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So instead of spending some time with Cole like I’d hoped, I ended up talking to Michael. I wouldn’t put Adam in the middle of this, but Michael had offered his friendship when he joined Adam’s protection detail.
Me: Is your offer to talk still good? I don’t want to put you in the middle of anything.
Phantom: Absolutely. I can be impartial. How did it go?
Me: Started out good, ended badly.
Phantom: Fuck, man. I’m sorry.
Phantom: I’m going down to the hotel gym in the morning. Meet at 7?
Me: See you then.
After an intense hour-long workout, we walked over to the coffee shop to grab some breakfast.
“Don’t you need to get back to Adam?”
“Nah, he’s out like a light. I left him a note on my pillow.”
Michael looked so happy that I almost didn’t want to bring up my clusterfuck of a life. But I needed to talk to someone.
After placing my order for an egg white omelet and coffee, Michael ordered the same. The waitress refilled our mugs, then went to put our order in.
“What happened last night? Did you see him?”
“Yeah. And it started fine, but ended with me walking out of my room.” I stirred creamer into my coffee, then took a sip as he waited for me to go on. I rehashed the whole ugly story to him as we waited for our food to be delivered.
I absently circled my finger around the rim of my cup. “I don’t know what to do. Things have never been like this between us. We both got angry, and it ended badly.”
Michael ran his hand over his beard and sat back. “Can I ask you a question?”
I nodded. “Sure.”
It wasn’t difficult to figure out what he was going to ask.
“Do you want to come out? I don’t have to tell you that’s not a decision anyone can make for you.”
I took a sip of my coffee and thought about it for a moment. Did I?
“Yes. And no. It hurts him when we go out with my teammates. It may not look like it, but we’re very affectionate with each other. It’s difficult to go from having our hands on each other, to consciously having to keep from touching. He can’t be himself, and I continue to say the wrong thing and fuck up in interviews. I don’t blame him for wanting out.”
Michael’s face twisted at my comment. “He doesn’t want out, Patrick. Adam talks about the two of you all the time, so I probably know more than you’re comfortable with. You’ve got my word not to share anything, but it’s not hard to get information out of my Rockstar.”
I chuckled. “I’m positive I don’t want to know the lengths you go to in order to get information from him.”
Michael laughed, and it was obvious he was happy. His eyes went soft and his face lit up every time he talked about Adam. “Yeah, I got Cole’s middle name out of him one time. He was aggravated with me during a training session, and he just let it roll right out of his sweet mouth. I didn’t even ask.”
I scrunched up my face this time. “Dude. He’s like my brother. I don’t want to know anything about his mouth unless it’s about his music.”
Michael beamed with amusement as he took another sip of his coffee. It was obvious how much he loved him, and Cole and I were happy for them. He’d settled Adam’s apprehension from having been abandoned and loved him like no one ever had. “You don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to, but is there something keeping you from moving forward with Cole?”
My mouth went dry even though I had coffee and a glass of water in front of me. My stomach clenched and a cold sweat broke out down my spine.
Michael must have noticed something, then extended his arm to grasp my shoulder. “It’s okay. Forget I asked.” He paused, but didn’t loosen his hold. Another sip of coffee and the timely delivery of our food helped me get a grip.
After the waitress walked away, I stared down at my food. My omelet held little appeal to me, but I forced down a couple of bites.
“Did you know Adam tried to convince me once that he was a wrestling star in high school?”
