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So maybe Harris loses his filter when he drinks.
In his defense, he rarely drank anything stronger than Drover Cider, so he was maybe kind of a lightweight on the rare occasion he drank cocktails with real liquor. But, when in New York, right?
And, sure, the Kingfisher had some great mocktails. But they were coming off the high of an Ottawa win on the Admirals' ice, and everyone was in such a good mood, and even Scott Hunter had been enthusiastic about everyone going to his bar afterwards, so why shouldn't Harris get in the celebratory spirit?
It was late, and everyone was a few too many drinks in. They had reached the point in the night where the raucousness was winding down and people started to get wistful.
"One year, when I was like, six or seven, we spend the summer at my Uncle Scott's farm, in Pennsylvania," Kyle was saying. He leaned dreamily against Eric's shoulder. "My cousins and I ran around barefoot for like a month straight. It was a good summer."
Something at the table shifted. The New York crowd stared at Kyle, evidently surprised by this revelation. Kyle seemed to realize they were all looking at him, and covered his mouth.
"Uncle Scott?" said Harris, looking over at Scott. "That's kind of a crazy coincidence!"
"I mean, Scott's a common name," said Scott. He picked at the label on his beer bottle. "It's not like there's any relation, or anything. Definitely not important."
"I know how names work, Scott, thank you very much. But that's so cool that your uncle runs a farm. You know, my family runs an apple farm—"
"—we know," said several people at once.
"—and I just love hearing about other people's farms. What kind of farm is it?"
Kyle bit his lip uncomfortably, hesitating. "Like, a tree farm, or something, I guess," he said. "It doesn't matter. He moved to Tennessee like, twenty years ago, so they don't have the farm anymore. And I haven't talked to him in like a decade."
"What kind of trees?" asked Harris, and then realized Kip was glaring at him.
"Harris. Stop talking," Kip hissed.
"What?"
"I'll tell you later," Kip said, and patted his shoulder. "Just drop it for now, please?"
Ilya seized the lull in the conversation. "The Drovers have a new litter of puppies," he said. "Look, I have pictures of when Anya went to meet them."
He passed his phone around, making sure everyone got a chance to see his pictures. Harris wasn't sure what exactly he had said wrong, but at least the conversation was back in comfortable territory.
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When Shane and Ilya made excuses to get back to their hotel room early, and Kyle had started to doze on Eric's shoulder and Eric woke him to say their goodbyes, Troy was still nursing one last drink. Troy had scored twice during the game and was in such a pleasant mood that Harris didn't want to call it a night even one second earlier than he had to.
Especially when he had a chance to talk shop with the @kipgradyhunter, who was maybe the most well known WAG in the league who wasn't famous beforehand, who had his own sponsors, and had a truly immaculate social media strategy. Harris had found his profile back when he was @k_grady91, about twenty minutes after The Big Gay Kiss Heard 'Round The Hockey World. And Harris had been there when his Instagram handle had updated in between their wedding ceremony and their reception. (By "there," he meant, actively on Instagram.)
So, yes, Harris was a fan of Kip Grady. Sure, he was a fan of Scott Hunter, too, but how could he not be a massive fan of the first gay WAG in the league?
Scott, obviously more than a little tipsy, was animatedly describing hockey plays. Troy nodded, watching intensely. And gosh, Troy was so beautiful. When they finished here, they would go back to their hotel and—
"Hey, listen," said Kip, gently. "About earlier."
Maybe Harris had stopped paying attention, because he didn't have a clue what Kip was talking about.
"With Kyle?" Kip continued.
Oh. That.
"Look, I know you didn't know this, but Kyle's estranged from his family. He really doesn't talk about them, ever. Honestly, we're all shocked any time he mentions them. But it's kind of an unspoken rule that whenever he does mention his family, we don't pry. He'll tell us what he wants to tell us."
"I see," said Harris, nodding gravely. "I'm sorry. I had no idea. Should I apologize?"
"Nah, don't bring it up. Seriously, it's a real sensitive subject. But he knows you didn't mean anything by it."
Harris nodded again. "Cool. Thanks for telling me. I like Kyle a lot. I would never want to say anything to make him uncomfortable. Hey, do you think he would be open to some ideas I have for the Kingfisher's social media campaign?"
"From you? Yeah, I think he would be. You're like, an expert, right? You should send him a DM on Instagram. He's on there all the time. I'd give you his number but he's terrible about responding to texts."
"Cool. Thanks!"
Harris pulled out his phone to navigate to Instagram. He was following Kyle already, of course; he followed any out queer professional hockey players, current and retired, and he followed all their partners. But something caught his eye.
@thekyleswift
Manager @KingfisherNYC
💘 @ericbenny1 04.27.2020 💘
Kyle Swift. He had known Kyle's last name already. Kyle Swift. That was important, for some reason. Why did it matter that Kyle's last name was Swift?
Troy's hand was on his arm. It was late. It was time to go back to the hotel and get a few hours' sleep before their red-eye flight.
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It came to him the second he opened his eyes. "Oh my god! Kyle Swift," he said, aloud.
"What the hell?"
He was still in bed. Troy stood in the bathroom a few feet away, his mouth full of toothpaste.
"Oh, sorry, babe," he said, sheepishly. It was way too early in the morning to subject Troy to the thought that just came into his brain, especially when it wasn't really fleshed out. "I'll explain later."
They dressed and packed in a hurry so the team would get to their flight on time. But something came up, and the flight was delayed. So he had a little time to kill. He sat on the floor against a wall by an outlet, pulled out his laptop, and got to work.
"I thought you said you had all your posts planned for the next three weeks?" said Troy, sitting next to him.
Harris turned the laptop screen protectively away from Troy. "I'm working on something else," he said. "You can't see it until it's done!"
He opened PowerPoint in one window, and Google Images in another, then cracked his knuckles and got to work.
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On the plane, Harris showed Troy the slideshow. "You're never gonna believe what I figured out," he said.
FACTS ABOUT KYLE SWIFT
- He was born in 1994
- Blonde hair, blue eyes, wears glasses
- He grew up in Vermont
- He is estranged from his family
- He has an uncle named Scott, and "cousins" (at least two? Scott's children?)
FACTS ABOUT UNCLE SCOTT (SWIFT?)
- He owned a "tree farm" in Pennsylvania
- He sold his farm and moved to Tennessee ~20 years ago (around 2006? Give or take a few years)
- Kyle visited the farm when he was 6-7 years old (somewhere around 2000-2001?)
FACTS ABOUT TAYLOR SWIFT
- She was born in 1989 to Andrea and Scott Swift
- Blonde hair, blue eyes, famously got Lasik (so no longer needs glasses)
- She was raised on a Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania
- The Swift family moved to Nashville in 2003
LIKE I LOST MY TWIN
[Pictured: a close-up selfie from Kyle's Instagram]
[Pictured: a young Taylor Swift with curly hair and light makeup]
"This was before she got plastic surgery," said Harris.
Troy squinted at the pictures. "I guess they look a little bit alike," he said. "But I don't think this is, like, proof of anything."
"Well, look at this," said Harris, clicking over to the next slide.
IN MY IDGAF ERA
[Pictured: Kip Grady and Maria Villanueva at The Eras Tour in 2023]
- Kip went to The Eras Tour with Maria (Kyle's roommate!)
- Notably, Kyle did NOT attend
- If two of his closest friends got tickets, Kyle absolutely could have gone, which means he chose not to go.
"Harris, you don't think this is a little bit… invasive?" asked Troy.
"You know, if this was anyone except Taylor Swift, I would agree with you," said Harris.
"And you think the fact that he didn't go to her tour is proof that she's his estranged cousin?"
"It's proof that he doesn't like her," Harris insisted. "Which, admittedly, is circumstantial. It could mean nothing!"
"It could also mean that he was busy that night and couldn't go."
"Well, one time I sat with him at a game in New York, and 'Shake it Off' came on the radio, and he said he 'doesn't like that song,'" said Harris. "Everyone likes that song. It's pop perfection. Why else would you dislike 'Shake it Off' unless you have personal family beef with your cousin Taylor Swift?"
"No," said Luca, from the row behind. "I love Taylor Swift, and I don't like that song. It's overplayed. Super overrated."
"You love Taylor Swift," said Troy, incredulous. "Am I the only one here who doesn't care about random pop stars or their personal lives?"
"She's not a random pop star—" said Luca.
"—and it's really more about our friend's personal life." said Harris. "This is about Kyle, not about Taylor.
"You don't think maybe we should respect Kyle's privacy here?" asked Troy.
But Shane and Ilya were sitting up from the row in front, and pulling out their headphones. "Who's Taylor?" asked Shane.
"Taylor Swift!" said Luca.
"Oh, she's really nice," said Shane. "Rose introduced me to her at a party back in like, 2019. She said she thought we'd have a lot in common. I don't really know why, though."
"Rose Landry introduced you to Taylor Swift at a party? And you didn't invite me? I thought we were friends!" Harris put his hand to his heart, genuinely wounded.
Shane rolled his eyes. "Harris, I didn't even know you in 2019."
"In 2019?" said Luca. "Rose Landry said you had a lot in common with Taylor Swift in 2019?"
"Yeah, I still don't know why." Shane shrugged, indifferent. "Rose knew I'm gay and that I was in a relationship, so I know she wasn't trying to set me up."
"We are close in age, and we are all professionals at the top of our field," said Ilya. "Well, I am, and Shane, and Taylor. I can't speak for the rest of you."
"And you said this was in 2019, yes?" Luca continued. "When you were closeted and in a secret relationship and you didn't have any real plans to come out until you thought your career was over?"
"Why do you know so much about the timeline of our relationship?" asked Ilya, at the same time as Shane asked, "What does this have to do with Taylor Swift?"
Luca was typing something in his phone notes. Harris peered over the back of his seat to see the note's title was "RPF Theories," but he couldn't make out anything else before Luca turned the screen away.
"It doesn't have anything to do with Taylor Swift," said Luca, turning red. "I don't know why Rose Landry would say that. Leave me alone."
Harris closed his laptop and turned back to Troy. "Look, Troy, all I'm asking is for you to acknowledge that is possible that we are friends with someone who is related to Taylor Swift."
"Okay, fine, yes, it's possible," said Troy.
"And that I'm a genius for having figured this out."
"Evil genius, maybe. I don't know how the hell you connected these dots."
"Do you think if I messaged Kip, he might know?"
"Oh my god, definitely do not message Kip about this!" said Troy, looking genuinely tense. "In fact, it would probably be better if no one ever knew we had this conversation."
Ilya stood. "Okay, everyone who was a part of the Kyle Taylor Swift conversation," he said, loudly enough to get everyone's attention. "You all are sworn to secrecy. Kyle can never know we had this discussion."
"Hey, Harris," said Bood, across the aisle. "You ever think maybe Taylor Swift is Kyle's cousin, and they actually get along, but he just doesn't like her music?"
"See, Bood, this is why you're my favorite."
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When they landed, and Harris had a stable internet connection again, he checked Instagram. He had a response from Kyle!
Hey Harris! Thank you so much for offering to help out. my cousin is a musician and she put me in touch with her social media manager, so I have someone running the Kingfisher page already. but thank you again! It was great chatting last night and I would love to catch up again the next time you're in town!
"His cousin is a musician," said Harris, smug. He showed the DM to Troy.
"That doesn't prove anything," said Troy, but he smiled.
"Fine, it's not concrete evidence. But I know I'm right."
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