Shameless Puckboy (Puckboys Book 3)

AS SOON AS OSKAR LEAVES, I deflate. I’m trying to keep reasonably upbeat about this whole thing whenever he’s around, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t freaking out.

No other team has reached out to me, and I’m hesitant to be the one to make the first move as I don’t know how far the news of us has spread. What we did may not have been technically against any rules or laws, but it also wasn’t ethical either. I know Oskar is worried that I’m going to wake up one day and resent him for everything that has happened, but I went into this knowing what I was doing. Every single choice has been my own, and now I’m facing the consequences of those choices.

Maybe when I was younger, I would’ve tried to blame someone else, but I’m old enough now to understand that that’s how the world works.

Two hours after Oskar leaves, there’s a knock at the door. As far as I know, he wasn’t expecting any visitors, and it’s way too early for him to be back yet. Plus, he wouldn’t knock on his own door.

I’m still in the sweats I haphazardly pulled on when I finally climbed out of bed this morning, but hey, it’s better than being naked. I mute the TV and find the last person I’d expect on Oskar’s front porch.

“Damon.” I hesitate, half-concerned he’s going to kick my ass. “You sure do like to fly out here rather than use the phone. Should I be concerned you and Oskar are having a scandalous affair?”

The bastard actually rolls his eyes at me. “The two of you have already filled that space on my bingo card. Can I come in?”

“Sure.” I step aside. “But Oskar isn’t here. He’s gone to the rink for a checkup with the team doctor. Actually, that’s probably something you should be there for.” Concern hits my gut as I follow Damon into the house. “We think they’re going to clear him to play the next game when he’s not ready.”

“One of the good parts of being an agent is learning to tell when you need to fight for your clients and when they can do it themselves.” He drops his laptop bag on the couch and takes a seat. “Since when have you ever known Oskar to do something he doesn’t want to?”

“I dunno, he was pretty reluctant when I organized that positive PR stuff for him.”

“My point remains. If he didn’t want to do it, he wouldn’t have done it.”

I think back to how easily he took to it, and my heart warms. “You’re right.”

“Besides, it’d be a ballsy team doctor to clear a patient they weren’t confident about and risk losing their license to practice.”

I flop back onto the couch I was sitting on earlier. “It’s not like it doesn’t happen.”

“Yes, but in those cases, they’re not dealing with a fiery, loudmouthed hockey player who can’t keep a single thing quiet and already has a chip on his shoulder over the team who let his boyfriend go.” He gives me a shrewd look, and I relent.

“So I should stop worrying. Got it.”

“I’d say you have bigger things to be worried about, don’t you?”

My reputation? My job? How I’m going to make a living? “Nothing’s more important than Oskar.”

Damon’s bright green gaze assesses me, and I sigh.

“If you’re here to lecture me, you might as well get it over with. I have a full day of television calling my name. Oskar will be very annoyed if you get between me and his idea of therapy.” I gesture toward where the reality show I’m not even sure I understand is playing silently.

Damon casts a pitiful look toward the TV and back to me again. “So this is how you want to be spending your days?”

“It was a toss-up between this and an apron and heels. I’m comfortable with my choice.”

“You know, there will come a day when both you and Oskar don’t feel the need to fill me in on every little thing going on in your lives.”

“Maybe. But we’re not there yet.”

“It’ll be going in the contract,” he says.

I tilt my head. “Doesn’t Oskar already have a contract?”

“I wasn’t talking about his.”

It takes me a moment to puzzle that out, and while I’m a smart guy and have an inkling of what he’s getting at, I’m not going to get too excited. “Last I checked, househusbands don’t need an agent.”

“I’m not taking on clients.”

“Then …” I swallow back my nerves. “What’s this conversation about? An NDA? That ship has sailed.”

“My PR team could use more people like you.”

I swear my eyebrows try to jump from my face. “You like your staff sleeping with clients?”

“Fuck no, and you can be assured there’ll be a clause in yours to specifically say that.”

“You don’t need a clause when I have Oskar.” My amusement fades slightly as what he’s said starts to sink in. “You’re serious?”

“I am.”

“But … at the risk of totally messing this up, why? My reputation in the business is a mess, and what I did was highly unethical. It’s not like any of that was a secret to me when we started this relationship.”

Damon spreads his hands like I’ve made his point for him. “You’ve never lied to me. When all of this got started, you didn’t worry about your own job security. You were worried about making sure I had a plan for Oskar if it came out. I could have used that against you. I could have painted the picture that you were taking advantage of my client, but you weren’t worried about any of that.”

“You’ve never struck me as someone who’d do something underhanded.”

“Because I’m not. But that wasn’t the only time you put Oskar’s career first. You love your job, and yet you gave me the heads-up about San Jose possibly terminating his contract, which allowed me time to stockpile a mountainload of arguments to prevent that from happening, and then you walked away from all of it. For him.”

“And while I love that you have this high of an opinion of me, I didn’t walk away because I was responsible for him. I walked away because I couldn’t end it.”

“Oskar’s never had anyone fight for him like that.”

“I’d fight for him like that every day if he let me.”

Damon watches me for a moment. “I’ve looked into your career. Your record is spotless. Every team you manage is low on scandals. What happened with Oskar was an anomaly after years of ethical, diligent hard work. San Jose is already falling apart without you, and while they might be comfortable forcing a man to choose between the career he loves or the man he loves, I will never do that.”

And even though Oskar and I have never used that word, I don’t argue because I’m pretty certain it’s true. Which causes another problem, because while having Damon walk in and offer me a position solves all of my current problems, it also creates a big one of its own. “You’re based in New York.”

Damon pulls out his phone and does something before nodding at mine. “I’ve emailed my proposal through to you. My company is expanding quickly, and while my PR manager position is already filled, I have something that might interest you more.”

More than a position I’ve held for almost the last decade? I hurry to open my emails and find the contract attached.

Public Relations Liaison – Remote

“What …”

“My players are all across the country, so it doesn’t make sense for my team to all be based out of one city. I already have a liaison who covers the East Coast, and I’m open to more. You’ll primarily work out of your home with the expectation that once an LA office is opened, you’ll visit, possibly head a team, and when I need someone to clean up a mess, you’ll travel to whatever location I need you in.”

“That’s … incredible.”

“Off the record, where Oskar is concerned, there’s already been talk. Nothing official because of the trade cutoff date, but I have a source who is like the TMZ of hockey. He knows everything first, and he’s ninety percent sure San Jose is going to trade him come next season. I know your home is here, but—”

“I’ll move with him.”

“That’s what I thought you’d say.” He gives me a smug look. “If you’re my employee, relocation costs would be covered. I have good health benefits and a competitive salary. Take a few days to—”

“I’ll take it.”

He blinks at me. “You haven’t even read over the contract.”

“I assume you’ll have to update it anyway. Since apparently I’m getting a clause about not sharing my sex life.”

“Are you going to at least check the salary?”

“Nope. In the spirit of keeping the honesty going, you could be undercutting me like an asshole, and I wouldn’t have a choice. I’m at your mercy.”

“Good thing I’m not an asshole, then.”

“And that’s why I don’t need to check it.”

There’s a clatter as the front door opens and Oskar yells out, “Lane, you better be naked!”

Damon groans.

“I was interrupted,” I shout back.

Oskar rounds the corner, and when his eyes land on Damon and then flick to me, he throws up his hands like a busted perp. “I didn’t do it!”

I jump up before he gets a chance to realize that not everything is about him and haul him against me. Then I give him the longest, happiest, filthiest kiss I can manage. I’d thought I was happy before, but this? Nothing can beat this. I get Oskar, and I get to work in a field I love, that I’m good at, and I don’t have to sneak around or make sacrifices to do that.

A throat clears behind us. “I’ve just thought of another clause to add.”

I smile against Oskar’s mouth and reluctantly pull back. “Add whatever shit you need to. I’ll sign it.”

“Sign what?” Oskar’s attention ping-pongs between us.

Damon picks up his bag and moves to leave. “I’ll let you two talk. Maddy came with me for once, and he’s waiting for me back at the hotel.”

Oskar barely says goodbye before he’s on me. “What do we need to talk about?”

“You’re going to have to table your dreams of a fifties househusband. I have a job.”

“With Damon? But you’re not an agent.”

“And while I love the confidence you have in me to be able to do anything, King Sports has a PR department too.”

Oskar’s face falls. “In New York.” I can tell he’s trying to hold back his rejection, but I don’t leave him questioning for long.

“I’ll be working remotely, which means …”

“You can stay here?”

“Anywhere.” This time I kiss him. “Wherever you go, I go. I’ll follow you across the whole of the country if I need to.”

He tilts his head. “What if I’m traded to Canada?”

I cringe. “My love has some limits.”

I’m expecting Oskar to throw out a retort or thump me in the shoulder or something, but all he does is stare at me.

“You okay?”

“Love?”

Ah … fuck. I clear my throat, somehow more nervous than I was being called in for the meeting with Mick. My career was something special, but what we have is everything. “My answer to that question depends on your answer to mine.”

“No one’s ever loved me before,” he says, sounding stunned.

“Your parents?”

“That’s the most basic expectation for a parent. You … you don’t have to, you know?”

I chuckle and run my fingers through his messy hair. “I think at this point, I’m helpless against it.”

“Good.” He clings to me desperately. “Because if you love me, you can’t leave me. That’s how this works.”

“That’s exactly how this works.”

His face explodes with the most heart-stopping smile I’ve ever seen. And if that’s what Oskar looks like truly happy, the world better watch out. “If I say I love you too, does that mean we can get matching tattoos now?”

“Is your love dependent on that?”

“Well, no pressure, but …”

“I’m really feeling the love.”

“There’s just so much of me to go around. I need to be careful about locking all this down. Think of all the men in the world who haven’t had a turn.”

I slap his ass, and he yelps.

“I’m joking.”

“Yeah? Prove it.”

“Fine, you want proof that I love you? How about that I love everything about you? I love that you’re bossy and fuck me like you mean it. I love that you see more of me than anyone, and not because I couldn’t keep it hidden from you, but because you wanted to see. You looked for good where no one believed it existed—even me. You’re smart, and fun, and go against all common sense to make sure I’m happy. I think you’re an idiot for settling down with someone as reckless as me, but I’m never letting you go. Not now that I know what real love feels like. Not when I know what it’s like to be someone’s first choice. And because you’ve shown me how amazing those things are, I’ll spend every day doing the same for you. How’s that for proof, huh?”

I pretend to think for a moment, but I can’t keep it up for long. The happiness I’m fighting escapes, and fuck him for thinking he’s too reckless for me. “Oskar …”

He swallows and meets my eyes.

“You say you’re too reckless for me, but I say you’re selling yourself short. Your attitude, your love, your humor, your defensiveness, your vulnerability. It’s all too much. And I would never settle for anything less than what you give me.”

He huffs a laugh that I’m not so sure isn’t holding back the type of emotion he never lets out. “Fuck. I thought I had you beat there, and you had to go and one-up me.”

“And I promise you I always will.”

He kisses me, and I hug him, but there’s one more thing I need to make sure he knows.

“What you said … about no one loving you who didn’t have to.”

“Yeah?”

“You’re wrong.”

He snorts. “I’m never wrong.”

“Oh, yeah? I bet you have a whole collective of friends who beg to differ.”

He thinks about it a moment but then nods. “Damn it, I think you’re right again.”