Two Man Advantage Read online

  Two-Man Advantage

  Toni Aleo

  Copyright © 2017 by Toni Aleo

  This book, Two-Man Advantage, is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.

  Editing by Lisa A. Hollett, Silently Correcting Your Grammar.

  Proofread by Franci Neill.

  Cover by Jay Aheer.

  Picture by Wander Photography.

  Created with Vellum

  This book is for Aly Martinez.

  In a bar in Boston, she looked at me and told me I could do this.

  So I did.

  Contents

  Newsletter

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  Also by Toni Aleo

  About the Author

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  One

  Wells Lemiere wasn’t sure what he was doing.

  Standing in front of a fucking estate in Princeton, New Jersey, he could feel his stomach churn with nervousness as the brisk air burned his face. With his beanie and hoodie, he would have thought he would be fine, especially after growing up in Colorado and all. But nope, he was still freezing. He wasn’t sure what it was about New Jersey, but he didn’t like it much. Or maybe his dislike for the fine state had to do with so much more.

  Like Matty.

  Matty Haverbrooke.

  Looking up at the beautiful home, with the manicured lawn and perfectly trimmed hedges and the kind of windows that let all the light in, he knew Matty was somewhere inside. Probably sitting around the table with his family, eating and enjoying their company. The same family that didn’t know one of its sons was gay.

  And very much in love with Wells.

  Or so he hoped.

  Swallowing hard, Wells made himself move toward the house. He wasn’t sure if this was the smartest thing to do. But they had been together for so long, over a year, they were in love, and damn it, Wells wanted more. He wanted the Christmas with the parents, the vacations together where pictures could be taken, and fucking hell, a life together. With the whole world knowing. Yeah, his friends knew, and his sister, but his parents hadn’t met Matty—for the simple reason Wells didn’t think it was right for them to know him when Matty’s parents wouldn’t ever know Wells. Since Wells loved him, he’d gone with it, but he couldn’t anymore. He needed all of Matty. He deserved that.

  Taking the steps two at a time, he reached for the door knocker, seeing Matty’s family name gracing the front door.

  Haverbrooke.

  Such a wealthy-sounding and distinguished name. It was the name that belonged to the commissioner of the NHL. The name that belonged to one current and two formerly fantastic players in the NHL, that now had a wonderful business, and even a songwriter who lived in Florida. Everyone knew the Haverbrookes.

  And Wells was in love with one of them.

  Swallowing back the bile that wanted to escape, Wells knocked twice as his heart jumped up into his throat. He wasn’t sure who would answer, and if it was Matty’s parents, should he introduce himself as Matty’s boyfriend? Wouldn’t that freak Matty out more? It wasn’t Wells’s place to out his boyfriend, but then, if he didn’t, would Matty ever? Yes, yes, he would. He just needed a little push, that was all. Wells thought the fight they had at the beginning of the week when Matty left for New Jersey would have been the push, but in true Matty fashion, he’d shut down and hadn’t spoken to Wells. Wells figured that meant Matty hadn’t told his family, so there he was.

  Ready to fight for his forever.

  Thankfully, he didn’t have to worry about what to say because when the door opened, Matty looked down at him, his brows jumping up to his hairline. He was wearing an awfully ugly green sweater, yet he was still so gorgeous. Thick jaw, beautifully shaped nose—obviously he had never played without a cage on his hockey helmet—and his eyes, they were just soul-crushing. Such an interesting shade of green that looked almost turquoise. “Wells.”

  Shutting the door behind himself, Matty came out onto the stoop with Wells, his eyes wild as he shook his head. “What are you doing here?”

  Ever so charming, Wells gave him a wide smile. “I wanted to spend Thanksgiving with you. With your family.”

  Matty took Wells by his bicep, leading him down the stairs to the sidewalk. “You know that can’t happen.”

  “I think it can. Just tell them the truth. Tell them who you are,” Wells pleaded, taking in the side of Matty’s face that was taut and filled with worry. “I will be right beside you.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Yes, you can.” Wells moved Matty’s hand from his arm, turning to face the man he had fallen so desperately for. “Matty, I love you. I will be there for you, support you, and damn it, I love you, baby.”

  “Which is what I want, but I can’t tell my family. They just wouldn’t understand.”

  “It’s not like how it was, Matty. It’s different now. People are more receptive.”

  “Not my family.”

  “Yes, your family,” Wells persisted, nodding his head and taking Matty’s hands with his. But when Matty pulled away from him and paced farther down the sidewalk, Wells’s heart sank.

  “You don’t know them.”

  “Because you won’t let me,” Wells said as he turned his back to the house he despised in order to face Matty.

  “Because they wouldn’t accept you. They wouldn’t accept me. I’m already the villain in this house. Jesus, Wells, I can’t. I won’t subject you to that.”

  “They love you, you’ve told me that. They’ll support you, Matty.”

  “No, I was raised to love women, my mom wants grandbabies… I can’t come out to her, not yet.”

  “Matty, my best friends love you, my sister can’t wait to meet you. We can be together because it’s what we want. They’ll understand that. Maybe not at first, but in time.”

  He scoffed. “Wells, no one knows I’m gay. My sister suspects it, but I never admitted it. Even so, she hates me—”

  “She hates you for other reasons,” he interjected, and Matty shook his head violently.

  “Even so, if I tell my brothers, or even my parents, they’ll hate me too. I can’t risk that. My sister already hates me. I can’t have the rest of them hate me too.”

  Rolling his eyes, Wells threw his hands up. “You can fix that. If you’d go and apologize to her, it could be fixed. She’s your sister, your twin, she loves you.”

  “You don’t know that.”