Epilogue
The tide rolled onto the shore behind Cooper, clawing at the sand.
Coach White stood beside Cooper underneath an archway. Officially, White was officiating the affair. It felt right and besides, neither Cooper nor Nico were exactly the religious type.
Razer stood beside Cooper on his big day.
On the other side of Coach White, Matteo stood as Nico’s best man.
It was a small, intimate wedding with three rows of five chairs on each side of the aisle.
Three chairs were set off to the side, diagonal from the front row.
Each of the chairs would remain empty, with only framed photos standing on each.
One for Luke.
One for Elon.
One for Cooper’s father.
Stassi, her parents, and Amber—Razer’s wife—sat in the front row on one side, while Nico’s father and Matteo’s date sat in the front row on the other.
The rest of the wedding attendees included players from both the Cobras and the Knights.
Tommy Parker was lucky to get an invite, but after the enormous stress load the two of them put onto their agent, they pitied him and extended a peace offering.
Since coming out, life had come full circle in ways Cooper never could have predicted.
The modern family he thought he’d have with Luke and Stassi became a modern family with Nico and Stassi, though the terms were different.
Still, Stassi looked absolutely glowing.
If you asked her though, she’d say she was miserable.
Morning sickness does that to a lady. None of the three of them knew who the biological father was as Cooper and Nico both ejaculated into a cup and decided to defer to Darwinism to decide. May the best little spermie win.
In three months’ time, Cooper and Nico would get their first inkling of who had the stronger swimmers.
“Wings” by Birdy began to play as Nico made his way down the wooden steps from their Malibu beach house. Natalie walked behind him down the steps, and once they reached the sand, took Nico’s arm into hers.
An unfamiliar feeling erupted in Cooper’s gut. The fluttering of butterflies sent him into a state of ease. Nico had become his safe place, and as he made his way down the aisle, Nico felt as if he could melt into the sand. Every step Nico took was another step toward forever.
Forever. That word used to terrify Cooper.
Now, the thought of forever intoxicated him.
They wore matching outfits: pastel blue button-ups with navy blue suspenders, navy trousers, and barefoot on the sand. Once Natalie had escorted Nico to Cooper, she retreated to her seat beside her father.
Cooper took Nico’s hands into his. He’d spent the last week memorizing his vows and prayed he didn’t draw a blank. He was never the best at public speaking, despite what everyone always told him.
Cooper took a measured inhale before beginning.
“Nico Fallon, thank you for saving me. When we first met, I was a broken man mourning the life I thought I’d have.
It took me a long time to accept that life was gone.
You walked into my training facility as a cocky and reckless, but talented football player. And you are still all those things.”
Nico smiled, his eyes watering.
“You’re an incorrigible brat and a smart-ass, but you have the best heart I’ve ever known.
You glow with kindness. Even when the rest of the world is on their worst possible behavior, you are a light that shines through the darkness.
The road to this altar has not been an easy one, but I’ve learned so much along the way.
I’ve learned so much from you. I can’t wait to continue learning from you for the rest of my life.
Nico Fallon, thank you for being such a goddamn brat. And thank you for saving me.”
Cooper wiped away the tears underneath his eyes and exhaled. Learning it was okay to be emotional in front of others was something he was still working on.
“I don’t have a great memory,” Nico said, choking on a laugh.
He let go of Cooper’s hand, retrieved a wadded-up piece of paper, and held it with both hands.
He alternated reading from the paper and looking into Cooper’s eyes.
“I love you, and I think I’ve known that for a long time.
I love that when I’m a smart-ass, you put me in my place.
I love when you call me whatever nickname fits in the moment.
I love the parts of you that the rest of the world doesn’t always get to see.
The tender moments. The moments of comfort. I love your big dick.”
The crowd erupted in hushed laughter, uncomfortable or otherwise.
Cooper’s cheeks flushed, but he wouldn’t expect anything less from the man who always said what was on his mind. For better and for worse.
“I love your big arms. I love the way you hold me with those big arms. I love the way you wake up in the morning in a fogged blur, but jump out of bed anyway to start your day. I love the way you never gave up on me, even when I gave up on you. I will never be able to tell you how much I love you, but I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you putting me in my place. ”
Nico wadded his vows into a ball and stuffed them back into his pocket.
He wiped the bottom of his nose with the side of his wrist and took Cooper’s hands back into his.
Their rings were on opposite hands. When you reached the status of a football elite, the idea of another ring was so pedestrian.
They agreed on tattooed rings instead, and had them inked two weeks prior to the ceremony.
Cooper’s lips trembled, desperately fighting off the urge to break completely. He waited for those magical words from Coach White.
“I now pronounce you husband and husband,” White said. “Go on, kiss your man.”
It was the best kiss of Cooper’s life.
The newlyweds danced in a slow circle, their toes digging through the sand that connected them to the earth. The photographer snapped enough photos to fill an entire album.
“I still can’t believe we did this,” Cooper said, shaking his head. “How did we get here?”
“I’ll take most of the credit,” Nico said with a mischievous grin. “You were a tough nut to crack.”
“Thank you for cracking my nut, then.”
“I can’t wait for all these people to go home.” Nico leaned closer and whispered, “I have a surprise for you in the bedroom.”
Cooper jerked back, curious but also amused. “My interest is piqued.”
“You’re going to fucking love it,” Nico said with a wink. “It has something to do with my ass.”
Cooper could only imagine what that meant, but decided not to press further. He’d enjoy the surprise later. For now, he’d enjoy the moment of a dance he thought he’d never have.
Nico insisted on the traditional bouquet thing, where the bride throws the bouquet behind her and whoever catches it has to get married next.
Cooper attempted to explain to Nico multiple times that’s not how it worked, but Nico insisted those were the rules.
Instead of a bouquet, it was a football.
So odds were one of the football players in attendance would be the one to catch the damn thing, and Cooper knew none of them were even close to getting married.
But Cooper supported everything Nico wanted to do, except for adopting a raccoon, which was both insane and illegal in the state of California. He watched as Nico lined up in front of all the single ladies and men in the crowd, and tossed the football behind him. It was caught by Austin Andrews.
And yeah, ain’t no way in hell he’d be the next one married. Not a chance in holy fuck.
Nico congratulated Austin on his never-to-be nuptials and climbed onto Cooper’s lap, sitting with his feet kicked over the side.
Cooper took it all in as the sun began to set over the ocean.
This beautiful collection of people he considered a family.
It wasn’t the family he was born into, but a family he had found for himself.
It was composed of ex-lovers, people he’d played with, people who’d been on rival teams, staff, and management.
Tommy approached, nursing a bottle of beer. “Congratulations to the two of you. I also want to thank you both for turning my life into a nightmare for the past two years.”
“You are welcome,” Nico responded. “Sorry that Coop stole me from you.”
“Please,” Tommy scowled jokingly. “He honestly did me a favor. If I had to deal with you for the rest of your career, I think I’d have an early aneurysm. That stunt you pulled on Christmas almost landed me in the hospital.”
Cooper no longer needed an agent and he poached both Nico and Matteo from Tommy.
There came great freedom with coming out, but there were also downsides.
Some of the fears Cooper always had turned out to be a little too on the nose.
There were viral videos of players burning both Cooper and Nico’s jerseys.
That’s to say nothing of Matteo’s unfair benching.
When Cooper left the stage at the seventh annual Luke Davies Gala, he had no idea what he would do for the rest of his life.
After rekindling with Nico, he realized pretty quickly that he would transition into helping others.
Notably, he would serve as an agent for queer athletes, not just in football but other sports.
There were five players currently on his roster, and all were in attendance.
Nico Fallon, the best damn quarterback in the league—now that he himself was retired.
Matteo Reyes, the wide receiver whose ability to catch passes was only rivaled by his ability to sniff out someone in the closet.
Austin Andrews, a rookie tight end signed to the Nashville Outlaws.
Tomas Locke, a Canadian hockey player signed to the New York Scrapers hockey team.
Bastian Tuck, a promising young pitcher signed to the Charleston Sailors.
In the name of Luke, Cooper would ensure they all had the lives they wanted. The lives they deserved. His mission going forward was to make sure no other professional athlete ever had to create a cage for themselves.
The cage was cracked, broken, and shattered.
And two yellow birds were free.
THE END