Provoking the Punter

Chapter 27

CHAPTER

TWENTY-SEVEN

Garrett was starving by the time he got in his car. He was one of the last to leave and he hadn’t seen James for the rest of the day, and while a few of the guys had given him an odd look, no one had said anything, which he assumed was because of Addy.

Caitlin had sent him an email detailing what she wanted and telling him she’d sent the same to Chester. There were some questions that she wanted them to answer together, which would be a lot easier if Chester wasn’t ignoring him.

Asshole.

He wasn’t going to call again, nor would he drive around and knock on his door, even though that’s what he wanted to do. They usually got together on a Monday night because Tuesday was an easy day for him. The rest of the week was ramping up to game day. He knew his schedule sucked during the season, but plenty of people made relationships work. Or at least thought they were making it work.

He checked the time in Sydney, then called his brother to warn him about the situation as he drove to the hotel. The last thing he wanted was an Australian journalist picking up the story and speaking with his brother and father and making a bigger mess. He should’ve called them this morning, but he hadn’t known what to say. He still wasn’t sure what to say.

Andrew picked up on the second ring. “Hey… Are you in jail? How much money do you need?”

“Hilarious. I just wanted to give you a heads-up about a story that’s happening… and to ask if you can speak to Dad. If you could both avoid speaking to the media, that would be great.”

“Are you in some kind of trouble or is your team about to win big?” Garrett stared at his phone for a moment, wondering how his brother knew so little about football despite growing up around it. It was like dealing with Chester.

“I told you I changed teams.”

“Yeah.”

“I was traded because…” That wasn’t the important part. He didn’t need to mention Harrison, and his brother didn’t need to know. “The story breaking is that I’m gay.”

“And?”

“What do you mean and?”

Andrew laughed. “No one is so dedicated to football that they don’t have time for a girlfriend. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want Dad making your life any harder.”

Garrett sighed and slumped into the car seat. “You could’ve said something to me.”

“You would’ve denied it. I had friends in the same situation. Sometimes it’s better to say nothing.”

A little support would’ve been nice.

“So you were traded because you were gay? That seems a bit shit.”

“No, that’s not the reason. And I can’t discuss the real reason.” Caitlin’s words about not discussing the Harrison situation were loud in his ears.

“And if I don’t know, then I can’t tell anyone.”

“That, too.” Garrett agreed.

“What do you want me to tell Dad? You should know I haven’t spoken to him in about three weeks. When was the last time you spoke to him?”

“The last time I was in Australia.” He had nothing to say to his father.

“Right…”

“Don’t start on me. Today’s been an absolute fuck fest, and it’s not going to be any better tomorrow.”

“I know he was a dick after the acci?—”

“He blamed me for not driving that night. And I have never lived it down. I am not calling him up to tell him a damn thing. I’m asking you to warn him, so he isn’t blindsided, because I’m not an asshole.” He sounded like one with the snarl in his voice.

“He’s not the same as he was when you left. I spent Christmas with him and his new…”

“I know he remarried. I saw the photos.”

“He doesn’t drink anymore.”

“I don’t care.” He should be glad Dad had found love again and straightened out his life, but he’d ruined three years of Garrett’s life. He’d killed his wife because he was too fucking proud to call a taxi because he’d drunk too much. He was a fucking cop, and he should’ve known better.

Garrett forced his fingers to uncurl. He couldn’t hold on to this anger, or it was going to eat him. He’d worked most of his fury out today, now it was mostly worry gnawing on his guts like a rat trying to escape. Fuck. Talking to his brother always brought up the old pain, like an injury that had never healed.

Andrew exhaled. “I’ll let him know, but if the media knocks on his door, he might talk, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it. Why is this suddenly a story? You’ve been over there for years.”

“I was photographed kissing my boyfriend.”

“Let me go grab some pearls to clutch.”

Garrett smiled. “There’s a little more to it, but…”

“You can’t discuss it, and I’m sure if I look, I’ll find it.”

“Yeah…” And there was nothing he could do about that. “Whatever the articles are speculating, I wasn’t involved. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and I saw it unfold.”

His brother was silent for a couple of seconds. “Okay. I believe you.”

“Why, when you haven’t even looked it up?”

“I’m not going to; I don’t need to. I can’t imagine you doing something stupid to jeopardize your career. That’s not who you are. You’ve worked hard to get to where you are. Don’t let the bastards take it from you.”

“Thank you.”

“Mum would be proud… though she’d hate that fucking tattoo.”

Garrett gave a soft laugh. “It seemed like a good idea.”

“I get it.”

Did he? There was only a four-year age gap, but at sixteen, the difference between them had been so great. Andrew hadn’t been in the car that night. He hadn’t been living at home. He’d been living in a share house with his uni friends. Andrew hadn’t known how bad it was at home until Garrett told him, and by that point, Garrett already had one foot out the door and the other in America.

“If you need anything, call,” Andrew said.

There wasn’t anything his brother could do, but it was the offer that mattered.

“I’m hoping it will blow over soon, because I hate this bullshit.”

“I’m sure it will. I guess I’ll stalk your social media to meet your boyfriend. I’m assuming you’re going to be more open now?”

Garrett pulled into the car park. “It looks that way. Thanks for dealing with Dad.”

“I said I’d talk to him, not deal with him.”

“Near enough. I’ll talk to you later.” Later could be two weeks or two months.

“Try not to leave it so long.”

“Oh, come on, I send you memes. It’s not like we haven’t communicated.”

Andrew laughed. “Go and deal with your stuff, Garrett. I’ll let you know if anyone picks up the story over here.”

“I don’t want to know, but I’ll forward it to the PR people.” What Caitlin would do with it, he had no idea; it wasn’t his problem to worry about. All he needed to do was what he was told, and he was good at that.

His phone buzzed as a message came in. Chester. “I need to go, so I’ll catch you at some other inconvenient time.”

The time difference always made catching up a little difficult. It was either too late or too early for one of them. Someone was going to work or going to bed. He couldn’t go home for Christmas, nor did he want to. He couldn’t imagine anything worse than sitting around the dining table, playing happy family with his father and his new stepmother.

He could imagine spending it with Chester. What did he do for Christmas? It wasn’t as though he went home to hang out with his father. They hadn’t even talked about it. There was so much they hadn’t discussed.

He sat in the car a little longer to read the message.

I spoke to Caitlin and agreed to the plan. I haven’t called you because I am still processing the situation, and I don’t want to say something I’ll regret. I guess this is how you find out that I don’t argue. I step away so I can think things through. I’m not walking away from you. I’ll see you tomorrow as per the schedule.

Garrett read the message twice to be sure he’d read it correctly. It wasn’t a breakup. He wasn’t sure what it was. Only that Chester had signed it off with an emoji heart as if to reiterate the fact that it wasn’t over between them. It just felt that way because instead of being with him, Chester had vanished.

Not that Chester could’ve been with him today. Not physically, anyway.

He hesitated before replying, but Chester hadn’t said not to contact him.

I could’ve done with knowing that this morning, instead of thinking the worst.

It might’ve been a bit easier for him to deal with everything if he’d known that he still had a boyfriend.

If I had spoken to you this morning, it would have been over. I don’t want that. Do you?

No

Then we will figure this out together. Tomorrow.

That was the warning to stop messaging, but Chester was oh so diplomatic. It might’ve been easier if he’d called and yelled and ranted because then Garrett would’ve known that the poison had been spilled.

Twenty-four hours ago, he had everything he wanted. Then it had been knocked out of his hands and there was nothing he could do but wait.

Usually he was good at waiting, even though Chester said he rushed. He only rushed when it was time to move. Now he needed to move because the idea of sitting still was too much.

What if Chester slept on it and decided it was too much?

He reread the texts. No, if that was what Chester was considering, he’d have said it. Instead, he’d been very honest about how he was feeling and that he wanted Garrett.

There was a plan, and they’d work out the rest. He read the last message again.

Together. Tomorrow.

It was the first Monday he hadn’t seen Chester since they’d started this thing. As he laid down that night, he stared at the ceiling, hating how empty the bed was. He didn’t sleep for all the wrong reasons.