
980 readers · 9 chapters · 3 free
Just hours after lifting the Crown Cup in Glitter Bay, Lakeshore Wildcats rookie Matteo Klein finds himself at the center of a media firestorm. RLZ releases candid shots of the 23-year-old Rising Star Trophy winner locked in a steamy embrace with Z Force star Damon Reed at the popular gay nightclub Nest—while his boyfriend, model Julian Vance, is conspicuously absent. The internet immediately brands Matteo a cheater, and gossip columns paint Julian as the jilted victim sobbing in the club's restroom. But the reality, as Julian later reveals to the panicked Wildcats group chat, is far from a scandal. The trio had planned the intimate celebration weeks in advance—a consensual, long-awaited night of connection after an exhausting playoff run. Yet as the hashtag #InMyTwenties trends across PicVault and VidStream, Matteo faces an impossible choice: issue a sanitized apology to appease the league, or risk his reputation by telling the messy, human truth. Guided by veteran captains Nikolai Petrov and Ethan Cross—who know firsthand the crushing weight of living under a spotlight—and buoyed by Julian's fierce loyalty, Matteo embarks on a very public, very awkward journey toward self-acceptance. He learns that being a role model doesn't mean erasing his desires, and that sometimes the bravest thing you can say is not "I'm sorry," but "I'm not sorry for living my life."