Chapter 17
Seventeen
J oe
Joe fell asleep with a smile on his face and woke up with a scowl. It was his last day to sleep in before classes started and his phone started ringing off the hook as the sun rose in the sky.
First had been the director of Dance Machine calling from his apartment in New York, forgetting Joe was an hour behind, confirming Joe would appear for the October weekend.
Joe had kept his tone light and friendly while he was growling inside.
He let him know he’d be flying in that Saturday morning and that he had to leave directly after the show on Sunday so he could be back in time for school, which led to a whole conversation about his decision to put his career on hold for this job.
Not the subject Joe wanted to discuss bright and early on a Tuesday morning.
Next was Marti asking about football practice the night before since they hadn’t had time to chat when he’d stopped into clinics.
Fifteen new kids had showed up to clinics—including the B-boys from the club the other night.
It was a great start. More would likely show up today and then tryouts tomorrow would be a breeze.
“Your son blew the players away.”
Marti chuckled. “He is pretty incredible, isn’t he?”
Joe’s heart tightened a little at the warmth in her voice. If he would have had a mom like her…
“He is, but he’ll be trying out like all the others. Can’t have his head getting big.”
Marti laughed. “Without a doubt. See you this afternoon.”
He moved to get out of bed and groaned. Yeah, he was definitely paying for his showboating the day before. He was about to start his morning stretches when his phone buzzed again.
“Hello?”
“It’s Arthur, Joe. How are you?”
He flopped back on his bed. He wasn’t sure he had the energy to talk to anyone else this morning much less the rest of the week.
“Hey, you’re up early. How’s California?”
“It’s lonely without you, is that what you want to hear?”
Joe barked out a laugh. Arthur Frye, Joe’s long-time manager from Slade Artist Management, was almost as sarcastic as he was. Almost.
“Sure. I want to know you’re suffering without me.”
“My sleep certainly has. You talked to Duncan about the October Dance Machine appearance?”
“I did, he was call number one this morning. I’m all set.”
“How will you be arriving? I understand you’re out in the middle of nowhere. Do you need me to take care of your flight?”
“No, I can handle the flight. Either Leslie and I will be flying out of Kansas City or—”
“Leslie?”
Oh . He’d said it out loud. He’d wanted to try it out.
“Leslie and I.” He wasn’t sure Arthur was the best person for him to inform of his change in status from perpetually single to possibly in a relationship of indeterminate definition, but it was out and he figured all he could do now was go for it.
“Mm-hmm. Leslie Payton. He’s coming with me. If you can book our hotel room, that would be great. ”
Tee hee. He was relieved this conversation wasn’t happening on video call as his face was burning. Joe Judd, thirty-six-year-old man giggling about his new boyfriend.
“Leslie Payton the, um, quarterback?”
“Former quarterback. Currently the head football coach at Greenvale College.”
“ Riiiiight . He’s coming with you to LA because...?”
Arthur was great at his job and he mostly kept his opinions on his clients’ personal lives to himself, but Joe was sure he’d shocked his manager and friend with this revelation.
“I invited him.” Yeah, he was being coy. He couldn’t help himself.
“And I’m only booking one room? Uh, Joe? How long have you been in Iowa?” Arthur’s voice went way up at the end of that question.
“A week? But, uh, Leslie and I have known each other for a long time.”
“Ah.”
“Like, fifteen years long time.”
“Ah— Oh . Okay. You sure you’re ready for this? You know the press is going to go wild.”
The press . Joe wasn’t sure how he felt about it.
He definitely wasn’t sure how Leslie would feel.
They’d both kept their private lives out of the media for the most part.
Not that Joe had much of a private life to speak of.
There had been rumors about him and a couple of his co-stars in the past and he’d dealt with it by making flippant comments.
He figured if he didn’t take it seriously it wouldn’t get to him.
But was it fair to Leslie to expose him to the wolves at the beginning of his first season with the Jackets?
And what about this fundraiser battle? If they ended up all over the news as an item, how would that affect their football vs cheer competition?
“You make good points, Arthur, once again reminding me why I hired you.”
“You did, and as your manager, and I will do what you ask, but I can’t control the media. On a personal level, I’m happy for you and I wish you well. But maybe this isn’t the best time to go public. I also have something else to discuss with you.”
Joe climbed out of bed and stretched. “Thanks and yeah, hit me. ”
“Guillermo Diaz called me.”
Joe’s ears perked up. Guillermo was his producer from the limited run of West Side Story over the summer. Joe loved working with him. He had a fantastic eye for detail and was really supportive of the dancers.
“And?”
“He was curious about your job at the college because he’s got you in mind for a new project.”
Joe stood a little straighter. “I’m listening.”
“He’s going to be auditioning principal dancers for Kinky Boots and he wants to see you. This could be huge, Joe.”
“ Kinky Boots ?” His heart pounded in his chest. “Give me the details.”
Joe stalked around his apartment the rest of the day until clinics. He left Leslie’s texts unanswered as he brooded.
Not only was he going to have to tell Leslie that he was hasty in inviting him to LA, but he also had some difficult decisions to make.
Arthur’s call reminded him that taking this coaching job likely meant the end of his dancing career, a move he wasn’t ready to make, not really.
His mind ran through any possible scenarios where he could do the show…
“Hey, Joe, where you going with that gun in your hand?”
Matty gave him finger guns as he approached, singing the off-color song off-key.
Joe smirked and waved. He wasn’t in the mood for shirtless Matty and his flirty finger guns.
“I take it it’s going to be loud in here?”
“Yep. Really loud.” Joe didn’t care if he came across as an asshole. He needed to set a boundary with this guy. “I’ll give you the practice schedule, but until we have the athletic center rebuilt, this is what we’ve got. I’m sure you understand.”
“Rah rah,” Matty said, pumping a fist. Joe started to protest but Matty held up his hands. “I’m just kidding. Cheer on, dude.”
Joe waved and entered the lounge, instantly feeling better the moment the bright sun hit his face through the large windows.
The air conditioning worked really well, surprisingly, in Higdon, sometimes leaving him with goose bumps.
He set down his things and lay on the floor on his back, just letting his body melt into the wood before running through some easy stretches.
The sun felt great on his skin and the warm spot on the floor helped loosen his stiff and sore muscles and joints. It only slightly melted his foul mood.
“Hey, Coach.”
Joe turned his head to find an upside-down Leslie.
“Oh,” he said, scrambling to his feet. Too fast, apparently. “Head rush. Hang on.”
Leslie put a hand under Joe’s elbow and for a moment, Joe wished he could fall into Leslie’s arms and be swept away.
“You need to sit. Have you had water?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He couldn’t help smiling as he gazed into Leslie’s worried eyes. “I’m…hi.”
“Hey,” Leslie said, grinning. “I had a few minutes before practice. I wanted to—”
He let go of Joe’s arm just as the door swung open and the cheerleaders and hopefuls began trickling in.
“Clinics,” Joe said, putting his hands on his lower back. “Tryouts are tomorrow.”
“Right. I, um. I just wanted to touch base…”
Joe sucked in a breath as all the things he needed to say to Leslie flooded his brain.
“Absolutely. I’ll have to give you a call.”
“Hey, Coach,” Terrell said as he came in. He let his bag slip to the floor. “Your team walking okay after yesterday?”
“I’ll find out soon, I guess?” he said, then he frowned, likely in confusion as Joe was doing a terrible job of playing it cool.
“Right, well, let us know. We’ll try harder next time.” Joe grinned at him but it slipped the moment hurt passed Leslie’s face.
“Sure. Sorry to keep you. We can catch up later.” Les waved to the kids and started to leave.
“Oh, uh, I’ll walk out with you. Terrell? You’ll get them started?”
Terrell nodded and strolled over to turn the music on.
Joe slipped out the door and followed Leslie.
“Hey, sorry.” He smiled, but Leslie still looked confused.
“What’s going on? I thought—”
“You thought right,” Joe said and exhaled. “I’m sorry. It’s been a day. Can I swing by later?”
“I’m going to be working late. It seems MidAmerica have a new quarterback and I have no film on him so I’ve got Sandy doing research. We’ll probably be at it all night. I can call—”
“It’s okay. I know you’re busy. We’ll catch up…sometime?” Joe laughed nervously.
Leslie turned and attempted to block the view of oncoming traffic. He started to speak and was interrupted.
“Coach Payton? We’re meeting on the soccer field?”
“Yeah, Danny. I’ll be right there.”
The kid’s eyes lit up when he saw Joe. “Thanks for the workout last night, Coach Judd.” He waved and trotted out the door.
“What’s going on?” Leslie asked. “Did something happen?”
Joe opened his mouth to speak—though he wasn’t sure whether he would have come clean—and a larger group of footballers came pounding down the steps.
“Coach!” they all yelled.
“You’re all about to be late. You better hope you beat me there.”
The kids paused for a nanosecond and then ran like hell.
“Wow, they sure move fast”
“I’m sorry, I’ve gotta go.”