Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 73002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
“Oh! Call me back.”
“Will do.”
Wells sighed, “Bye.”
With a grin on his face, he switched over to Avery’s call. “Hello?”
“Hey, you back from your vacation yet?”
“Yeah, got back on Monday.”
“Awesome, did you have a nice trip?”
“We did, it was great. You and Jace should take a trip.”
She scoffed. “Like we’ll ever have time! We’re so busy, and I’m soon to be a mom of two.”
“Which is nuts.”
“It is!” she agreed with a laugh. “But I’m excited, even if I only got a year to drink legally.”
Matty grinned. “Yeah, that is kinda depressing.”
“Right?” She paused, and he could just see her smiling, shaking her head. They had texted some while he was gone, but nothing really worth talking about. Mostly pictures, but it was great. “So the reason I’m calling—”
“You don’t need a reason.”
She paused and then said, “I know, but this time, it is for a reason. I wanted to see if you’d be in town in the next couple days? I think we’re gonna try to fly up there just after the NHL Awards. Are you going? We’re not going since they moved the date back twice.”
“Probably not. I’m not nominated for anything, and I don’t care.”
She laughed. “Okay, is Wells nominated?”
He scoffed. “I love the dude, but he’s getting old. Not saying he sucks, but he’s slower than the people they honor. He plays maybe sixteen minutes a game. But again, he’s awesome, and I think he’s great.”
“You don’t have to defend your answer.”
He shrugged. “I think I sounded like an asshole.”
“Kinda.”
“Shit, I need to work on that. I guess he could be recognized for doing good community service, but he hasn’t said anything.”
“Oh, so you guys aren’t going, then?”
“No, I’m not, and I don’t think he is. We’re trying to spend as much time together before the season starts.”
“Oh, that’s right, he plays for Colorado.”
“Yeah. So, as of now, no, we are not going. But yes, I can be in New York when you come so I can get to New Jersey to see you guys.”
“Cool. I think we’ll stay with Mom and Dad, so I know they’ll probably put some big ole dinner together for us. Seth and Laurence are gonna make sure to be there.”
His heart fluttered a bit. “Awesome, yeah, I’ll be there—” Swallowing hard, he cleared his throat. “And Wells, of course.”
“Great, I really do like him.”
“Yeah, me too,” he said, laughing with absolutely no humor in his voice. “Let’s hope that it goes well with Mom and Dad since I plan on telling them soon.”
“Awesome, and I’m sure it will go fine.”
“I don’t know. I’m off to tell Seth and Laur right now. Well, tonight.”
“You sound nervous.”
“I’m terrified,” he admitted, and then he let his shoulders fall. “I need that to go smoothly, so that when it’s time to get to Mom and Dad, it will be easy for me. I had Wells when I told you, but now I’m going alone.”
“You’re going to do great, Matty. Don’t worry. We all love you. We don’t care who you love as long as you’re happy.”
His lips quirked at the side as he nodded. “I need Seth and Laur to say that.”
She laughed. “They won’t. They’ll give you shit, you know they will, but they love you.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” He laughed along with her, until his phone started to beep once more. “Shit, I’m popular today. Can I call you back? It’s my agent.”
“Oh, yeah. That’s cool. Talk to you soon.”
“Yeah, I’ll call back.”
“Okay!”
Hanging up, he was really cheerful as he clicked over. Of course, he was nervous because the end result, his whole family around a dinner table, was probably really farfetched, but he was excited that Avery wanted him there. That she wanted Wells too. His stomach clenched with nervousness at the thought of telling Seth and Laurence, but when the voice of Brendan Propose, his agent, came over the line, he was nervous about telling him too.
He would be coming out to the world.
Not just to his family, but to everyone.
That’s what Wells wanted. But damn it, Matty didn’t want people in his business. Why couldn’t he just love and be who he wanted? He knew he couldn’t, not in this day and age where social media basically ran the world. Everyone was in everyone’s private life, and he hated that. He just wanted to be left alone.
Taking a calming breath, he said, “Hey, Brend, what’s up?”
“So, hey, I know you’re traveling. Where are you right now? I need to come to you.”
Alarms went off like crazy. Brendan didn’t make visits like that unless something was going on. “Why? Everything okay? Am I being traded?”
“No, not that. We have an issue. It’s not something we can discuss over the phone.”
Matty’s stomach dropped. What the hell could be wrong? “I actually just landed at LaGuardia.”