Page 119 of First Shift

Will shook his head.

“Why?”

He glanced down the hallway, as if to look toward his notoriously terrifying uncle turned coach. “No one would risk it. Uncle Ethan would murder them.”

Obviously, I didn’t know Ethan Harrison well, but the man’s reputation preceded him. If Will’s teammates wanted to stay on their notoriously hard-nosed coach’s good side, they’d keep their mouths shut or suffer the consequences.

“Okay,” Cally said eventually, his shoulders dropping. “Okay.”

“Again, I’m really⁠—

“Just go,” I said.

Will held his hands up, and he took two fast steps backward before turning and walking quickly down the hall.

The second Will disappeared from view, I stepped back into Cally’s line of sight. “Are you okay?”

His eyes moved slowly to mine, the flat, lifeless look receding. He swallowed hard, letting out a long, shaky breath. “Yeah. I’m okay.” He paused, shaking his head. “Or … I’m not, but I will be. I think. Also, I might be drunk.”

Unfortunately, I was stone cold sober now.

“Do you want to leave?” I asked, wanting desperately to hug him.

Cally shook his head, a stubborn spark lighting up his eyes. “No. Not until I get some fucking turkey and pumpkin pie.”

A quiet laugh spilled from my lips, the knot in my stomach loosening slightly. “You sure?”

“Probably,” he muttered, dragging his hands down his face, tugging at his cheeks.

I glanced down the long hall toward the party. “You want me to go out first?”

Cally let out a heavy sigh, his shoulders curling forward. “Does it even matter at this point?”

I took hold of his hand and gave it a quick squeeze before letting go. “Remember—only Ethan knows. Will’s not saying shit, and neither are his guys. Your secret is safe.”

“For now, anyway,” he murmured, squaring his shoulders and pulling in a deep breath before turning to head back out to the party.

I fell in behind him, the bottle of bourbon held loosely in my grip.

Cally stepped through the archway into the sprawling great room and came face-to-face with Ethan Harrison, Will standing at his side.

Ethan’s dark eyes locked onto Cally immediately, a look of concern flashing across his face before his gaze dropped to the bottle in my hand, his mouth setting into a grim line. He stepped forward, his hand outstretched. “I’ll take that,” he said, his tone leaving no room for debate. “Go get some water.”

I passed the bottle to him, my eyes darting between Ethan’s stone-faced expression and Cally’s pale one.

He gave me a subtle nod, a silent confirmation that he could handle this.

“Uh, yeah,” I said, turning to Harrison. “Water. Okay.”

I ducked toward the open-plan kitchen, sidestepping Petrov and his brother with a grunt that doubled as a greeting, grabbed two red Solo cups, and filled them from the tap, my hands shaking.

I pushed back through the room and wove my way back to Cally’s side, handing him a glass and shoulder-bumping him gently just as Morrison and his best friend came through the French doors, their cheeks pink from the cold.

A few seconds later, Bell whistled loudly, and all conversation abruptly stopped.

“Yo! T has something to say!”

“Uh,” Morrison started, his gaze sweeping over the crowd for several long seconds. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to do this for a while now, and I kept waiting for it to feel like the right time. Tonight I realized there isn’t one perfect moment.” He paused, then cleared his throat. “So … uh. I’m bi. And this is my boyfriend.” He glanced at the man at his side, who was watching him with an expression that could only be described as absolute love on his face. “Most of you met him already, but if you haven’t, this is Sebastian.”