again.
“Cripes.”
Pietr picked it up. “It is Discord. I can only see the start of the message, but Becca wants to know why you didn’t tell her.”
Harper rolled her eyes. “Is it the WAGs server or is it a PM?”
“I think is server. I can’t tell. I don’t use.”
“Thank god for that.” Harper pulled the SUV into a parking space with a little extra stopping force than necessary. It shook Isaac awake with a groan as his head thunked against the glass.
“Ow! Shit, Harp. What the hell?”
“Sorry,” Harper apologized softly. They reached over, taking the phone back from Pietr to look at the screen.
[BECCA] @HWyatt, why didn’t you tell me about Isaac Parker????
[BECCA] US. I mean why didn’t you tell US?
[Seth] I had kind of guessed already. Congrats @HWyatt. <3 The three of you are adorbs.
[Marie] Yeah, it was a little obvious if you read between the lines, Becca.
[Soo-Me] @HWyatt: do I get to give Isaac a tattoo the next time he’s in town???
[Soo-Me] OR BOTH OF YOU
[Soo-Me] OR ALL THREE OF YOU
[Seth] Helen, you’re obsessed. Chill.
[Soo-Me] I just really love fresh skin...and Harper is so paaaaaale because they never go outside...
[Marie] I think that’s maybe a little racist?
[Soo-Me] Hmm, I wouldn’t say racist. Probably a little fetishizing?
[Seth] OKAY. Wow. Can’t we just be happy that Harper and Pietr have another really great partner who makes them both very happy?
[King’s Queen] IDK. It’s kinda weird.
[King’s Queen] Like, do they all have sex together? How does that work? I’m not sure I want to picture our cute little Pigeon in an orgy.
[Birdie] I don’t think that’s any of our business, @King’s Queen.
[Marie] Seriously. Not our business. We don’t ask how you and Lawrence bang.
[Seth] Ew.
[King’s Queen] OH LIKE YOU’RE NOT ALL THINKING ABOUT IT!!!
[Marie] I’m more concerned how many people are going to start hitting on Pietr and Harper now, thinking they’re some kind of kinksters.
[CC Cameron] What’s wrong with kinksters?
[Marie] Nothing! I’m just saying this opened a door that they might have a hard time closing.
“Oh for fucks sake,” Harper sighed. Pietr reached over, patting her thigh.
“It is the WAGs?”
“Yes. Everyone so far seems supportive, except for Elektra who just wants to know if we have threesomes.”
“That is this Papa’s cue to get out of the car,” Yuri announced. “We will get bags out. You deal with your friends.”
“They’re not all my friends,” Harper muttered moodily. She wasn’t particular thrilled with Elektra’s line of thinking.
“I’ll help you, Papa.” Pietr gave Harper’s thigh another squeeze. “Take your time. We’ll get unloaded and checked in. I still have a little time before I have to meet the team.”
Harper turned back to the phone.
[HWyatt] Pietr and I told select individuals to whom it would be awkward for them to not know and no one else. We weren’t planning on telling anyone yet, but the incident at KongKon changed the plan. We weren’t trying to slight anyone.
[Seth] So you gonna tell us who your other boyfriend is?
[HWyatt] No.
[Seth] Aw! C’mon!
[HWyatt] They have their own set of problems I’m not going to exacerbate by informing a chat of fifty people who they are.
[King’s Queen] I bet it’s Levin. Is it true he has a *monster* cock?
[CC Cameron] What is *wrong* with you @King’s Queen? FFS
[Birdie] Except that Misha Levin is in love with Cecil Spitz. We all know it.
[King’s Queen] Yeeeeeeeeah, but Misha was on Parker’s stream with the both of them just a few weeks ago. Connect the dots, ladies (and gentleman).
[Seth] He’s in fucking Edmonton. It doesn’t make any sense.
[Becca] Ahhhhh, yeah it does! Pietr played with him in the Olympics. They’re friends. He introduces Levin to Harper. He falls for them cause, duh, they’re the cutest damn thing on the planet, and...well, I lose it after that, but I’m sure there’s just stuff we’re not privy to.
[Seth] Privy? Are you a pirate?
[Becca] That would be “savvy” and it means something completely different. Do we need to have a PotC marathon?
[Seth] Whatever. Harper isn’t banging Misha Levin. It’s ludicrous.
[HWyatt] Why would it be ludicrous?
[Seth] Because he’s MISHA LEVIN. I was AT THE BAR the night you met him. You said all of like a dozen sentences to each other.
[HWyatt] So what?
[Seth] IS IT MISHA?!
[HWyatt] I’m not telling you who it is. I just don’t appreciate your saying it absolutely couldn’t be Misha. How well do YOU know him? Maybe he’s into fat chicks.
[Becca] Whoa.
[Becca] You
[Becca] Did
[Becca] Not
[Seth] I never said your weight was why he wouldn’t be into you.
[HWyatt] Why then? Take the whole timeline of events off the table. Misha Levin is standing in front of me for the first time in my life. Why am I so abhorrent that he couldn’t *possibly* see me as his girlfriend?
The chat went quiet. Seth’s name popped up with ellipses a few times, then disappeared. Harper leaned back in the driver’s seat, irked.
[HWyatt] No response? Really? Fine.
[HWyatt] I don’t care if any of you respect me or even like me. But please have enough respect for Pietr and his place on the team to leave us be. Being openly polyamorous is a part of our private lives that we made the decision to share so I would hopefully stop getting harassed by strangers. I didn’t think I needed to worry about getting harassed by all of you.
Harper didn’t wait to see any responses before closing the app. They got out of the car, grabbing their bag and joined the rest of their family.
“Everything okay?” Pietr asked, handing them the handle of their suitcase.
“For now,” they nodded.
“You’re sure?”
“Yeah.” Harper forced a smile. “Let’s get checked in and settled so you can relax for a little bit before you leave again.”
Inside the hotel, Harper and Pietr were surprised by the small group clustered in the lobby, seemingly waiting for their arrival. Including Coach Harrows.
“You’re here! Finally!” Harrows barked.
“I am not late,” Pietr replied easily. “I have,” he pulled out his phone from his jacket pocket to look at the time, “forty minutes to get checked-in. Is something wrong?”
“No,” Harrows replied gruffly, “but we do need to talk for a second.”
“But nothing is wrong?”
“Just come over here. The both of you, actually.”
“Can I get my parents checked in and on their way first?” Pietr asked. “And why Harper?”
“You’re not in trouble, damn it!” Harrows barked. Then he let out a sigh. “Go check in. Vikky!”
“Yes, Coach?” Gregor stepped forward from the clump of teammates.
“Help Mr. and Mrs. Ivanov with their luggage would you?”
“Sure, of course.” He stepped over to introduce himself to Yuri and Anya while Pietr dropped his suitcase next to Harper and went to the front desk.
“What’s going on?” Harper asked Gregor as he adjusted the strap of Yuri’s duffle bag over his shoulder.
“Nothing. Congrats on the stream last night. You all handled that well, I thought.”
“You watched?”
“Ano—I mean, yes. I—” Gregor stared at them for a second. “Why would I not? It’s a free country.”
Harper raised an eyebrow. They looked over to the desk where Pietr was handing over his credit card for the extra rooms he had booked.
“Did you have a good drive?” Harrows asked, still a bit of a bark in his tone. Harper expected it was his default, though they had never spent a ton of time in his presence.
“It was fine. Early, but roads were clear. No snow.” They replied. They leaned over, looking at the assembled players. Adam, Guy, Tim, Mattie, Lawrence, McKinley, and a handful of others were attempting and failing to look nonchalant and relaxed, spread out across the small sitting area.
“Don’t you all have better things you could be doing before morning skate?”
“No,” was the overwhelming reply. Harper held in a sigh, looking relieved as Pietr appeared to be handed a set of keycards. ...But then he continued standing there, talking to the receptionist.
“So,” Gregor was standing very close to Isaac, “are you rooming with Pietr and Harper then?”
Isaac took a small step back. “No. Pietr booked extra rooms for me and his parents.”
“Are you sick of them already?”
Isaac laughed. “Not at all. Would you want to get in the way of Pietr when he’s been separated from Harper for over three weeks?”
“Oh. I’m so sorry. That must be irritating. At least you got some time with Harper to yourself.” Gregor’s head tipped to the side, curiously. “But you didn’t really enjoy any time with just Pietr?”
“That’s not how it works. It’s never going to be equal time,” Isaac tried to explain.
Gregor hummed, giving him a once over. “You’re headed back to LA tomorrow then?”
“Yes. Ten AM flight.”
“Ah. We leave at six.” Gregor sounded disappointed.
“I know. I’m in charge of making sure the parents make it on their plane at eight.” Isaac cocked his head towards Anya and Yuri who were bent over one of their cellphones, playing another game.
“After the game tonight, we could get a drink together? There are a couple of bars nearby. Or the hotel bar is adequate.”
“Adequate?” Isaac started to repeat.
Pietr interrupted, finally done with check-in. He handed an envelope with keys in it to Gregor. “Thank you for helping my parents with their bags. Greatly appreciated. The flirting with my boyfriend, not so much.”
“Flirting? There is no flirting.” Gregor replied. “Just talking.”
“Uh huh. Go on.” He held out another envelope to Isaac. “Here’s yours but you are welcome to stay with Harper and me.”
“You’re going to be tired after the game anyway. Better sleep if it’s just the two of you.”
Pietr rolled his eyes and then finally turned to Harper, handing them the last envelope. “Here are ours.”
“Thanks.” They turned back to Harrows. With Pietr’s reapproach, the other team members had clustered a little closer now.
“What’s up?” Pietr asked.
“Walk with me.” Harrows cocked his head to the side and began moving away from the elevators and out of ear shot from the other players. He stopped a little way away, planting his feet and crossing his arms.
“First,” he began, “like I said, you’re not in trouble. But I gotta ask Pietr, if you’ve got any more bombshells of information about yourself to throw out there, could you please keep management in the loop about it? Especially if you’re making official announcements and not just tagging photos like last time. At the very least, Felicity could have made a couple of suggestions.”
“Have there been problems?”
“Not as such. But, I’m hesitant to let you play tonight.”
“What? Why?” Harper asked before Pietr could even process.
“Because the last time this guy made something about himself public that some people might find...” Harrows paused trying to find the right word. “Unappealing,” he decided, “he ended up with a torn MCL and was off the ice for a month. Which was great for you, Pigeon, but really fucking sucked for us.”
“That was pure coincidence. Those guys were being assholes.” Harper held back the groan at the use of the nickname. They were more than certain that trying to get the coach to stop using it was not going to end well.
“Yeah, well, they still play for our opponents. Steve Sully, specifically.”
“Isn’t not letting him play feeding the bullies?” Harper asked. “It looks bad if you don’t let him.”
Harrows gave a little harumph.
“I get that, but I have to think about the safety of my players too. Right now, my gut tells me that scratching Tesla for the night is the right decision.”
“Coach,” Pietr interjected, “look, my parents are here. It’s the first game they’ve gotten to come to since I got traded. Harper’s brother and fiancé are coming tonight too. It’s the only game we’re playing here this season. I’m not alone on that ice. Winnie and Einstein have my back out on the line, not to mention Kinley and Vikky. You can’t not let me play. You’re paying me. Get your monies worth.”
“Look,” Harrows dropped his arms, but continued to look serious, “I’ll talk it over with the other coaches. We’ll make a final decision before we hit the ice whether you’re on a line, but absolutely no promises. I’m sorry if that’s disappointing. I know you have family here tonight and that’s important. Especially when we’re otherwise in enemy territory.”
“Fine. I’ll respect whatever decision is made.”
“Why did you want me here to hear that?” Harper asked.
“I didn’t,” Harrows replied. He turned to look at her squarely. “Congratulations on being upgraded to co-host on Parker’s show. My kids won’t fuckin’ shut up about it, according to my wife.”
“Oh!” Harper was slightly taken aback. “Thank you.”
“The charitable donation thing is a nice touch too. Feel free to get the guys involved if that feels right. They all have their own charities they support. It looks good for them as individuals, as well as the team. Plus, it’s a little extra something fun for them. Good for morale. And it’s mostly a family friendly show.”
“I’ll talk to Isaac about it as we’re finalizing plans. I’d love to have some of the guys on.” Harper nodded.
“Good. Now,” he looked down at his watch, “you’ve got twenty minutes left to get settled in and back down here for the bus to the arena. Get out of here.”
“Come on, baby.” Pietr steered them back around to move toward the elevators. “Let’s go.”
“Do you really think they’re not going to let you play?” Harper asked, once they were in the elevator.
“I don’t know. I hope they do because that is why I am here.” Pietr sounded more than a little annoyed. “I firmly believe if Steve Sully wants to try and injure me again, he’s going to find a way to do it, regardless of whether I’m on the ice or not. He wasn’t necessarily alone, but he’s the one who escalated it and paid a fine for going too far.”
“Didn’t he have to write you an apology?”
“If he did, I did not receive one,” Pietr replied. He followed her out of the elevator and down the hall to their room. The lock chirped and they stepped inside.
“Mama and Papa are across the hall. Isaac is next door,” Pietr told her. “That’s what took a little longer. They had Isaac on completely different floor. When I asked for adjoining, they had to do a little shuffling. Much happier.”
“Oh, so he’s on the other side of here?” Harper tucked her suitcase into the closet before going to open the adjoining door and knocking on the other side.
There was a clatter and the door jerked open. Isaac looked a little out of breath.
“Hi! Uh, how was the chat with Harrows? Anything wrong?”
“What...?” Harper peered over his shoulder. Gregor was brushing wrinkles out of his t-shirt.
“What are you two doing?” She asked, skeptically.
“Nothing! Gregor carried in my bags for me. That’s all.” He moved out of the way, no longer hiding the other man. “Thanks for the help, man.”
“No problem,” Gregor offered. “Congratulations on the co-hosting upgrade, Harper.”
“Thank you. Was that why everyone was clustered in the lobby waiting for us?” They asked.
“Partly, yes,” Gregor nodded. “Also to say, we’re very proud of you for being honest about your relationship. Situation. Thing.” He cleared his throat.
“Gregor?”
“Can I take Isaac for a drink tonight? He won’t go with me. He says he needs permission.”
Harper frowned at Isaac who flushed pink.
“Firstly, Isaac is his own person. If he wants to have a drink with you, that’s his choice. Second, is that all you want? Or were you two not making out when I knocked?”
“No! For fucks sake, Harp,” Isaac stammered.
“I tried,” Gregor sighed. He crossed his arms over his chest.
“Gregor,” Pietr stood behind Harper in the doorway, “seriously?”
Gregor let out a frustrated sigh before taking a more calming breath. “It won’t happen again. I’ll get out of your room. Pietr, hurry up. Bus leaves soon.”
“I know. I’ll be down in a minute. I just need to grab my bag.”
“Sorry, Isaac,” Gregor continued. “I hope you have a nice time at the game tonight. Have a safe flight home tomorrow.”
Harper waited until she heard the door close before looking at Isaac. A slightly confused look. “Why not get the drink? Gregor is harmless.”
“Because it’s not just a drink, Harp,” Isaac replied. “Cripes, he’s a baby.”
“He’s twenty-two,” Pietr corrected. “You say that like you’re ancient. You’re not that much older.”
“You don’t want me doing anything with him,” Isaac replied.
“Me? I don’t care if you’re into him,” Pietr answered. “I don’t like him throwing himself at you.”
Isaac didn’t answer, abruptly changing the subject. “Anya and Yuri want to go to Mall of America again, Harper. I said we could go while Pietr is at practice.”
“Sure,” Harper agreed. “You want to go with? Or you going to hang out here and relax?”
“I thought I’d go with them and let you stay and rest. You didn’t get much sleep and did all the driving.”
“That’s sweet but I’m fine.”
Isaac held out a hand. “Let me. I’ll entertain the parents. It’s been a long time since I was at the mall. Plus, we might draw attention if we’re together.”
Harper hesitated before finally reaching into her pocket for the keys and handing them over. “Okay. Call me if you need anything.”
“We’ll be fine.” He leaned in, giving her a kiss to the cheek. “Leave this door open. Maybe I’ll join you guys when Pietr gets back for his pre-game nap.”
“That would be nice,” Pietr replied. He watched Isaac check for his wallet and start for the door.
“Yeah?”
“Don’t let Harper and I be your excuse to not do things with other people. You’re never going to find your forever person like that.”
“I doubt that Gregor Ciklovich is going to be my forever person, Pietr. I shouldn’t have used you as an excuse. I wasn’t prepared for his interest. I will be next time.”
“Vikky is a nice guy,” Pietr continued. “There’s no harm in getting a drink.”
“I’ll think about it. Either of you need anything from the mall?”
“Buy me something shiny, honey,” Pietr teased.
“I’m good.” Harper rolled her eyes. “See you later.”
They parted from the doorway. Isaac to go across the hall to the parent’s room, and Pietr to pick up his workout bag.
“I love you.” He paused, kissing her on the forehead. “Don’t sleep for so long that you don’t still want to nap with me later. I’ll be back around one or so? I’ll see you then.”
“I love you too. Be careful.”