Chapter 21 #2
A week later, Grey had the money from Casey tucked away in his own bank accounts, we’d said goodbye to his car, and then celebrated with a bottle of champagne. The car had become a symbol of his enslavement to his father, and he’d been happy to see it go.
In the meantime, I’d set up a FaceTime call with my parents to talk about Christmas and officially come out. “Grey, come over here.” I patted the couch cushion next to me. Tex was out with his tutor, a friend of a pro hockey player no less.
“On my way.” With a broad grin, he fell in beside me. “Will Landon be home, do you think?”
“Oh, probably.” Where I excelled at sports, my brother was studious. “I’m sure he’s getting ready for finals too. He’s a senior this year.” I plucked my phone from the coffee table.
“Do you know where he’s going to school next year?” He inched closer to me and pressed his thigh against mine.
“Knowing him, I’m sure he’ll have scholarships at a few places.” I tapped the screen and FaceTimed my mom’s phone.
She answered, her brown hair hanging down the sides of her face and cut in a bob, her brown eyes lighting up as her gaze caught mine. “Malik, how are you, honey?” Her smile grew.
“Great, Mom. I’ve got Grey here.” I turned the screen to him and jiggled my leg as my pulse kicked. Fuck, this should be easy, but my nerves were firing all at once.
“Hi, Janice. It’s good to see you.” Grey waved into the phone.
“Hi Grey. Malik tells me you’ll join us for Christmas this year?” Mom ticked a brow.
“I am. I’m looking forward to it. I’ll help light the luminarias if you like.” He gave her a broad grin.
“Oh, we stopped using the paper bags a few years ago and have fake ones now.” She chuckled. “It was windy one year, and the bags kept catching fire.”
“Oh, that’s not good.” Grey furrowed his brows. “They’re so pretty, though.”
“We’ll have to do the Farolito Walk on Canyon Road while we’re there.” I leaned in to kiss his cheek and halted. Oops. “Uh, where’s Dad?”
Peering at me, she said, “He’s right here.” She looked off-camera. “Marc, quit fussing with the brushes and get over here.”
Dad came into view next to Mom, his dark hair a little longer than usual and falling around his brown eyes. “Sorry, I was cleaning my brushes. I got a few hours of painting in today.” His gaze shifted. “It’s nice to see you, Grey. How is your family?”
“Uh…they’re fine.” He dropped his teeth into his lower lip.
I should get this over with. “So, I planned this call because I have important news.” My pulse quickened even more.
“What’s that, honey?” Tilting her head, Mom gave me a warm grin.
“I’m, uh, I’m…Oh hell, Grey is my boyfriend now. We fell in love this year.” I swallowed hard and clutched Grey’s thigh.
Grey placed his hand over mine. “We’re both bisexual, Janice and Marc, and yes, I love your son. He’s…amazing.” He beamed at me.
Mom’s eyes glistened, and she covered her mouth for a beat. “Oh my God, I’m so happy for you both.”
With a shake of his head, Dad grinned and said, “Well, isn’t that something.” Pointing into the phone, he said, “I always knew you two had something special.”
“I guess I don’t need to prepare the guest bedroom.” Mom arched a brow. “I take it you’ll share Malik’s old room?”
“Mom…” I choked on a laugh and flashed a peek at Grey. “Yeah, we’ll share my room.” Twisting my hand, I laced my fingers in his.
“This Christmas will be extra special then.” She glanced away. “Landon, come and see your brother. He has a boyfriend now.” She waved.
Landon came into view behind them, his dark hair falling to his shoulders.
“Who’s his boyfriend?” His brown-eyed gaze found mine.
“Oh, Grey. Of course.” He tsked. “Hey, bro,” he said.
“Grey, welcome to the family. Though, it’s not like you weren’t one of us already. ” He lifted the corner of his lips.
“Thanks, bro.” Grey squeezed my hand. “I can’t wait to visit and see you all.” He dipped his head onto my shoulder. “It’ll be the best Christmas ever.”
Finals week was here, and Coach had given us extra time off to study. I sat at the dinette with my open laptop, tapping a mechanical pencil on the side of my head, working on the genetics class material.
Grey, sitting across from me, typed on his laptop, and then his phone rang. “Shit.” He picked it up, and his eyes grew wide. “Oh my God, it’s Dennis Brenner.”
“Well, answer it.” I set my pencil down and shifted into the chair next to his.
I knew Dennis had been assessing Grey, but we still needed a definitive answer from him, so this should be it.
The last time I’d spoken with Dennis, I’d announced our status to him, and he’d taken it in stride.
Hopefully, it hadn’t dampened Grey’s chances. Dennis had seemed fine with it.
“H-hello? Dennis?” His throat dipped, and he swept his tongue across his lips.
Holy hell, I wanted to hear this conversation, but it was confidential, and I couldn’t ask him to put it on speaker.
“Uh-huh.” He nodded. “Yes, that works. I’ll text you my email address, and you can send it there.” A smile erupted across his face. “Of course. I’m looking forward to working with you too.”
He did it. “Grey?” As my heart leapt, I shook his shoulder. “Are you signing with Dennis?”
“Just a minute. My excitable boyfriend is going crazy on me.” He set the call on mute and said, “Yes, I’m signing with him. He says a few teams have shown interest in me.”
“Oh, my fucking God, Grey. We’re doing this!” With a squeal, I jumped from my chair.
“What the hell is going on out here?” Tex strode in from the hallway. “Some of us need to study.”
Grey unmuted the phone. “Hey, I have to go. You have my verbal agreement, and I’ll send you my email.” He nodded. “Thanks, bye.”
I raced to Tex, grabbed his hands and jumped up and down. “Grey has Dennis fucking Brenner for an agent.”
“Seriously?” Tex whooped and jumped with me. “Best news I’ve heard all day.”
Grey joined us, hopping and grabbing our hands. “We’re headed to the draft, baby!”
A few days before Christmas, we’d flown into Santa Fe airport, and Landon picked us up in Mom’s Mercedes SUV.
A smattering of snow sat in patches on the ground, glistening in the afternoon sunshine, and as we drove through town, the familiar adobe-style buildings came into view, some with snow-capped parapets and wooden vigas.
Beyond the city, the peaks of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains rose, covered in white.
“How did your finals go?” I patted my brother’s arm as he drove and then peeked into the back seat at Grey, a contented smile on his face. It was wonderful having him here with me.
“Great.” Landon turned onto the street for the family home.
My brother was not always a talkative guy. “What university do you want to attend?” I gazed out the window at the pinyon pines and desert willows in the front yards as we passed. All the homes along our street were similar, sprawling one-story adobe style, with courtyards and wooden gates.
“I’m hoping a scholarship comes through for Stanford or UC Berkeley.” Lanson drove onto the circular driveway at our home. “But we’ll see.” He stopped the car and shut off the engine.
“Those are great schools. What do you want to study?” Grey stepped out of the SUV.
After hopping out of the car, Landon said, “Law. Mom inspired me.” With a smirk, he strolled toward the old wooden door, painted turquoise and leading to the front patio, surrounded by irregular masonry walls made to imitate the mud that a real adobe would have.
“Your mom’s an inspiring person.” Grey opened the tailgate of the SUV and grabbed his bag from the back.
I stepped beside him. “She is.” Pushing the button on the tailgate, I closed it and rolled my luggage through the open doorway.
“I’ll bet with her connections, Landon will work as a prosecutor right along with her.
” My gaze raked over the colorful Mexican pots filled with hearty-looking green plants, resting on flagstone.
Stopping at the open door to the house, I grabbed his hand. “Mi casa es tu casa.” I kissed his cheek and led him inside.
We strolled over Saltillo tile and past hand-hewn wooden columns decorated with pine tree boughs, red bows and lights and into the main room of the house, connected to the open kitchen.
“Hey, Mom, we’re home.” Two sets of sliding doors opened onto a long, covered patio and the backyard, and before it stood a tall Christmas tree decorated in red, green and gold.
Mom sat on a leather sofa, reading on her iPad.
“Oh, I thought I heard something.” With a quick laugh, she set her iPad onto a cushion, hopped from the couch and strolled to us, her sweater hanging past the top of her jeans.
“It’s so good to have you both home.” She hugged me and kissed my cheek and then did the same with Grey.
“Why don’t you unpack and then meet me and your father for a hot apple cider on the patio?
” She wagged her brows. “I’ll put some dark rum in it. ”
“Oh, hell yes.” With a glance at Grey, I tilted my head toward the hallway leading to the bedrooms. “Come on.”
He followed me to my room and stepped inside behind me.
“You know, I’ve never stayed in your room before.
” He set his bag on my old bed and unzipped it.
“This place always looks the same.” He ran his finger along the bedspread.
“It’s cozy and charming, the complete opposite of where I grew up.
” He unpacked his toiletries bag and set it alongside the sink in the en-suite bathroom.
“Yeah, well, we can make our own home however you want after we get our contracts.” I moved clothing from my bag to a drawer in the long dresser at the foot of the bed. “You can use the drawers on the other side.”
“Thanks.” He grabbed clothing. “How will this work if we’re playing for teams at opposite ends of the country?” He put his clothes in a drawer.
With a shrug, I said, “I’ve heard a lot of players have a central location they call home and rent a small place by the team facilities.” I glanced at him as I brought my toiletries into the bathroom. “It’s not like the NFL season is year-round.”
“Where would you like to call home, Malik?” He zipped his suitcase, stood it in the corner and then strolled to me. As he wrapped his arms around me from behind, he nuzzled the back of my ear. “Because my home is wherever you are.”
A shiver played down my side, and I placed my hand on his cheek.
“Let’s see where we land and pick a spot in the middle.
” I twisted in his hold and threw my arms around his neck.
“I don’t care either, as long as we’re together.
” He’d been talking a lot about our future lately, one in which we were a domestic couple, living together, picking out furniture, and such.
I loved it. I pressed a lingering kiss on his mouth, and he deepened it, sliding his tongue against mine.
With his lips brushing my mouth, he said, “I can’t wait to have you later.” He rubbed his nose against mine. “I brought lube.”
“Yeah? So did I.” I chuckled and pressed my plump cock against his. “We'd better not start now, though. My mom and dad are waiting for us.”
“Yeah.” With a sigh, he freed me, snatched my hand and led me to the patio doors in the main room. After sliding the door open, he greeted my father and sat at our resin wicker dining table.
Mom had laid out our steaming cups of cider on the glass table and sat beside Dad, who was at the head.
I greeted my father with a hug and took a chair beside Grey. “This is nice, Mom.” I scanned the expanse of high desert landscape with Mom’s rose bushes planted between and a beautiful view of the snow-capped mountains, the setting sun sprinkling them with long shadows.
Grey picked up his cider and blew across it. “This smells amazing, Janice.”
“Thank you. I found a recipe online and made it in my slow cooker.” She offered Grey a warm grin.
“Grey, how is your family?” Dad fingered a beaded bracelet tucked under the sleeve of his jacket.
“They’re…” He swallowed. “They’re fine as far as I know.” He set his cup on the table and stared at it.
Shit, I’d never told Mom and Dad what happened. We’d been too busy, and I wasn’t sure it mattered much. “Grey…” I squeezed his forearm.
“What’s wrong, son?” Dad leaned forward in his chair.
“Do you want to tell them, or should I?” My heart ached for him. I should have shared it with them and asked them not to bring it up. Fuck.
“I’ll tell them.” He lifted his chin, glancing from Dad to Mom. “My parents weren’t as accepting of us as you are.” His jaw muscle tightened, and he put his hand up. “They’re not homophobic, but my father wanted me to have a wife, like a female partner. He was very stubborn about it.”
“Oh, dear.” Mom’s brows wrinkled. “I’m so sorry. Are you not speaking now?” She studied him.
“Nope, and he cut me off financially.” He wrapped his hand in mine on the table. “But I have you and Malik and his friends, who are fantastic.” He scoffed a laugh. “Malik’s friend Casey bought my car, so I’d have the money to graduate from ASU and pay for training for the draft this spring.”
Mom’s brows popped up. “What kind of car was it?”
“An Audi S8.” He breathed in deeply and sipped his drink.
Dad whistled. “Damn, son. So, you gave up a car like that to stay with Malik?” Dad gave me a slow punch in the arm. “I hope he’s worth it.”
“Dad.” With a snicker, I shook my head.
“He’s worth it. Every damn penny.” Pulling on my hand, he leaned toward me and pressed a kiss on my mouth. “I love him more every day. I can’t see having a life without him.”
Mom sniffled. “Damn it, don’t make me cry.” Giving Dad a knowing grin, she grasped Dad’s hand. “I know how that feels.”
“Love you, dear.” Dad kissed the back of her hand.