Ten years ago, my college roommate was my everything. I just didn’t understand why—or maybe I was just too immature to call it what it was. Since then, I’ve drifted through life, playing hockey for teams no one expects anything from. I show up, collect my paycheck, and don’t let myself want anything more. Then Sebastian and I end up in the same Las Vegas nightclub, and every lie I’ve told myself shatters on impact. One desperate night turns into months of secret hookups we know are dangerous—quiet, stolen moments where we fall back into each other and remember exactly what we were. What we could be again. In public, we’re just friends. Old roommates catching up. In private, we’re building something that feels real and lasting. But Sebastian lives in a world where image is currency, and his political enemies would weaponize the truth, turning our relationship into a scandal that could cost him everything. I could survive the headlines, the whispers. What I couldn’t survive is losing him again. So even though I want to shout from the rooftops what Sebastian means to me, I choose the lie. The closet. This time, at least, I understand exactly why I'm staying quiet—to protect the man I’ve loved since I was twenty.