Dating Him: The Series

by Michelle MacQueen

Asher bumped their shoulders together. “You told him.”

  “Yeah.” Kenny buried his face in his hands. Coming out to his dad should have been freeing, but all Kenny could think was “what now?” Was he expected to openly date a guy? He’d never even crossed that line with Nicky.

  Would he open himself up to the entire world of judgment? It wasn’t like hockey was a particularly accepting sport.

  Could he have both his dream and be himself openly and proudly?

  “You know it’s going to be okay, right?” Asher whispered.

  Was it? Kenny replayed their kiss from the night before. In the moment, he’d been desperate to forget the night’s events, and yes, he’d wanted to kiss Asher. But it couldn’t be more than that. Not with Asher Brooks.

  That would be like stepping from his closet into a circus.

  Yet, sitting there next to him gave him a comfort few things ever did. “Ash.” He sighed. “I think I need some space to think.”

  “Oh.” Asher’s face fell, and Kenny hated himself for the disappointment he saw there.

  Danny jumped in. “We have a plane to catch back to Washington, anyway. Asher, your mother is not happy you’re here.”

  Asher stood and flattened out his wrinkled shirt. “She’ll understand. There was a time Kenny was like a son to her. She wouldn’t have wanted him to go through this alone.”

  He started to walk away, but Kenny reached out and grabbed his hand. “Ash…thank you.”

  Asher turned a sad smile on him. “I’m glad you’ve finally let me see who you are, Ken. For the record, your parents are missing out.”

  “So are all the guys who missed out on your first kiss.”

  Asher’s smile widened into a grin. “I assumed we weren’t mentioning that.”

  Kenny shrugged. “Everything is shit right now. I’ve got to remember the good stuff.”

  “Good is boring. Try epic.”

  Leave it to Asher to be able to make Kenny laugh at a time like this. “Okay. Epic. Whoever gets your next kiss, they’ll never top that.”

  Asher’s smile dropped slightly, and he turned quickly, following Danny out the door.

  Kenny laid his head against the back of the couch and closed his eyes, wishing he could be the guy who got Asher Brooks’ next kiss.

  They had so much history, a lot of it bad, he didn’t see how Asher could ever feel anything for him.

  Will’s door opened, and he stumbled out into the common room, rubbing his face. “Did I hear yelling this morning?”

  Kenny eyed his shirtless roommate, almost laughing at how disheveled he looked. “Yeah. My dad showed up and found me asleep with Asher Brooks.”

  Will froze.

  Kenny didn’t say the word bi but Will could put it together. They all knew of the pictures of him with Nicky.

  He groaned. “I must need coffee because I think you just told me the president’s son spent the night in our dorm.” He collapsed into a chair.

  “I did.”

  “Oh, well, okay, man. Asher is hot, so go you.”

  “Uh…”

  “Don’t get your panties in a bunch. I’m totally straight and not after your man, but can’t a heterosexual male call a spade a spade?”

  “Please don’t call him hot again.”

  Will threw a pillow at him. “Why not? Afraid of some competition?”

  “You don’t care that I like a dude?”

  A raised eyebrow was Will’s only expression. “Why would I? What I do care about is that we’re teammates, and I have never once seen you checking me out in the shower.”

  “You’re disgusting. Gay guys or bi guys or whatever-they-want-to-be guys don’t go ogling every man we see.”

  “Yeah, but I’m a prime cut of beef. A little attention would be nice.”

  Kenny threw the pillow back, laughing in satisfaction when it struck him in the face. He hadn’t realized how worried he was to tell his teammates. They all speculated, but now they’d know.

  And Will didn’t care. It was a start.

  Getting to his feet, Kenny shook his head. “I’m going to shower.”

  “Pizza with the guys at noon?”

  He rarely got together with the team anymore, but it had been tradition in previous years when he took his leadership role seriously. “Yeah, man. That sounds great.”

  As Kenny waited for Will to get ready, he turned on his phone for the first time since the night before.

  Nicky and Becks had both texted, but he knew they’d only be checking to see how he was.

  Asher’s name popped up next.

  Asher: Last night at the concert was actually fun.

  Kenny smiled.

  Kenny: Don’t tell Nicky.

  Asher: Absolutely not.

  His smile fell when he noticed three missed calls from Kyle. It wasn’t a surprise. Kyle had a few NHL players as clients, but in terms of draft prospects, Kenny was the most high profile.

  With a sigh, he tapped Kyle’s name and brought the phone to his ear.

  Kyle answered immediately. “Kenny, thank God. I’ve been trying to reach you all night.”

  “I know.”

  “Look, son—”

  “I’m not your son, Kyle. For better or worse, only one man can claim me as his son—my mom’s husband.”

  Kyle was silent for a moment. “Ken, you and I have been together for a while. I’ve brought scouts that have helped raise your draft profile.”

  “No, my play has raised my draft profile. But you… I will admit you’ve always been good to me.”

  “I have.”

  Kenny rubbed his face. “That’s what makes this all suck so much. Kyle, even when my parents didn’t care, you and I were a team. But you’ve destroyed my family.”

  “What family, Ken? Your mother was not happy in that farce.”

  “Then she should have divorced him. I don’t care whatever excuses you and Mom give me, nothing makes this okay. I had to look into my dad’s eyes today and know everything he’d worked toward was falling down around him. We may not agree on much, but he’s my dad.”

  “And she’s your mother.”

  “Then maybe she should try acting like it instead of sleeping with the one man I thought I had on my side.” Kenny breathed deeply as he tried to control his temper. “Look, Kyle, I’ve come to realize I don’t have room for toxic people in my life. I’m trying the honest thing here. You’re fired.”

  “You can’t fire me.”

  “Actually, I can. I’m sorry it came to this.” He hung up without a goodbye just as Will came out of his room.

  “You hear that?” Kenny stood.

  “Yeah, sorry, man. Families suck.”

  He thought of Asher’s parents and the sometimes embarrassing amount of support they gave him. “Sometimes, they do.” There’d been a time the Brooks supported him too. He wanted that back.

  He wanted it all. Asher. His family. Suddenly, the spotlight didn’t matter so much.

  “I think I might be in love with Asher Brooks.” He hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but the revelation hit him stronger than anything. Maybe he always had been, and that was why he’d pushed him away when Asher came out as gay.

  Because it became possible.

  And that was terrifying.

  No matter what Kenny said, he didn’t want Asher’s next kiss to be with someone else. Yet, he also couldn’t tell him, and he knew exactly why.

  There was no way Asher felt the same way. Not after everything they’d been through.

  Will clapped him on the back. “I’ve gotta say, man, you aim high. I like it.”

  Kenny shrugged him off and walked into the hall. Will followed. “You going to ask him to winter formal? That would be quite the scene.”

  “No.” Kenny laughed. “There is no way I can bring the president’s son to a high school dance. Besides, he wouldn’t say yes.”

  “Where is the Kenny confidence? Weren’t you the one who went naked into the dunk tank? We all know you
’ve got man bits of steel.”

  “Don’t say man bits. That’s gross.”

  “Fine, I’ll quit. But I know you’ll miss me next year when you’re off in Boston, and I’m stuck here another year.”

  He would. Kenny had never imagined he’d miss Will Dalton.

  Since they weren’t allowed to leave campus without permission, pizza with the team meant eating in the dining hall.

  Students packed the tables, and Will led Kenny to where the team sat huddled over plates piled high with pizza. After saying hi, they went into the line for food and returned. Kenny slid in next to Killian.

  Killian leaned in. “Heard you weren’t on campus last night.”

  Kenny shrugged. He trusted Killer, but could get in a lot of trouble. Though, he doubted his secret was really a secret since Asher’s bodyguards had accompanied them to campus.

  Will pounded on the table for the team to quiet down. Voices faded. “Our own Kenny Montgomery has something he needs to talk about.”

  Kenny froze. He hadn’t planned on telling the team like this, but news traveled fast, and they’d find out some way.

  Will met his gaze. “These guys here are your brothers whether you’ve acted like one of us this year or not. We want our Kenny back, and that starts with honesty and ends with us being here for you.”

  Kenny sucked in a breath. Will was right. Before this year, the team had been his family. He didn’t want to hide anything from them.

  “I’m…” He cleared his throat. “I’m bisexual.”

  They looked at him dumbfounded.

  Kenny sighed. “I like girls, but I like guys too, maybe more.”

  Will gave him a strange look. “Uh, Ken, I meant we were here to talk about your parents if you wanted us to. Totally wasn’t outing you, bro.”

  “Oh.” Well, Kenny felt like an idiot now.

  Travis, a sophomore winger, laughed. “And, what, you think we didn’t know?”

  A few others nodded their heads. Some just shrugged like the news didn’t matter to them.

  Will grinned. “See, Ken. We’re brothers. Can’t believe you’d think that would matter to us.”

  What surprised him the most were Killian’s words beside him. “I’m gay.” He shrugged as if that term was as normal as any other, like he’d just said, “I like pizza” or “I’m a goalie.”

  Maybe, they were normal.

  Or, maybe, they could be.

  This was the support he’d been hoping to find in his parents. They hadn’t been capable of it. How was it a team of teenage athletes who enjoyed pounding people into the boards had more compassion, more acceptance than two grown adults who were supposed to love their son?

  Killian, the ever stoic—and gay—goalie nudged his shoulder. “How does it feel?”

  “Really freaking weird. I spent a lot of time hiding it.”

  “Dude, if you wanted to hide your sexuality, maybe, you shouldn’t have kissed Beckett Anderson’s boyfriend and ended up in the media for it? Just a thought.”

  “Yeah.” Will laughed. “You’d make a terrible spy.”

  Kenny picked a piece of pepperoni off his pizza and flung it across the table. It hit Will’s cheek. “I’d be an awesome spy.”

  “No.” A new voice joined them as Wylder plopped herself down on the opposite side of Kenny. “You’d be awful.” She paid no mind to the rest of the team as she studied him. “I heard the cat is out of the bag with a certain burnt ember.”

  “Burnt ember?”

  “Oh, don’t pretend not to know who I’m talking about. He talked to Nicky, and Nicky talked to Becks, and Becks talked to me.”

  “All in like two hours?”

  “You underestimate our meddling power.”

  So much for not telling Nicky they’d had a good time together. He couldn’t hold in a laugh. “You’re all ridiculous.”

  “Thank you.” She smiled as if it was a great compliment. Wylder was so much like her brother, just maybe a broody version of the country star.

  “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Fine. Then let’s talk about Winter Formal.”

  “I wasn’t planning to go.”

  She huffed. “And why wouldn’t you ask our ember friend?”

  He leaned in and lowered his voice. “You can say Ash. No one will connect the dots.”

  “That’s not as much fun.”

  He shook his head. “He wouldn’t say yes. This whole… being honest thing is kinda a big deal for me. I need to take it all slowly. And taking a guy to the dance is not slow.”

  She pursed her lips. “Fine. Then you’re taking me.”

  He lifted a brow. “You don’t have a date already?” His eyes scanned the table of his teammates, and more than a few of them were watching Wylder. If she stopped her anti-academy-friend movement, she could have her pick of guys.

  “The guys at this school are boring.” She grabbed his arm. “Save me. Please. We can spend our time mocking our classmates’ penchant for spending too much money on an outfit for a dance they won’t even care about a few weeks later.”

  He liked the sound of that. Hanging with Wylder was fun, and that wasn’t something he’d ever thought before.

  “Okay, it’s a date.”

  She clapped her hands together. “Perfect.” Leaning around him, she lifted her voice. “Killian, you’re coming with us. You are not sitting in your room during this dance.”

  The look on his face told them that was exactly what he’d planned.

  “What about me?” Will pouted.

  Wylder barely looked at him as she stood. “No.”

  She walked away, leaving the table rolling in laughter.

  Kenny couldn’t remember the last time he just sat with his team and joked and had a good time. He’d been so stuck in his own problems he’d forgotten how much he needed them. After a while, once his stomach hurt from all the food, Kenny wandered back to his dorm alone.

  Practice wasn’t for a few hours so he planned to sleep off the food baby and try to forget about his dad and his feelings for Asher.

  That didn’t work so well when the boy in question messaged him.

  Asher: Heard you’re going to the formal with Wylder.

  Kenny:... news travels fast?

  He could imagine what Asher was thinking. There goes Kenny, trying to be straight again, only choosing one side of his sexuality. The truth was, yes, Kenny liked girls. They were nice smelling and soft. But he wasn’t nearly as drawn to them as he was to boys like Nicky or Asher.

  Sure, he could pass as straight. He’d been doing it long enough. But he didn’t want to.

  Asher: She’s Nicky’s best friend. You know they talk more than any two sane people ever do, right?

  Kenny: Doesn’t explain how you know.

  Asher: I hope you have a good time with her.

  Kenny: I’m not into Wylder.

  Asher: Didn’t think you were.

  Kenny: Okay…

  Asher: I just wanted to tell you to have fun.

  The dance wasn’t for another week. Kenny unlocked his dorm and walked into his room, throwing his keys on the desk but keeping his eyes on the phone. Was he hoping for another message? One that explained whatever Asher was trying to say. Have fun? What did that even mean?

  Kenny: Ash…

  Before he could send the last message, a new one from Asher popped up.

  Asher: Don’t overthink everything.

  He still knew him too well. He knew Kenny would sit staring at his phone long after the conversation was over.

  But he didn’t know how much Kenny wanted to prolong it, how talking to Asher felt right. Listening to Ash, he stopped thinking altogether and pressed his thumb down on Asher’s name. Immediately, it started ringing, and he wanted to hang up.

  His nerve slipped, but before he could end the call, Asher answered.

  “Kenny.” There was laughter in his voice, but Kenny didn’t know why.

  “Hey.” His brain short-c
ircuited. “What do you need?”

  Asher laughed. “You called me.”

  “Right. Yeah.”

  “Is Kenny Montgomery flustered? That’s normally my job.”

  A call beeped in, but as soon as Kenny saw Kyle’s name, he ignored it. “My mom still hasn’t called. Kyle won’t stop. You saw my dad come by. But nothing from her. No apologies or explanations. She blew everything up, and it’s like she doesn’t care.”

  “I’m sorry.” He was quiet for a moment. “Are you…okay?”

  “Yeah.” He realized he was. “My parents’ problems have never been mine. I came out to my team today.”

  “Ken, that’s amazing. I’m so proud of you.”

  Kenny’s face glowed with the praise.

  “How did it go?”

  “Better than I ever expected. None of them seemed to even really care. They didn’t make it a big deal.”

  Asher hummed his approval. “No one should care. Being gay or bi or trans or anything you are isn’t brave, Ken. It’s who we are. Saying it’s brave is like claiming we have a choice to be anything else. Coming out shouldn’t be any bigger of a moment than a straight dude saying he has a girlfriend. I’m sorry it was for you.”

  “You should be an inspirational speaker.”

  “Ha.” He could practically hear Asher’s grin through the phone. “I’m way too awkward for people to listen to me.”

  “You’re not awkward, you’re adorable.” His cheeks flamed. Had he really just said that? “I mean—”

  “No take backs. You said it, and now it’s forever stuck in my brain.”

  “Okay, I’m going to hang up now before I make an even bigger fool of myself.” He ended the call and sank onto the corner of his bed.

  You’re adorable?

  How much more of a weirdo could he be?

  18

  Asher