Page 194 of Game Misconduct

“Whatdoyou mean?”

“The locker room’s a mess. They’ve got trouble with homophobes, and the head office hasn’t been that supportive in the past and?—”

“You’re telling me you’re begging me to trade you to a place that won’t be queer friendly?” Gavin asked flatly.

“Yeah.” Tanner laughed. “Kinda crazy but …”

“Kinda,” Gavin said, rubbing his face again.

“I don’t think I can fix the head office or anything,” Tanner said with a shrug. “But there’s the new owner, and new GM, and they’re searching for a new head coach.”

Oh God, he wasn’t going to tell Gavin he might be about to lose his assistant coach too. Of course, didn’t the Harriers have to give the Rockets permission to talk to Aksel first? He probably already knew.

He realized Gavin was still staring at him, so he added, “But the locker room? I can fucking help in there. YouknowI can.”

Gavin closed his eyes and sighed. “You’re telling me there are queer players on that roster who aren’t out but need support?”

“Yup. And I think Leif and me could do a lot to support it.”

“Leif and I,” Gavin said.

“You’re coming to the Rockets too?” Tanner asked, suddenly psyched. “Badass.”

“No! I was correcting your grammar. It should be Leif and I, not Leif and me.”

“Oh.” Tanner waved a hand, disappointed. “I always get that part confused.”

“Apparently.”

“Anyway,” Tanner said. “Sorry to harsh your mellow here or whatever. I just wanted to let you know so you weren’t, like …totallysurprised when Jim Calderon calls about the trade.”

Gavin’s tone was dry. “Appreciate it.”

Tanner was pretty sure he was being sarcastic, but he wasn’t sure what else he could say, so he turned away. But he’d only walked a few feet before he turned back.

“You know, I wouldn’t want to go there if the Harriers weren’t such a great team,” he said. “If we didn’t have such a good locker room.”

Gavin squinted again. “How do you figure?”

“Well. I mean, if I didn’t know how good it could be, I wouldn’t want to go help them getbetter.”

“You’re a regular saint,” Gavin said drily, but he was smiling.

Tanner grinned back. “I try!”

CHAPTER FORTY

“Well, I think that’s it,” Jesse said with a sigh. He set the last box on the floor in Tanner’s new room.

“Thanks for coming with,” Tanner said with a grin. “That was awesome.”

“Happy to help,” Jesse said, slinging an arm around him in a quick hug before he dropped onto the bed and pulled out his phone.

Once the trade had gone through—faster than any of them had expected—Leif had offered to drive to Boston to help Tanner pack and move but he had a photo shoot for one of his brand deals scheduled for today. He’d offered to reschedule it but, honestly, Tanner had really wanted to spend his last few days with the boys.

It was the last time they’d all be together the same way.

Still, he’d been a little surprised when Jesse had offered to help him actuallymoveto New York. Connor would’ve come too, but because of his shoulder rehab, he couldn’t drive or lift boxes.