Chapter 16 #2
Leslie looked down at himself. He was still mostly dressed. “I could see if they could fly me home now. I could be there in a couple of hours. I could—”
“No, babe. You need to get some rest. You’ve got a big job when you get back. Your players, man…” He rolled his eyes and whistled, shaking his head. “Out of shape. They need work.”
Leslie threw his head back and laughed. “I’ve only had the whole team for a couple of practices. Don’t worry. They’ll be in tip-top shape for our first game Friday. Question is, will your team be ready to cheer them on to victory?”
“Oh, we’ll be ready. We’ve got tryouts Wednesday. We’ll likely just be in T-shirts for Friday’s game, but we’ll be ready to bring it.”
“And soon we’ll gallivant.”
Joe grinned. “Soon we’ll gallivant. A for-real date. I can’t wait.”
“Me neither. You need to get home before some wayward tractor runs you over or something random like that.”
Joe looked around. “It’s beyond dead out here. I think maybe four cars have passed the whole time we’ve been talking. Fine, I’ll start walking. Stay on the phone with me, though. You know, in case I get lost. ”
They both laughed at that. Ayre Valley was tiny.
A main street with one stoplight and a population of approximately three thousand five hundred people, not including the students living on campus, which made up another thousand.
Joe had to jaywalk across the main road and walk about a half mile through houses before he’d be on campus, and then it was about a quarter mile to his apartment in the dorm.
They traded jabs about each other’s teams and Joe filled him in further on practice that afternoon.
“Your players reached out to Terrell, but I really hope they cut him some slack about his choice to focus on dance rather than football. It’s a sensitive subject for him.”
“I get it. I will nip it in the bud if I hear anything. I’m not going to tolerate any homophobic bullshit, you know that.”
“Yeah, and Randy made that clear. Some of the players changed their tune after hearing they would be off the team. I’m so glad.
I hoped it wouldn’t be a big thing, you know?
That they’d just shut up and work, and they did.
But for Terrell, he had some incidents. Kids trying to rough him up, you know… ”
“No, I didn’t. I can’t believe his teammates—”
“They never came right out and beat him up, but they got physical. To test him. Some fucking guys just have to push.”
Joe was holding the phone out in front of him and watching where he was going, but Leslie could see the set of his jaw in the streetlight.
“You talk like you know from experience.”
Joe groaned. “Old news. I told you I hated football players when you met me, remember?”
“I do,” Leslie said. “I remember you saying we were all ‘homophobic misogynists playing a homoerotic sport with homo erectus brains and homogenous stupidity.’ Am I leaving anything out?”
Joe snorted. “No. I think that was about right. And yeah, you changed my mind about certain football players, but Les, you have to admit many of your brethren are notorious for bad behavior.”
“I cannot argue with that,” Leslie said, picking up an edge in Joe’s voice.
“You can’t because it’s true. I can tell you, it’s true.”
“Since we’re being open and honest while thousands of miles stand between us,” Leslie said, hoping he wasn’t pushing his luck. “Did someone hurt you, Joe? I’ve always wondered.”
Joe blew out a harsh breath as he came to a stop, looked both ways, and continued to walk, this time a little more forcefully, it seemed.
“Yeah, Leslie, I’ve had to fight off the unwanted advances and tests of my manhood by more than one professional athlete.
And before you ask, yes, I was successful in evading them.
But how many guys like me aren’t? How many gay men have been bullied and abused by other men who are so frightened someone will think they’re not macho enough, nor as straight as they purport themselves to be?
It fucking pisses me off to no end. You know, that’s part of the reason I took this damn job.
Marti reminded me of the shit Terrell had been through and was worried about him starting college and having to go through the same shit. ”
Leslie cursed and pressed his fingers into his forehead just above the eyebrows. “It’s gotta stop. I’m not going to let anyone get hurt like that, not on my watch.”
“You can’t be everywhere, though. All you can do is lead by example and when someone fucks up, show them no mercy. If more of these assholes had limits set for them when they were younger, who knows? Maybe things would be better.”
Their beautiful conversation had turned dark, but Leslie counted it as a win that Joe was finally opening up to him. He just wished he was there before him, beside him, to walk with him and show him how serious this was to him. All of it.
“You know, talking with you all of these years changed me in a lot of ways, but probably the most important was that you gave me the motivation to confront toxic masculinity and stop letting it get past me. There’s gotta be a way to change this terrible dynamic in our corner of society or at least make a dent. ”
Joe sighed and smiled, still not looking at the phone.
“If anyone can do it, it’s you. Dammit Leslie, you’ve changed my mind from thinking it will never get better to having hope.
Why do you do this to me? Before I met you, I was content being this pessimistic ogre and you make me see things can be better. Why, dammit, why? ”
Leslie burst out laughing, which made Joe laugh, and the tension was gone.
“You make it to campus yet?”
“Almost. I’m near Jacket Pond. Man, that little house was going to be fun,” Joe said. “I love that you had it all ready for me.”
“I hate that it was ruined. I heard from Brother Barry that they’re going to have to rebuild all three cottages from the ground up. Too much structural damage.”
“Oh. Man. Oh well. The dorm isn’t so bad. I don’t have to set an alarm, I have the shortest commute ever, and I don’t even have to cook if I don’t want to continue eating clean.”
“Look at you, all positive and shit,” Leslie said with a laugh. “We’ll figure something out if you want to get off campus. Maybe there’s a house for rent—”
“It’s fine,” Joe said. “At least I can sneak off campus, right? And gallivant.”
Leslie flushed and his slacks were real tight now. He thought about Joe’s last visit to his house, and he thought about what might happen if he actually came inside next time. What if he spent the night? What if he…moved in?
But he was getting ahead of himself and he needed to slow down.
Slow and steady wins the race, Payton.
“Okay, I made it to Higdon. Oh, sounds like Matty’s got some friends over. God, I hope I can get past without them noticing—Oh hey, what’s up? No, thanks, heading to bed. Good night.” He slammed the door and Leslie laughed. “Phew, that was a close one.”
“You’re hilarious. Listen, I’m glad my brother called tonight on your phone, but you might want to change your password—”
“I don’t have it password protected. It’s old.”
“You might want to check your pictures then.”
Joe frowned at the screen and then his eyes went wide. “Oh my God, is that his nipple?”
“Probably. Randy is notorious at planting gems like that on unsuspecting phones. I’d suggest you add some security if you’re going to be out drinking with my brothers. ”
“Duly noted. Hey, I hope that wasn’t too weird. I was trying to be, um, what’s the word? Congenital? Congenial? Collegial?”
“Right. You sure you only had two beers?”
Joe rolled his eyes. “Listen, my old-ass unprotected battery is about to die, or I’d take you to bed with me and make you talk to me until I fall asleep, but that would be selfish since you need to rest. What time are you going to be back tomorrow?”
“Early. I’ve got to go over films with my coaches before practice. We’ve only got three days until the game and they start classes Wednesday. Plus, we’ve got fundraising to do.”
“Right. We’ve got a head start on you guys. You need to catch up.”
Les grinned. “Already working on it. Get some sleep, Twinkle Toes. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Goodnight, Leslie. And thank you.”
“For what?”
And Joe’s phone either died or he hung up, Leslie wasn’t sure. What he did know was that they’d had a major breakthrough. Not only were they going to have a getaway weekend, but Joe agreed to give this thing between them a real shot.
He was about to score in all the ways that mattered: a winning team and the guy of his dreams. He drifted off to sleep believing there was no possible way he could lose…and that maybe he believed that because the alternative was unacceptable.