Chapter 18

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

brENDON

I put my hand on Carter's knee to stop it from bouncing as we drive to Sammy's office for our meeting.

"Sorry," Carter murmurs. "I'm not sure why I'm anxious when I know Sammy is going to be so excited for us."

"You don't need to apologize for your anxiety," I assure him. "You can't control how your body reacts to situations. I just wanted to remind you that I'm here, and if you need anything, all you have to do is ask."

"You're killing it at this boyfriend thing," he says teasingly.

"It's because I excel at everything I do," I joke back, making him chuckle.

"Thankfully, I'm less anxious today than I was yesterday. I think each new person we tell will be easier for me," he states, and I nod.

"You've always struggled the most with new things. As we tell more people, it won't be new anymore, and your brain should hopefully realize it isn't something you need to worry about."

"I love that you know me so well," Carter responds quietly.

"Perks of dating your best friend," I reply with a smirk.

Once we pull into a parking spot at Sammy's office building, I squeeze Carter's knee one more time. "Come on, handsome, let's go tell another person we're head over heels for each other."

Carter chuckles and shakes his head. "You need to work on your lines, babe."

I shrug. "It's got you smiling, and that's all I care about."

He rolls his eyes, with that perfect grin still firmly in place, before getting out, and I follow right behind him.

"My favorite basketball players," Sammy greets us in the lobby with open arms.

Carter and I take turns hugging him, then follow him to his office.

"What brings you guys in today?" he asks once we're seated.

"We wanted to give you the heads up that we're dating," I tell him, causing his brows to shoot up before the biggest grin I've ever seen takes over his face.

"Well, shit. I always thought you two were closer than the average friends, but I wholeheartedly never thought you would actually cross over into the dating world."

"Neither did we," Carter responds. "We both thought we were straight."

I nod. "But once we learned the fluidity of sexuality and started to break apart what we thought we knew, we discovered that our feelings for each other weren't completely platonic."

Carter grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze. "I was terrified at first because I thought the feelings were one sided. Since I've always been shit at keeping secrets from Brendon, I blurted out how I felt. To say I was surprised when he told me he felt the same way would be a complete understatement."

"What do you want me to do?" Sammy asks, resting his elbows on his desk and his chin on his hands. "Are you wanting to go public with your relationship?"

"We don't want to come out publicly just yet, but we also don't want to keep our relationship a secret. We want to tell our friends, and family, and be ourselves, but we know that by doing that, there is a strong possibility someone outside of our circle will find out and possibly out us," I reply, and Carter nods along.

"We just want you to create a plan in case that happens. A way to combat the negativity and put a positive spin on things," Carter adds. "Also, we want to make sure that if there are any new companies that want to work with us, they are pro LGBQTIA2+. We already had a lawyer friend make sure that our current sponsors didn't have anything anti-queer hidden in their morality clauses."

"I can totally do that. I understand why you would be apprehensive to come out at this time. While I normally recommend getting ahead of situations instead of playing defense, I get that your situation is different. I hate saying this, but coming out now could put your future careers in jeopardy. I've seen it with other clients. And there won't be any problem with any contracts you sign having anything against the queer community in their morality clauses. That's something I always look for. I don't know if you realized it, but you two were my only straight clients," he informs us, making me pause and do a mental inventory of his clients.

"Shit, I didn't realize that," I say quietly. "I just knew you were fun and wanted to be one of your clients."

Carter chuckles. "Leave it to you to pick your agent based on him being fun."

I met Sammy at a hockey game last year when I went on a date with a girl whose brother was a hockey player. Sammy was there to cheer on a friend, and we just hit it off. He told me that he was an agent and that he knew GSU was changing their policies on athletes being able to make money off their name, image, and likeness. And if that was something I would be interested in to give him a call so he could represent me. I was so excited that I told Carter the second I got home and made an appointment with Sammy the next day. Of course, I told him that he also had to take Carter on as a client, and thankfully, he didn't have any objections to that.

Carter had a lot more questions than I did, and that was probably the smarter way to handle things. Signing a contract solely off of a good vibe isn't the smartest thing a guy can do, but hey, you only live once. Thankfully, not only did Sammy have a great vibe but he was able to answer all of Carter's questions to his liking. After that, he was able to land us some amazing sponsors and earn us a decent amount of money.

"It didn't matter to me that you two were straight, but I do typically attract clients of the queer community," Sammy states.

Not only does Sammy represent college students, but he also has a few professional athletes in his clientele, which is super cool if you ask me.

"That's because other athletes are stupid and don't know how amazing you are," I murmur, making Carter and Sammy laugh.

"I appreciate your high praise, and I'm glad I've met your needs so far. Would you two be okay with me bringing in a PR rep to help me create the backup plan?"

I turn to Carter since I could care less if Sammy brings someone else in. I have complete trust in him and know he would only bring in the best.

"If that's what you think is best, I'm okay with it," Carter responds, and I nod to let Sammy know I'm on the same page as my boyfriend.

"Perfect. We have an in-house PR rep who I think would be a fantastic fit for this situation," he informs us. "We can start working on a plan over the next couple of days then set up another meeting to make sure what we came up with satisfies both of you."

"Thanks, Sammy. We really appreciate you doing this for us," I tell him.

Sammy snickers while waving his hand at me. "It's literally my job. But even if it wasn't, you two are amazing guys, and I would want to help you. I really wish you didn't have to go through all of this in the first place, but I understand why you do."

"Things are moving in the right direction, so hopefully, one day, future gay athletes won't have to worry about this stuff," Carter says, and I squeeze his hand, offering him a warm smile.

"Let's keep our fingers crossed that the forward momentum continues, and those who have outdated beliefs don't try to undo the progress that has already been made," Sammy adds, and we nod in agreement.

Since nothing else needs to be discussed, we say goodbye and make our way back to our apartment.

Carter is quiet as I drive us home, staring out the window like he's lost in his head, which worries me a little.

"How do you feel now?" I ask, needing to know what's going on in his head.

"Better," he responds, looking my way with a wide, toothy grin. "Now we just have to tell our parents at dinner this weekend."

"Are you worried about it?" I ask, and he shakes his head.

"No, I was just thinking how this could possibly be the last time I ever introduce my mom to a partner."

I can't help but puff my chest out a little at his words.

"And how does that make you feel?" I check, trying to keep my eyes on the road but wanting so badly to stare at him at the same time to get a better read about him.

"Better than I ever could have thought possible," he replies in a dreamy tone. "You know that I only ever introduced my mom to one girlfriend, and it didn't ever feel right. But being with you is like breathing air. It's the most natural feeling. I also kind of hate that we didn't figure out our sexuality sooner because we could have been experiencing these moments together sooner."

I reach over and squeeze his knee. "Me too, babe, but we can't think about it like that. Everything happens for a reason, and maybe we had to build the friendship we have now to guarantee a stronger relationship."

Carter places his hand on mine and nods. "I like that way of thinking."

I love how things are going with Carter right now. Nothing has ever felt this right.