19. Callum

My phone vibratedon the nightstand, waking me up.

Reaching for it with blurry eyes, it took me a minute to register what I was looking at. Then I sat up, heart racing as it hit me.

It was a picture of me and Addison kissing inside his car. And my mom had sent it with a message.

Anything you want to tell me?

“What is it?” Addison asked groggily next to me.

“Just my world collapsing,” I said offhandedly.

He was still for a second and then slowly sat up and looked over my shoulder.

“Oh, shit,” he muttered. “Where did she get that picture?”

“I”m afraid to ask.”

Addison rolled away, grabbed his phone and laid there for a minute looking stuff up before giving me an almost apologetic smile and handing me his phone.

He had the phone open on the same picture. It was from a few days ago. I remembered stopping at the gas station and giving Addison a kiss when he got back into the driver’s seat.

It had been published on one of the major gossip news sites with a heading that read; AUSTIN TROOPERS QB’S PLAYING WITH MORE THAN JUST FOOTBALLS.

The cheesy line made me cringe and I couldn’t bring myself to read the article underneath it.

The fact was someone had either sent that to my mom or she had stumbled upon it herself. Either way, it wouldn”t have taken her long to see it.

I sank back down onto my pillow, looking up at the ceiling, wondering what it was like at my old house today. They were probably all talking about it over breakfast.

“You okay?” Addison asked quietly.

I took a breath and turned to face him. His concerned eyes immediately made me feel a little better. I wasn”t in this alone.

“I”m okay,” I said. “Just wondering what they think.”

My phone started ringing and I groaned, moving closer to bury my face under his chin as a shield.

“I”m not ready!” I complained.

He chuckled, wrapping his arms protectively around me.

“They can wait,” he told me, but then as soon as my phone stopped ringing, his began to and we both paused.

“Hold on, I don”t think that’s your mom calling,” Addison said.

He released me to grab his phone.

“Shit,” he muttered. “It”s our coach.”

He answered before I could respond. I still wanted to hide, but I could hear Coach Oliveira”s clipped tone on the other side of the line, so I just remained very still, listening despite myself.

“Addison,” he said. “Did you see the news?” he asked.

“Yeah, we saw it.”

“We? Is Callum there?”

“Yes,” he answered. I supposed the cat was out of the bag anyway, there was no point denying it now.

“Put me on speaker.”

We exchanged a look as Addison did as he was told, hitting the speaker button and laying his phone on his chest so we could both hear.

“Hi Coach,” I said bashfully.

He let out a sigh.

“Where are you two?”

“In my bed,” Addison said and there was a pause and then another sigh.

“Alright. Tony”s been on the phone to me already. I”m trying to talk him out of booking a flight from his vacation in Spain to come here and hash it out with you two in person. Mariah and I will be there in twenty minutes. Just please, be dressed and out of bed.”

Addison carefully extracted himself from me and sat up.

“See you soon,” he said.

He hung up and looked at me.

“When Coach says Tony, he means?—“

“Antonio Vasquez,” Addison agreed. “The team owner.”

I swallowed.

I may be new, but even I knew that when the team”s owner wanted to “hash it out” over a publicity scandal, that couldn”t be a good sign.

“I guess we can”t hide for the rest of the day,” I muttered.

“I guess not.”

We got up and got dressed silently. Addison kept giving me worried looks and I did have nerves tightening my chest, but that didn”t stop me from chuckling when I caught him giving me that look over and over.

“It”s okay,” I finally said, walking around the bed to reach him. “We knew this was going to happen, remember? We didn”t want to hide.”

Addison returned my hug with a soft sigh.

“I know. I just wish that we could be together without it being a big deal.”

“The more people in the public eye who do this, the sooner that will be what it”s like.”

He nodded his chin against my shoulder.

“I know you”re right...”

It was hard to believe that I was the one who was comforting Addison about this, but I knew he struggled with it. He”d had so many years to let his fears build. Meanwhile, I had jumped into this with a loving man and had no reason to look back.

“We”re in this together,” I reminded him.

Addison shook himself, gave me a tight squeeze and pulled away.

“You”re right,” he said, more firmly this time and took my hand. “Time to face the music.”

When Coach Oliveira and Mariah arrived a short while later, we were already sitting in the living room, ready.

Mariah was a small, stern-looking woman with sharp eyes, and I wasn”t sure who to look at because on the other hand, Coach was hard to read, and it was making me nervous.

“Can I get you guys a coffee?” Addison asked.

“I”ll have one if it’s ready,” Coach said while Mariah shook her head.

I wanted to curse Addison the moment he left me alone in the room with them because both Coach and Mariah immediately turned their gazes onto me.

“So,” Coach began. “How long has this been going on?”

I shrank a little.

“Uh. I don”t know... A couple months.”

“Quite the entrance to the NFL,” he told me.

I blushed, my defenses rising.

“I wasn”t trying to cause any issues, I just?—“

Addison entered then and I fell silent. I could tell by the way his jaw was set that he had heard the conversation.

“You can”t stop people from falling in love, Coach,” he said, handing him his coffee. “Even if they”re your players.”

Coach Oliveira gave Addison a long hard look and then switched that gaze to me. I held it.

“Is that what this is?” he asked. “Are you two in love?”

We glanced at each other and then nodded in unison.

“Yes, Sir,” Addison said firmly.

There was a pause and then Mariah smiled wide, like she couldn”t hold it in.

“Well, that will make my idea a lot easier to sell,” she said enthusiastically.

I blinked.

“What?” I asked, confused by the turnaround as Coach sipped his coffee looking a lot more at ease now.

“I think the best thing we can do at this point is to pretend it”s serious,” she began. “We can”t act like it”s not you two in that picture. In this day and age, we would be better off leaning into it for a while. You”ll have to both make statements on your social media profiles—I”ll vet them, of course. We”ll turn it into a bit of a highlight for the Troopers that the team is open-minded and accepting?—“

“I don”t want that to be the focus,” Coach jumped in.

“Of course not. Football first, but this suits Austin. Our city is quirky. Our football team can be too.”

She shrugged and smiled at us as though that was that, but my head was spinning.

“We can go from there and reevaluate in a few months. What do you two think?”

I looked at Addison for direction, but his gaze was fixed on Mariah.

“There”s no pretending,” he said. “Me and Callum are serious.”

He reached for my hand, and I took it, squeezing it tightly.

“And we will be together in a few months, and a lot longer than that too.”

“Aw, that”s perfect. The people will root for you!”

I didn”t know what to say to that. The idea of people rooting for my relationship was a surreal concept because being famous was a new concept. I still wasn’t used to the fact that people all over the world had seen me on TV. Now they were going to know my personal business too. I understood Addison’s reservations. But I knew that we could do this too. When we were together, I felt stronger. We could handle anything.

In a way, we had asked for this. We weren”t hiding it anymore. I didn”t want to. And I liked how Addison put it, that other people didn”t have to make a big show of coming out, so why did we?

For the last little while, it had felt so good to just hold his hand when I wanted to, or kiss him.

Thinking about it now, I could see how our being open could help people who felt repressed, but me and Addison just were. This was all so new to me. I had never felt like I was hiding a part of myself. More like, he had just awakened something else inside me that I hadn’t known was there.

“We good?” Addison asked as soon as the others left.

I nodded, going to him and squeezing him tightly.

“I love how you always check in on me,” I said.

And I loved how he felt in my arms and how he smelled and sounded and basically everything about him.

“You didn’t answer my question,” he reminded me.

“I’m fine,” I said and pulled back far enough to kiss him. “You won’t scare me off this easily.”

“Good,” he whispered.

The comforting moment was ruined by my phone ringing again.

“Okay, this time it probably is my mom.”

My heart rate skyrocketed when I saw her number but I answered straight away.

“Something you forgot to tell me?” she asked incredulously.

“Hello to you too, mama.”

“Callum...”

I groaned.

“I”m sorry, I just—it was new and—I should have told you.”

“Yes, you should have. I had to find out from the neighbour that my son was kissing another boy and I argued. I said he must have been confused because you only ever chased girls before.”

My face got so hot I pressed a hand to my cheek.

Addison came over slowly, listening, and then put his arms around my waist from the back, resting his chin on my shoulder so he could hear the other side of the conversation.

I leaned into him for support.

“I am so sorry,” I said. “I didn”t think about that part.”

She was silent for a moment.

“Are you and that other quarterback?—”

“Addison, Mom. You know that.”

She paused and then went on, still sounding annoyed.

“Are you two thinking clearly?” she finally asked. “Because acting like that in public—and I know you”re staying with him...”

“We are thinking clearly,” I said, heart pounding because I really couldn”t tell which part of this, she was the most upset about. “We—we love each other, actually.”

She was silent again.

“How long has this been going on for, baby?” she asked, her voice a little bit more gentle now.

“About three months,” I said.

“Oh, well... In that case, if you”re in a relationship, I guess it’s not a big deal for people to know about it, right?” she asked.

“Right,” I said, sagging with relief.

“I love you, Callum. No matter what,” she added and tears sprung to my eyes. “Mind you, I”m not happy I had to find out like this.”

I laughed suddenly, and Addison squeezed me, kissing my cheek while I wiped my eyes.

“If you”re going to choose men, at least you got one that”s rich and famous,” my dad added, making me realize I was on speakerphone.

“Dad!” I shouted but Addison started laughing, exposing that he was listening too, and suddenly my parents were telling him off playfully for keeping it a secret and he was taking my phone from my hand and talking to them one-on-one.

I shook my head, watching the scene unfold.

Seeing Addison joke around with my parents just made me love him more. Somehow, I had grown since being with him. It was hard to explain, but I felt like I knew myself better now, like Addison had found a way to show me all the facets of myself I hadn’t known were there. I hadn’t known I could be so happy with someone or that I could feel so fulfilled with something outside of my sports career.

I went up to him and pulled my phone out of his hand while he was saying something about us all going for dinner.

“We have to go. Bye,” I said into the phone and hung up, tossing it onto the couch so I could get my arms around Addison’s waist.

“Rude,” he said, wrapping his arms around me.

“I know. I’m going to hear about it later,” I said, amused. “But they were hogging my boyfriend.”

Addison grinned.

“I love hearing you call me that,” he said, kissing me.

“Mm.” I returned his kiss, melting against him because he always had that effect on me.

“My boyfriend,” I whispered against his lips, “that I love.”

He sighed happily and squeezed me a little bit tighter.

“Is this supposed to be dirty talk?” he asked me. “Because it’s working.”

He pressed his quickly hardening cock against me and I laughed.

“Oh good,” I whispered, letting my hands fall to his ass. “Boyfriend, boyfriend, boyfriend.”

He shivered dramatically.

“Yes,” he hissed, and his lips landed on my neck, making me shiver in return.

Thwack!

We both jumped at the sound of something hitting the window next to us.

Together, we looked over.

There was a large crack running the length of the floor-to-ceiling window with a concentrated ring where there had been an impact, most likely from a rock.

“What the hell,” Addison said, slowly releasing me.

He didn’t move from his spot though and when I took a step toward the window, he gripped my arm and pulled me back, stopping me from going closer.

I glanced over at him and froze when I saw the fear in his eyes. Understanding filled me along with a slow chill that ran over my body.

“You don”t think it was...”

He swallowed but didn”t answer. He didn”t need to. There was a really good possibility that his stalker was on his property.

“Did you get any new messages?” I asked hesitantly. Didn’t he say that Ari usually started with a new number and messages when he was about to start bothering him again?

He shook his head.

“No,” he said, looking out the window.

We could see the stretch of Addison”s yard and thetrees beyond and that was about it. Someonecould certainly still be out there.

“Who can we call?” I asked. “The police?”

Addison shook his head.

“No. Not unless we know it”s him.”

“Check the cameras,” I suggested.

“Good idea.”

We spent far too long going through the footage, trying to see if anyone had walked in or out of them.

A couple of people had walked by the front and around the bushes but none of them looked familiar to Addison.

“It might not have been him,” I said after a while when I could take the tension no longer. “It might have been some asshole kids running by on the path out back, throwing rocks at all the houses they pass...”

Addison gave me a dubious look.

“Maybe...” he agreed.

But then he took out his phone and went to his blocked numbers.

I watched him unblock Ari”s.

“Just in case,” he said. “At least I”ll know if it was him, right? Then I can actually take it to the police again. Get them to follow up for the tenth time.”

“Has that ever worked?” I asked.

He shrugged.

“A couple of times it did and he backed off for a while. But he makes sure I have no proof that it”s him. All have to go with are a couple of vague messages from a number that isn”t registered to his name, and all they can do is give him a warning.”

I frowned, annoyed that the system could be so broken. This man was breaking his restraining order all the time and getting away with it.

I bit my lip.

“This couldn’t be about our picture leaking this morning, could it?”

Addison’s gaze darkened.

“I hope not… Too bad the cameras didn”t catch him,” he said. “He would be in court over crossing onto my property and breaking my window—which I now have to get fixed.”

“I”ll take care of it,” I said, rubbing his shoulders.

He let out a deep breath and nodded.

“Thank you. That would help. I have other stuff to worry about right now.”

“Yup. Stuff that”s way more important than that asshole. We both know he”s only trying to get in your hair.”

He groaned.

“You”re so right. I”m not going to let him fuck up another game for me.”

“Good.”

He was still on edge though until I convinced him to go for a walk around the property. There was no sign of anything amiss and we even stumbled upon a spot where there was a clear view of the back window from the path.

“Weird,” Addison said. “I need to put a bush there.”

“Or build a higher fence,” I suggested.

It was a quiet area, though and there were a few families with teens living nearby and I could see Addison visibly relax when I reminded him of that.

The fact that not a single message came through from Ari seemed to add to the idea that it had nothing to do with us. That calmed us enough to turn our focus back to what mattered; football.

The next day, when we arrived for practice I was a bit nervous, but expecting the best, after all, Cooper was out and he was just one of the guys.

No one responded at first when we entered the changing room except for a few hellos. I went to my spot next to Cooper and when our eyes caught, he smiled, eyes glinting with amusement.

“Welcome to the team,” he said.

I paused, confused.

“But I’ve already been on the team for a few months—oh.”

There was a chorus of laughter as I realized what I’d walked into.

“Ha-ha, very funny,” Addison said, coming over to rescue me. “Leave him alone, he’s new.”

“But you’re not, huh?” Wyatt asked jokingly.

My cheeks heated even more.

“Oh my god,” I groaned. “Can we go play football now?”

The good-natured teasing continued throughout the day but I was glad to note that it was all in good fun and only made me feel more included than ever. It made me proud to be on a team like the Austin Troopers.

Over the next few days, we had to each put out a write-up and a photo on our socials about love and privacy. They were polished by the publicity team but the end result was still true; we were in love. We did want privacy. We were touched by the support already flowing in.

It was completely overwhelming and nerve-wracking to do it but afterwards, it did feel like there was a shift. Nobody could say anything bad about our relationship or sexualities because we were owning it.

Getting it out of the way like that allowed Addison to focus only on football for the rest of the week. Aside from me, of course. He always gave me time.

But I got it. This was his first game back. The excitement and nerves of playing a professional game were still new to me but I knew that he was feeling the same jitters that I did going into it. He lived and breathed the next game.

Addison spent evenings doing gentle exercises on the living room floor while we watched the show we had recently started. In the mornings he went for a light jog and ate breakfast while listening to podcasts on having self-awareness and focus. He was sharp at every practice and meeting and when I watched the interview he did for the sports network, I could see the intensity in his gaze.

When the reporter asked if his personal life was getting in the way of training, it took a second for him to understand that they were switching from football talk to us.

“I don”t think any other players get asked if their girlfriends get in the way of training,” he said. “Why would my boyfriend get in the way of mine?”

That silenced the line of questioning thoroughly and left me overflowing with pride. I was so lucky that of all the men in the world, Addison was the one I had fallen for. He was just so steady.

“Are you ready?” I asked him in bed on Friday night.

Addison was on his side, facing me. His fingers tangled with mine on the sheets between us.

“I am,” he said confidently. “What did Coach say to you?”

“That I need to be ready, just in case you need a break,” I said. “But you won”t.”

He smiled.

“No, I won”t.”

He wiggled closer and gave me a quick kiss.

“Thank you for being so supportive. I know we”re going to take the team far as their quarterbacks.”

I wholeheartedly agreed. That was why I was a bundle of nerves as the game approached. Not for me this time, but for Addison. He had a lot riding on this game, and I wanted more than anything for it to go incredibly well for him. I wanted him to shine, and I wanted to be on the sidelines cheering him on.

All the resentment I’d had back when I’d first started training with the team had long evaporated and most of the insecurity had been taken with it. I had proved myself as best I could and now, as Addison had said, we would help move the team ahead as best we could.

We got to the stadium earlier than usual for warm-ups. There were some cars already parked but it was still quiet.

I could sense the tension in Addison”s shoulders so I reached out and gripped his closest one, squeezing it before he could get out of the car.

“You”ve got this,” I said once he met my gaze. He took a deep breath, releasing it slowly and nodded as though my words instantly grounded him.

“Thank you,” he said warmly.

He leaned over and I met him halfway for a quick kiss.

“Now go!” I said, giving him a gentle shove.

He laughed, stood and quickly gathered his things.

I moved more slowly since I wasn”t as on edge as he was.

When he turned to look at me, practically tapping his foot, I laughed.

“I”m coming, I”m coming,” I said, but at that moment, my phone started to ring.

I pulled it out of my pocket and looked at the screen.

“It’s my dad,” I said. “You go ahead.”

“Okay,” he agreed, too eager to argue.

He gave me another quick kiss and was walking away by the time I answered.

“Hey Dad,” I said in greeting.

“Hello Callum, I just wanted to wish you luck.”

I smiled.

“Thank you.”

Truthfully, I had been waiting for my call. Someone called on every game day to wish me luck.

“I probably won’t be playing,” I reminded him.

“Well, the person you love will be, so that’s the same thing really.”

I shook my head, cheeks heating.

“I never told you I love him,” I argued.

“Call it a parent’s intuition,” he finally said. “Your mother’s already been watching all those wedding shows.”

I half groaned, half laughed. The idea of marrying Addison was surprisingly nice. It made my whole body feel warm.

“It’s too soon for that,” I argued. “Anyway, I have to go inside for warmups. I’m already at the stadium.”

Someone suddenly pulled in next to me, their car coming close enough that I ended up crowding up against Addison’s car so that I wouldn’t get squished.

I turned to glance at the reckless driver. How hard was it to see someone standing there?

The driver had opened the door just enough to squeeze out if he needed to. I registered desperate eyes with dark bags but nothing else before my gaze fixated on the barrel of a gun, held low on his lap, aimed straight at me.

Everything went still.

“Close your car door,” he said in a low, raspy voice.

I reached behind me and swung it shut, never taking my eyes off of him.

For a moment I couldn’t move. If I did, it would be to run, but then he cocked his gun and let out a low growl.

“I’ll shoot you in the back if you run,” he promised, reading my thoughts.

I wanted to ask what he was planning, and why he was doing this, but my mouth was bone dry, and I couldn’t speak.

“Walk around to the passenger side and get in.”

Sweating, I forced myself to move, walking around the front of the car where there was room. The whole way to the passenger door, I looked around frantically for anything that would help. A car to hide behind, a person to shout to, but all the other cars in the lot were parked too far away and there was no one else there.

Against every instinct in my body, I climbed into the car and looked at the man next to me.

He was slim, pale, and looked like he hadn’t slept in months. His dark hair hung limply around his face and everything suddenly became clear.

“Ari,” I whispered.

He glared at me, his jaw tightening.

“So, you knew about me?” he demanded. “While you were running around with my boyfriend?”

I swallowed, shrinking back against my seat, but Ari sagged forward, looking relieved. Suddenly, he grinned.

“Addison told you about me. He hasn’t forgotten about me, after all…”

He took a fortifying breath and pulled the car out of park, his gun still trained on me as he began to drive.

Fear pummelled me.

I shouldn’t be here. I should be with Addison, worrying about nothing but the upcoming game.

For some reason, all I could think about was how hard he had worked on his recovery and how badly he wanted this game to go well.

Addison would know that something bad had happened to me. That was the only thing that I knew for sure. Was he going to be able to play while I was missing?