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It says "Happy Coming Out!" and there are rainbows and footballs all over the room.
It's a coming out party. For us.
“It looks like a unicorn threw up at a Super Bowl party,” Bryant grouses, rolling his eyes as he accepts a handshake from Luke before Troy wraps him in a tight hug. He pats his back, frowning and trying to wipe the body oil off on Troy's jeans.
"Don't go getting handsy there, Daddy. I know you're all out and proud now, but I'm taken." Troy winks at me and Luke, who chuckles and shakes his head at his boyfriend's antics.
"Is this… glitter?" Bryant looks down at his shirt and hands in appalled disgust. "What the fuck, Troy?"
"What the fuck, indeed! You wiped half of it off. Now you're gonna have to come to the back with me and grease me up all over again," Troy says, in a mock offended tone, leading Bryant to what used to be his usual table. There's a gaudy rainbow centerpiece on the table with a sign that says, "Hip Hip Hooray! You're Really Fucking Gay!"
Bryant gestures to the display as if to ask, "What the fuck is this shit?"
"You like it?" Troy asks with a grin. "Made it myself, just for you."
I chuckle and accept the beer that Luke hands me. "It's gonna be fun having you both around more often," I tell him, holding the bottle up to clink against his. Luke smiles tightly and raises his drink.
"What's on your mind, Luke?"
"What? Nothing."
My eyebrow quirks up and I give Luke a serious look. "Dude. You're tense as fuck. Something's going on. Spill it."
Luke's eyes roll to the ceiling before he blows out a breath of air. His shoulders drop a little. "I'm really proud of what you did today. You know that, right?"
"Yeah man, I know. And I also know I should have given you more heads up, but it was all kinda thrown at us and I was thinking on the fly."
"You made the right call. Really. I'm just worried about how it's going to affect the firm. It's selfish of me, but?—"
"But you're moving halfway across the country to work for Bryant full time and you're worried that all of this bullshit is going to tank the business?"
"Well…Yeah, that pretty much covers it."
I grip his shoulder and pull him closer to my side in a half hug. "It's gonna be alright, man. One way or another, it'll all work out. We've come this far, and the firm has been really successful, even more so since you started working with him behind the scenes. If anyone can turn this around, it's Bryant's new VP of marketing."
"And if I can't?"
"You can. And you will. You're the smartest guy I know."
He gives me a thankful smile. "I'm sure it'll all be fine eventually, but it's going to take some time for the media frenzy to die out. There’s a good chance that all this attention is going to work against us. The NFL isn't exactly known for being the most open-minded organization. There's too much testosterone and not enough brains—" Luke pauses and flits his eyes up to mine. "No offense."
"None taken," I say with a laugh.
I know he's right, and it's not that I'm not worried, too. Bryant and I haven't hidden our relationship, but we haven’t exactly flaunted it either. Until today, when I came out on national television during an impromptu press conference on the steps of the county courthouse.
We were in town to testify against Aniyah, who is being sued by Groveton College for breach of contract. Predictably, she’s been a thorn in our sides for the past year, always trying to get in touch or cause drama somehow. I just want to play football and go home to my man, and the only thing I want to see printed next to my name is how many touchdowns I run into the end-zone.
Instead, we got caught up in the media circus that landed at our front door when she announced to the world that she was pregnant with my baby. It was laughable until it became obvious that the media was taking her side, and I became a target for negative attention. Eventually, her lies got out, seeing as she was never pregnant—and certainly not with my baby. Rather than sinking back into the hell pit she rose out of, Aniyah basked in any attention she could get, good or bad, until the negativity became too much to handle. To try to save face, she ended up violating the NDA she signed with Groveton College and told her version of my relationship with Bryant to the press.
We thought that the media might ignore her claims, considering her other lies had been exposed, and she was clearly digging for whatever attention she could bring herself. But since we're not hiding that we live together and are seen together in public often, it wasn't too hard for them to put the pieces together, proving that at least part of Aniyah's story was truthful. After that, the dean went after her for breach of contract, further cementing that something did happen my last year in school when Bryant was the football coach. Add to that his abrupt departure after the championship game, and all the other little clues were easy to piece together.
I decided, and Bryant agreed, that we should just get ahead of it. Aniyah can't use our relationship against us, trying to portray it like it's some sordid case of molestation, if we just tell the truth. We're two adults in love. We make each other happy, and we don't bother anyone.
So that's what I did, only giving Luke about a thirty-second heads’ up before I walked down the steps of the courthouse holding Bryant's hand.
Everything's happened so fast, we haven't had time to think too much about the repercussions or pay attention to what the media is saying about us right now. It doesn't matter. We're living our truth, and we're happy. Fuck everyone else.
My phone vibrates in my back pocket, breaking me out of my thoughts before I can start worrying, too. I check the screen to see who's calling, and swipe to answer.
