Brett crashed into the seat next to me and grabbed my arm like a lifeline. “Youstud, you did it!” He then let go and elbowed the same arm. “Have you texted Alec yet?”
We hadn’t spoken often about the man he briefly saw that night at Hiroshi’s party. Brett knew, however, that I wanted to advance into something deeper with Alex.
I shook my head no. “Not yet, at least. I’m seeing him tomorrow.”
Brett nodded toward my phone. “Come on, man, you shouldat least text him the good news. An entire plane of baseball bros elated their boy is a big ol’ gay?”
Again, I shook my head and laughed to ease the growing hesitation in my stomach. “It’s… complicated right now. I don’t want to bother him.”
Brett deflated a fraction as his brows drew together. “Hey man, is everything all right?”
“Oh, yeah, everything is fine. We’re going slow. Things got heavy too quickly and he’s got some extra baggage he wants to offload before putting his attention on me.”
Brett bobbed his head in agreement. “Okay, okay. You go at your own pace” He reached over and clapped me on the shoulder. “Okay. Next one.”
I gave him a confused look as Brett stood and Rodgers slipped into the seat. “Hold on, let me get you your booster seat,” I told him.
Rodgers reached down and pinched the spot above my knee with his thumb and forefinger. Short he may be, but his forearms were the size of tree trunks. His grip strength shot into my muscles like a vise. I howled until he pulled his hand away.
“Congrats, brother,” Rodgers said. “Really. I mean that. I’m happy for you.”
I smiled. “Thanks, man.”
Rodgers stood and then another teammate dropped into the open seat.
The lump in my throat grew bigger but I managed to keep it all together. A steady rotation of my teammates graced my presence, each with kind words and congratulatory remarks. It took almost an hour, but nearly all of my teammates had stopped by. A few were noticeably absent and I made a mental note, but that felt more like someone else’s territory than mine. Hiroshi closed out the chain and stayed there until we landed.
I didn’t arrive home until dawn.
?
A persistent buzzing pulled me from my slumber. I grumbled and rolled in bed, then shot out a hand to my nightstand to locate the source of my woe. My hands gripped my phone. With bleary eyes, I gazed at the screen, then sharpened into focus when I saw the name.
“Alex,” I said as I answered. My voice came out distorted and tired. I cleared my throat. “Alex, hey.”
“Aw, I woke you,” came his voice on the other end. “I’m sorry. I thought you’d be up by now.”
I glanced around the room until I found my alarm clock. “Oh, it’s past noon. I should be up by now anyway.”
“Ugh, I’m sorry, Rome. I can’t imagine how tired you are.”
I sat up in bed and ran my hand over my face. “It’s fine. Really. Hey, it’s a great way to wake up. I missed the sound of your voice.”
Alex gave a breathy laugh. “That’s sweet of you to say. Hey, I was wondering if we could change our plans tonight a little?”
I fully woke up. My eyes widened and whatever sleepiness cloyed my senses vanished. “Of course. What did you have in mind? Did you need to reschedule or…?”
Another chuckle. “Are you kidding? I’ve been dying to see you. No, I was hoping we could change the where portion? Can I come there for our dinner? I hate to ask. Feels intrusive to—”
“Give me one hour,” I interrupted. “I’ll make something. Hope you’re okay with a late lunch slash early dinner. I’m starved.”
“Really? You’re okay with me coming over so soon?”
I pulled the covers off and stretched out my long legs. “I mean, I prefer to wake up next to you, but I can wait an hour. It gives me enough time to get to the store.”
“Oh, hell, Rome, no. You don’t have to make food. We canorder out.”
“You keep chatting my ear off like this, and I’ll have to tell you two hours.”
