Neutral Zone Trap - Bianca Sommerland Page 0,15

I know you’re not a child.” He rolled his eyes at Braxton’s glare. “But you are young. And you’re infatuated with Ryan. This will only end in heartache.”

Even knowing Terry for just a short time, Braxton had gotten used to how dramatic he was about everything. But he didn’t have many friends outside of the team and he considered the flamboyant server one of them. There was no reason to have the guy worrying for nothing.

As the lights in the almost empty club came on, he reached out and patted Terry’s hand. “I hear you, I promise. And I’m going on the road starting tomorrow, so I won’t have time to obsess over Ryan. Not that I really have been, I just…there was something between us.”

Terry’s lips slanted. “He fucked you good and now you’re stuck pretending you’re into girls again.” Terry let out a heavy sigh. “I’ve seen the pictures of you with all those gorgeous models. You put on a good act, I’ll give you that.”

“I have to.”

“Maybe you don’t, but you’re not ready to come out publicly yet and I get that. This is where you come when you’re tired of hiding who you are.” Terry stood as Braxton did, walking with him to the door where his husband was letting out the last of the club’s patrons. “And you’re more than welcome. But you should consider that Ryan represents a kind of freedom you’ve never felt before, like this place does. You can have that anywhere, Braxton. With anyone.”

Braxton hesitated, then shook his head. “I don’t think I can.”

“Have you tried?”

Those words stuck with Braxton long after he got home, lying in bed and trying to get enough sleep so he’d be up to the tough road trip coming up. Things had been weird in the locker room lately, what with the rookies who’d been brought up to replace three suspended players. He did his best to avoid those guys, but they were obnoxious, homophobic assholes and he couldn’t stop tensing up whenever they walked into a room.

Part of him wondered if they could see the difference in him since he’d been with Ryan. They constantly joked about him being a pretty boy and liking cock, even though he’d been spending more time with the puck bunnies Hunt always seemed to find at a moment’s notice. Which happened more and more often, almost as though Hunt had noticed something too and was trying to protect him.

Nothing had really changed, but he still felt like he had ‘queer’ written on his forehead. Even his agent had gotten more uptight about him being single and asked if there was a girl he could spend time with—or at least get a few photos with so people might assume they were together.

So no, Braxton hadn’t tried being with another guy. How could he?

Wanting to be with Ryan isn’t from a lack of options.

Or...was it?

The next afternoon he struggled to focus as he hit the ice with the rest of the team for practice. In the locker room, he hurried to shower and change, ignoring the rookie, Spooner, who dropped a bar of soap in front of him, whispering ‘You’re welcome’ when Braxton bent down to pick it up.

Team policy against discrimination would have the rookie taking another round of sensitivity training if Braxton reported him, but he couldn’t draw that kind of attention to himself. If he complained, Coach would wonder why he was taking the little jabs so personally. His contract was up at the end of the season and the only way he’d get signed to a longer one is if he didn’t make waves and proved he was an asset to the team.

Sucked not being able to talk to anyone about it though. When the guys caught the rookies talking shit, they stuck up for him, but they couldn’t be there all the time. As much as some tried—Hunt most of all—he had to deal with the fuckers on his own.

Mostly by ignoring them and hoping they got bored.

Speaking of which, he needed to get the hell out of the locker room. Fully dressed, he’d sat there thinking for so long the team had cleared out. Except for the rookies.

He grabbed his sports bag and started for the door. Spooner stood, blocking his path.

The door opened and Tyler Vanek, whose suspension was finally over, gave Spooner a cold look until he got out of Braxton’s way. Dismissing the rookie, Vanek grinned at Braxton. “Hey, Richards! Saw you