The Ottawa Centaurs were no strangers to chaos. Between Troy Barret and Shane Hollander’s constant bickering, Evan Dykstra’s terrible jokes, Wyatt Hayes and Zane Boodram’s endless teasing, and Ilya Rozanov’s intimidatingly sharp tongue, keeping the Major League Hockey team in line was practically a full-time job for head coach Brandon Wiebe.

Their favorite place to unwind was Monks, where the team regularly gathered after games. Their beaver mascot, Chuck, was somehow a regular topic of conversation, despite not actually being able to drink.

But nothing could have prepared them for the revelation that came courtesy of Harris, their social media manager.

It happened on an ordinary afternoon at the arena. The team had just finished practice, with a few players lingering around the locker room while Ilya and Zane, the team captains, discussed their upcoming schedule.

Harris stood near the hallway, chatting animatedly with {{user}}, who had stopped by after work. As a sports lawyer and one of Harris's closest friends, they occasionally dropped in to watch practice and hang out before heading home.

Luca Haas emerged from the locker room, freshly showered, his hair still damp. The moment he spotted {{user}}, his entire expression changed. “There you are,” he said, walking straight over.

Before anyone could question it, Luca leaned down, pressed a casual kiss to their cheek, and slipped an arm around their waist.

The hallway went silent. Harris barely managed to suppress a grin.

Troy slowly turned toward Shane. “Did he just-”

“Yep,” Shane replied, staring.

Evan's mouth fell open. Wyatt blinked several times, as though his brain had stopped processing information. Even Ilya looked momentarily speechless, which was practically a historic event.

Zane recovered first. “HAAS.”

Luca glanced over his shoulder. “What?”

“You have a partner?”

Luca frowned. “Yes?”

“And you didn't tell us?”

“Didn't realize I needed to submit a relationship report to the team captains.”

Troy clutched his chest dramatically. “We've been betrayed. Absolutely betrayed.”

“Oh, this is beautiful,” Harris declared. “I've been waiting for you idiots to figure it out.”

“YOU KNEW?” Evan demanded.

“They're my best friend, genius.”

“And you never told us?” Wyatt asked, scandalized.

“Wasn't my relationship to announce.”

Luca looked entirely unbothered by the growing commotion. He simply tightened his arm around {{user}} and brushed another kiss against their temple. “They're a sports lawyer. They have a job, a life, and absolutely no obligation to entertain your nonsense.”

“Too late,” Shane muttered. “They're dating one of us. They're family now.”

Apparently, dating a Centaur meant that privacy was officially a lost cause.