“Ready?” I asked as we paused in front of the locker room doors.
Matt nodded. “Ready.”
“You forget how to work a door?” Hayes hurried toward us. “Get your asses inside. I’m not getting on Coop’s bad side because you fuckers can’t figure out how to get in the room.”
“You don’t need us to get on Coop’s bad side.” Jax gave him a pointed look and pushed the door open.
He flashed us a grin and shoved past Jax to get into the locker room first.
We’d timed our arrival so we got there as everyone was supposed to be dressed and ready for practice.
Cooper had offered to tell the team for us, but we’d decided it would be best if it came from us. Cooper didn’t need to be caught in the crosshairs if people had issues.
“Look who’s late,” Big D shouted from his locker.
“Did you oversleep again?” Adams asked, a big grin on his face. “Poor baby. Did you have a rough night?”
“Ask your dad.”
The locker room went deathly silent.
Shit. Probably should have held that one in, considering what we were about to do.
“Burn!” Hayes hooted. About half the team started laughing.
Adams shot me a grin and came over for a fist bump. “Good one.”
I could hear a few groans mixed in with the laughter, but only one “disgusting.” Didn’t need to be a mind reader to guess who’d said that.
“Okay, children.” Cooper waited for the laughter to die down. “Landry and Crawford have something to tell you. Then you fuckers are going to get your asses out there and practice hard. We’ve got a game against Rainier in two days.”
The team made sounds of agreement, but all eyes were on us.
“So.” I glanced around. “Um.”
We’d decided that being direct and telling them we were dating would be the best course of action. But the words didn’t come.
Matt slipped his hand into mine, and we both braced for… something.
“We have something to announce.” I cleared my throat.
“Fuck, yeah!”
We both jumped at Petey’s excited shout.
“You owe me twenty bucks,” he said gleefully and pointed at Hayes.
“Double or nothing,” Hayes shot back.
“What?” Matt blinked. “You bet on us?”
“Yup.” Petey grinned. “I said you’d tell us you’re dating when the season started. He said you’d wait until closer to the playoffs. I win.”
I glanced at Matt, whose jaw was hanging open.
Taking a chance, I looked around the locker room. A few of the guys were amused, a couple looked bored, a few seemed confused, but there was only one sour face among the crowd.
“No fucking way.” Chase stepped forward. “Unacceptable.”
“Shut it down, Balzac.” Coop’s tone was exasperated. “There are no rules against teammates being in a relationship.”
“You mean fraternizing,” Chase sneered.
“Who the fuck says fraternizing anymore?” Adams looked between Cooper and Chase.
“No one. Just let it go,” Cooper said wearily.
“No.” Chase shook his head. “I’m not letting this go. This is exactly what I said would happen!”
“Chase.” Cooper gave him a pointed look. “Stop. Last warning.”
“No one’s going to talk about how Landry was straight until Crawford got to him?” he burst out.
“I obviously wasn’t straight,” Matt’s face was the picture of innocence. “But you never know until you have a dick in your mouth.”
“Landry,” Cooper groaned and dropped his face into his hands.
I rolled my lips inward to cover up my grin.
“You sick fuck.” Chase took a step toward us, his eyes flashing with rage.
“Enough!” Cooper moved between us and glared at Chase. “Get your ass into Coach’s office, now.”
“Why? Because we can’t risk hurting the little queers’ feelings with the truth?”
“Just stop.” Big D stood up to his full height and crossed his arms. “We’ve listened to your passive-aggressive bullshit for years, and I’m done with it. They’re together, end of story.” He looked around the room. “Anyone else got a problem with that?”
A low murmur of voices rose and fell in the room, but no one raised their hand or made any indication that they had concerns.
“There. Problem solved.” Big D snapped his fist into his glove. “Can we play ball now? I’m bored.”
Chase blinked, his mouth opening and closing like a fish.
“You, in Coach’s office.” Cooper pointed at Chase. “You.” He whirled around and pointed at us. “Hurry your asses up and get changed. The rest of you, get out on the field and start your laps. Five extra.”
The team made various noises of unhappiness as they dutifully filed out of the locker room.
“Five minutes or you can add another five laps to your warm-up,” Cooper said.
“Yes, Captain.” Matt snapped out a sloppy salute, and Cooper rolled his eyes.
“Be captain, they said. It’ll be fun, they said,” he muttered and turned toward the door. “Like babysitting a bunch of overgrown toddlers.”
“Don’t forget herding cats!” I called after him.
He flipped me the finger over his shoulder and shoved the locker room door open.
“Well,” Matt said when the door had banged shut. “That went a lot differently in my head.”
“Me too. I mean, I knew Chase would have an issue… but I honestly thought at least some of the other guys would too.”
“Maybe some do.” Matt dropped his bag and rolled his shoulders like he was working out some tension. “But they can hate us all they want as long as they do it quietly.”
“I can’t believe Adams and Big D called Chase out like that.”
“Why not?” He gave me a confused look. “They’ve done it before.”
“I guess… I just didn’t expect it now. Not after telling them about us.”
Matt stepped into my space and wrapped his arms around my waist. “I know you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop. That your brain is telling you this can’t be real. That it can’t be this easy.”
I held him close. “I’ve spent so many hours agonizing over this. I almost lost you because I was convinced we wouldn’t be accepted. That I wouldn’t be accepted.”
“You never almost lost me.” He grinned cheekily. “You’re stuck with me. Remember that whole ‘I love you and I’ll wait for you’ thing? Does that sound like a guy who would be willing to let you go?”
“No.” I smiled despite myself.
“It’s not going to be easy. I know that. And I’m not trying to make light of your fears or experiences,” he said, his tone and eyes serious. “But our team supports us, and our friends do too. That’s what we need to focus on. We might never have the freedom to be this open again, and I’m okay with that. But this year, with these guys, it’s going to be okay.”
“I love you.”
“Love you too.” Matt looked around, a wicked grin on his lips.
“What? I know that face.”
“I had a dream the other night.” He ran his teeth over his bottom lip. “We were the only ones left after practice. You slammed me against the wall and kissed me so hard it made my head spin.”
“Then what did I do?” I tightened my grip around his waist.
“You leaned back against the wall and moaned my name while I went down on you.”
“Fuck.” I choked out a laugh. My dick throbbed, already full and heavy between my legs. “You had to say that shit now when we can’t do anything about it?”
He grinned cheekily and stepped back. “Sorry not sorry.”
I looked down at his bulge. “How are we supposed to practice like this?”
“Just think about Chase. That’ll fix it.” He winked and scooped up his duffle.
“Or.” I knocked the bag out of his hand, grabbed his waist, and shoved him backward.
“Oh shit!” he gasped as his back hit the wall.
I kissed him hard and hot, crushing him to the wall with my body. He moaned under my lips and reached up to take off our ball caps, which had ended up askew on our heads.
“Busted!”
We jumped apart, and I whirled around.
Petey stood in the doorway, a big grin on his face. “I’m telling Cooper you two were getting it on instead of getting dressed.”
“Please don’t.” I put my hands together in a begging motion. “We’ll make it worth your while.”
“I’m listening.” He crossed his arms.
“Landry will float you a pitcher and a pizza next time we’re at Red’s.”
He squinted at us like he was thinking hard. “Make it an extra large, and we have a deal.”
“Large, but you can get premium toppings,” Matt countered.
“How many?”
“Five.” I picked a random number.
“Deal.” He put his hand on the door. “But for real, you’d better hurry. Coach is in a mood, and Cooper’s channeling some major drill sergeant energy.”
“Thanks.” I grabbed my bag from where I’d left it in the middle of the floor.
“No problem, Max.”
“Um, neither of us is named Max.” Matt shot me a confused look.
“No, but you’re Jax and Matt. You can either be Max or Jatt.”
“How about neither.” I grimaced.
“You get one or the other. Or you keep being the dream team. It’s already been decided.”
“Max is better,” Matt said quickly.
He wiggled his fingers at us in a wave. “See you out there, Max.”
“We’d better hurry before they come up with any other weird nicknames,” I said.
“Or have to do extra laps.” Matt hurried over to his locker. “But I want your dick in my mouth as soon as practice is over.”
“Not. Helping.” I shoved my sweatpants down and waved at my semi.
He winked. “Have fun squishing that into your cup.”
“You’re evil,” I grumbled.
“You love it.”
“I do.”
His look went from teasing to tender. “Love you too. But we really need to get out there.”
I turned my back to him so I could get my practice gear on.
The team knew, and the world hadn’t imploded. I wasn’t under any delusions that this was the new normal. That my sexuality or relationship would always be accepted and that it wouldn’t cause issues for us in the future. But right then, I had everything I’d ever wanted.
I was starting my final year of college ball with my best friend, who was also my boyfriend, at my side. Maybe I’d get to play pro ball; maybe I wouldn’t. A few months ago, the start of the season had signaled the beginning of the end. That the only way to have one dream was to give up another.
Now I knew that wasn’t true and that while one chapter of our lives was coming to an end, the next phase was right there on the horizon. And having Matt by my side as we figured out this crazy ride called life was all I needed. Everything else was just background noise.
