Chapter 35 #2
Mike shrugged, pulling off his baseball cap, spinning it around in his hands before settling it back onto his head.
“Since this morning. I Googled the team.” He pointed again at the screen.
“Dillion Hawthorne’s the captain, right?
She’s hilarious on Twitter. And rumor is the coach is a dick. Is that true, Caleb?”
Caleb shrugged, but beside him, Jamie muttered under his breath. “Bloody right he is. He’s been blatantly homophobic toward some of the queer players on the team.” His gaze flicked briefly to Caleb. “And toward Caleb.”
“What?!” Bri’s voice jumped an octave.
“That’s so fucked,” Mike said, taking a sip of his Sprite. “I read one of the players opened an investigation, something about him breaking league harassment and discrimination rules.”
“What? I didn’t hear about that.” Caleb turned toward Jamie. “Is that true?”
There’s no way that happened without him knowing. Surely Sally or Ang would have told him—
“It’s true,” Jamie said quietly, his eyes still fixed on the television. “It was Angie.”
On the screen, the teams were lining up for the coin toss. The captains shook hands before jogging back toward their huddles.
Behind him, his father grunted. “I hope they kick Arsenal’s ass.”
Derrick didn’t care about these teams. Hell, he didn’t know anything about the league. But he always picked a side, and it warmed Caleb’s chest that he’d chosen his.
Jamie squeezed his hand, drawing Caleb’s attention away from the television. His eyes looked nervous behind his glasses, the lenses smudged as if he’d been taking them off and putting them back on over and over again. “Can we talk? After this?”
Caleb nodded immediately. “Of course, love.” Jamie turned back toward the television, but Caleb lingered on his profile for a moment, studying the tension in his jaw and the way he kept fidgeting with his fingers. He wondered why Jamie didn’t tell him about Angie filing a discrimination complaint.
His attention snapped back to the screen as the referee blew the whistle to start the match.
Only… neither team moved.
Instead of breaking into their positions, both teams slowly drifted toward the center of the field, gathering together in a tight circle.
“What are they doing?” Bri asked, looking over at Caleb. “Is this normal?”
“No, I have no—” He stopped mid-sentence as the two captains leaned in close to whisper to each other. A moment later, Dillion reached into the pocket of her shorts and pulled out a large bundle of fabric, handing one end to the Arsenal captain.
Walking apart from one another, they began carefully unraveling it. A massive rainbow flag spilled open across the pitch, held on the edges by all the players.
“Oh my God,” Caleb breathed. Jamie’s hand tightened around his, gripping so hard it almost hurt. On the television, Sally quickly brushed tears from her face while Angie flashed a smile toward the nearest camera. Dillion raised her middle finger high in the air.
Camera crews flooded onto the pitch, swarming the captains.
“We will not be playing today,” Dillion said clearly into the microphone, the Arsenal captain nodding solemnly behind her.
“When the League decides to put sports and competition over people, we as athletes cannot just stand by. The harassment and discrimination in this league have gone too far, and we’ve been told to stay quiet and complicit. ”
She glanced over her shoulder at her teammates before turning back to the cameras.
“And, yeah. Fuck that.” The broadcast didn’t manage to bleep the word in time.
“Hell yeah!” Mike whooped from the other side of the room, one of the nurses quickly agreeing with him. More hospital staff started filing in as they heard the commotion, peering around the doorway and chiming in with “whoa, that’s crazy!” and “good for them!”
Caleb heard a soft snort from the hospital bed behind him and turned just in time to see his father shaking his head, a quiet chuckle rumbling out of his chest.
“Thought I’d see some sports today,” Derrick muttered, closing his eyes and lying back in his bed. Caleb felt his stomach drop until his father added quietly, “Good for those girls.”
Caleb turned back to Jamie, who watched his friends on the screen with a wistful smile. His green eyes were watery.
“I’m so proud of them,” Jamie said softly. Then his eyes shifted and locked onto Caleb’s. “And you.”
“Did you know they were doing this?”
Jamie nodded, looking a little guilty. “I’m sorry. They told me not to tell you. They didn’t want you to fret about it.”
They were right, he absolutely would have fretted. He didn’t even realize he had tears in his eyes until Jamie leaned forward and brushed them away gently with both thumbs.
Across the room, Bri and Mike were chatting excitedly with the nurses, talking about how incredible it was that the players had stood up for each other like that. His phone began dinging frantically in his pocket, but Caleb barely heard any of it.
All he could see was Jamie. His Jamie.
“I am not going to let them cut you from summer camp, Caleb,” Jamie said seriously. “Neither will the girls. If you want to put that on your medical school applications, you will be there. You and Sally and anyone who wants to should be allowed—”
Caleb cut him off by capturing his lips. His free hand slid around Jamie’s lower back, pulling him closer.
“I love you so much,” he whispered against his lips.
“I—I love you too,” Jamie said softly, leaning in for a second kiss. When they pulled away, Jamie pushed his glasses up his nose, suddenly looking very nervous again.
“Could we… step outside for a moment?”
Caleb frowned slightly. “Now?”
Jamie’s gaze flicked to his family and then to the door. “Yes, now. Right now.” Jamie’s green eyes locked back onto his, a mixture of excitement and fear shining in them.
“There’s, erm, something I’d like to ask you.”