Jude
“Huh.” Cody shook his head as he stared down at his phone. I couldn’t work out what the expression on his face was. Happy? Sad? Pensive?
“What’s up?”
“Just Petrov and Davis.” He handed his phone over so I could see the messages on the screen.
Petrov:
You’re a good influence. We’re volunteering at a new summer camp. Last minute thing, but it’s been organised well
His message was followed by a selfie of him and Davis dressed in their hockey gear, both of them grinning and doing a thumbs up at the camera. Below that was a message from Davis.
Davis:
We used our celebrity status to get all four of the kids you’ve been coaching into the camp
I bit down on my lip. Now I understood Cody’s conflicted expression. Happy about the news, but I knew he missed hockey and coaching the kids.
Passing the phone back to him, I placed my hand on his thigh, rubbing gently. I wasn’t sure what to say, and he seemed lost in thought, so I decided to turn to someone much wiser than me.My agent.
On the pretence of going to get a glass of water, I left Cody on the sofa and slipped into the hallway.
Me:
EMERGENCY
It only took a few seconds for Rory to reply.
Rory:
Is this an actual emergency? Or is it like the time you thought you saw a poisonous snake that turned out to be a rubber chew toy?
Me:
If the snake had been real, it would’ve been an emergency
Rory:
Hmm
Me:
Whatever. This is an emergency. It’s Cody. He’s missing hockey and I don’t know how to make it better. I need your advice
There was a long pause while I waited for Rory to respond, pacing up and down in the hallway as I stared at my phone. Finally, I had a reply.
Rory:
Normally I’d tell you to use Google, but this time I think I might be able to help. Leave it with me
An hour or so later, when an impromptu wrestling match had turned into me getting my hand inside Cody’s shorts and ended with satisfactory hand jobs for us both, my phone buzzed again. I swiped it from the coffee table as fast as I could, scrolling to my messages.
“Oh.” It wasn’t a text from Rory, but an email. Although— “Offsidemagazine just sent me the interview for approval.”
It hadn’t taken me long to decide that the interview was how I wanted to broach the subject of my sexuality with the public—not that it was really their business—and once Theo got the ball rolling, everything had been set up for a quick turnaround. The interview would be up on the website before the season began, and the magazine article would follow in the next issue.
I opened the email attachment, my shoulders relaxing as I scanned through the questions and my responses. As I’d wanted, they’d mainly focused on my move to Glevum, my recovery from injury, and my hopes and plans for the new season. They’d added the part about my sexuality towards the end of the interview, in between questions about my move to Glevum.
