37. Lee

CHAPTER 37

LEE

Lee woke Thursday in a weird mood. Contemplative… Kinda worried, but not. Mac and Drew had left after breakfast the day before, and he hadn't seen them since. Mac had his shifts at the diner; Drew was busy with Dr. Rosie, still had notes to write up for his capstone project, and his old boss had asked him to cover a shift at Just a Dollar More. Lee had watched a show after practice and then gone to bed and slept like a log, enjoying the scent of his boyfriends lingering on his sheets and pillows.

He wasn't tired. Antsy, maybe? Hmm… he debated about calling his mom. With the one-hour time difference, she'd be awake. He texted instead then hit the shower.

He'd just pulled on his briefs when the phone rang. "Hell-oh."

"So…" Mom said, ignoring the need for pleasantries and diving right for the goal line, "how was it?"

"Good morning to you, too." Lee chuckled, then put her on speaker and continued getting dressed.

"Right, right. Good morning… Is it? A good morning?" She was nosy, but he loved her anyway.

"Yesterday was better, but only because I have an apartment of one at the moment. They left after breakfast yesterday."

"But if someone asks, I can say you've got a boyfriend?"

Lee grinned. He didn't have one boyfriend. He had two! Two! Holy shit… He sat on the edge of the bed, a fresh set of worries nixing his joy. "Mom… you can't tell anyone."

"What? Why? You know I don't care. Auntie doesn't care."

"Drew might. Mac might. My team might. The front office…" Lee groaned. He had to tell… someone. But who? PR? The GM?

"Lee, calm down. It's not like you're the first. Isn't that punter of yours out? With the owner of the Bathtubs distillery?"

Relief flooded Lee. Garrett… He'd forgotten. He'd talk to him first thing. "I love you, Mom. You are the smartest person I know."

"What can I say? Comes with age and beauty." Her laughter lifted Lee's spirits higher, and with a plan formed, he finished getting ready.

In the locker room, Lee was on pins and needles. He jumped at every sound, his laughter sounded stilted. Everyone around him was giving him the side-eye. He kept looking for Garrett, but the team's punter never showed up by the time he hit the weight room to warm up.

Then he went and made a further fool of himself, tripping getting onto the treadmill, almost dropping a weight on his foot, and bumping into the doorway on the way out to the field.

He stumbled, he dropped passes; he got beat out again and again by the receivers. Yowie, Jakes, and Anders kept looking at him like he had two heads… and they weren't wrong because one head certainly wasn't paying attention.

"Matty!" Coach Mike hollered after he went ass over tea kettle trying to keep up with Gunner, their ever-speedy wide receiver. "Front and center."

Aw shit. When Coach Mike barked out military commands, they knew they were in for a freaking death knell. Lee picked himself up off the ground, brushed off the grass and dirt he'd accumulated, and then jogged over to the sideline.

Coach Mike looked him up and down. "You don't look hurt."

"I'm not." Lee popped his helmet and braced it under an arm before accepting a water bottle from one of the ever-present trainers.

"Not hurt, then what the hell's going on in here?" He poked Lee's forehead. "The last time you were like this was when…" Coach frowned. "Do I need to have him removed? Rosie will be pissed, but?—"

"No!" Lee shook his head. "No. It's not that. The opposite, but…" He trailed off, not ready to discuss his relationship with his coach without getting some advice first. He glanced toward the tunnel and then toward where the kickers were practicing on the other side of the field.

"The opposite but— Oh goddamn it. This has something to do with what happened at the brewery. Sheesh, this team has hitched its wagon to relationship's drama. You" —Coach grabbed Lee's shirt and tugged him forward a step— "need to figure your shit out. Today. Got it? I don't want to have to keep you on the sidelines for the next game."

"Yes, Coach. I'm trying."

"Try harder." Coach gave him a shake before releasing him with a slight shove. "Ten laps. Go."

Lee offered him a small smile, knowing he got off easy. He tossed his helmet to Yowie and set off to clear his head. Ten laps weren't enough to get his thoughts together, but it did the trick enough to keep him upright and catching the ball for the rest of practice.

He finally caught up with the team's punter in the locker room. "Garrett, you got a minute?"

"Yeah. What's up?"

"Um…" Lee glanced around, making sure they had a smidgeon of privacy before he lowered his voice as he leaned closer. He shuffled his feet, barely making eye contact as he asked, "If I need to tell someone about someone I'm dating, who should that someone be?"

"That's a lot of someones… and I mean someones ." Garrett snickered. "Start with Caitlin. She'll handle the rest. You want me to set up a meeting for you?"

Lee narrowed his eyes. "You deal with PR that much?"

Garrett shrugged. "I'm dating her best asset."

Lee pursed his lips. "Because of the distillery meet-and-greets?"

"Among other uses she's had for Chester's restaurant's large front windows." Garrett grimaced.

Lee wasn't sure he wanted to know the whys and wheres, but according to Ms. Cole's preseason training session, he knew the paparazzi had its uses. "Well, I'd appreciate that meeting. Today, if possible, otherwise Coach might have my head."

"Sure." He reached for his cell and texted. The almost immediate reply back was kinda scary. "She said to head up after you shower. She doesn't like stinky men." There was a succession of dings that had Garrett laughing, but since he wasn't sharing, Lee stripped down to his briefs, grabbed his towel, and mentally prepared for his forthcoming meeting with Caitlin Cole.

"Figured you'd show up here sooner or later." Caitlin didn't look away from her computer as she waved Lee to have a seat.

"How'd you know?"

Caitlin swiveled her chair to face him, leaning back and folding her hands in her lap. She regarded him shrewdly, and Lee wanted to squirm under the intense gaze, but he made himself hold still. Holding up one hand, she ticked off her comments.

"One: you were out at Rutgers. Two: you had a boyfriend on the down-low who's not so down on the low at the moment. Three: the kiss at the brew?—"

"Hold up a sec. Stu's been talking?"

"To anybody willing to give him the time of day. Guy's kinda of a tool. What'd you have? A friends with bennies deal?"

Lee sagged. "Yeah, mostly. Is he a problem? Because I can?—"

She waved off his offer. "It's North-Central Jersey. A dime's throw to New York, and doesn't everyone explore their sexuality in college? Being queer there is kinda expected. Seriously, I've got Anders with guys, girls, and everything in between."

Lee chuckled. That was the way it went with pansexuals, but that didn't help with his throupleship dilemma.

"So I know about Drew. Tell me about the other guy?"

Lee grinned, and she laughed. "Mac. Mackenzie Connor. He's Drew's best friend. His family owns The Other Diner over on S. Lamar."

"I know the place. Good food. Friendly people."

"Yeah. Mac's dad is a fan. Cowboys convert. Shares season tickets with two of his buddies."

"Nice." Caitlin's smile was wicked. "I'll send him some merch and have Mariah ship over some promotional items to keep on location if you don't think he'll mind."

"Since he once commented about painting the place white and gold, I doubt it." They shared a conspiratorial snickering grin.

"Excellent, but let's get back to you. Right now, the scope of your relationship is being kept within the confines of the team. What happened at the brewery stays at the brewery. We spend enough money there that we negotiated having the staff sign NDAs. It helps that Dr. Rosie's brother-in-law owns the place."

Caitlin leaned forward, bracing her arms on the desk as she stared at him. "Lee, it's a known factor that you're out, so the question to you is: are you planning on bringing your relationship out of the closet as well? You need to discuss it with Drew and Mac because this will affect them. We have plenty of LGBTQIA+ representation in sports now, we have out couples, but we don't have any triad relationships. You'll be breaking ground. The diner will feel the repercussions. They might need to hire security until the media frenzy dies down."

"Fuck. I hadn't thought of that." Lee chewed on his thumbnail, now more worried about Momma Connor and Ken than about himself.

"Well, considering how flighty the news is, I don't think it'll last long, but you need to consider it, nonetheless."

"Okay. Thanks for the heads up. Looks like I have a bunch of people to talk to before I make any decisions." Lee paused as Caitlin picked up a pen and jotted notes into a file with his name on it. He had one more question before he started making calls. "If we do choose to, you know, come out, who do you suggest we use to release our story?"

"That's easy. I'll set you up with Casey West of Football Fandom . He plays for your team." She winked, then laughed. "Now get the hell out of my office. I've got work to do."

Lee stood and headed out, pausing in the doorway. "Thanks, Caitlin. I appreciate your help."

"Anytime, Lee. Anytime."