Chapter 26 Silas #2
Then I sent the tickets for Chase’s birthday and melancholy gave way to intense gut-wrenching anxiety. Cooper was coming to my game. And Ivy and Chase too. I was going to see them on my turf. In Boston. As friends.
Our texts over the past week were a bit more lively. Chase wanted to know if he could come onto the field, Ivy wondered if Liam and Alli would be there…and if so, could we get a pic so she could prove to her friends at school that she’d met them.
And Cooper…
Looking forward to seeing you in action.
If I drop a pass it’s your fault, I typed.
Cooper sent an eye roll emoji. Makes sense.
I didn’t send the heart emoji. I thought about it, but I was nervous. It meant something to me, and I wasn’t brave enough to weather rejection now. Not that anything was going to change. It wasn’t. This was just…a new phase in our friendship. I could do this.
“Let’s go! Let’s go!”
I grabbed my helmet, joined the melee of players getting revved up and ready to hit the field. We were playing Carolina today. This early in the season, it was anyone’s game, but we wanted it to be ours.
I was on the starting lineup, and you know…
I was a beast. I caught the ball at the thirty-yard line and ran for twelve yards in the first quarter.
In the second, I rushed for five yards, got the first down, then hustled to the red zone and caught the ball and dove into the end zone for a touchdown—our third of the game.
Yeah, we were fucking killing it.
“Man, you’re on fire.” Wilkins thumped my helmet during halftime. He was a journeyman tight end who’d been on three teams in the past four years.
“That’s what getting laid on the regular does for you,” someone piped in.
“Anderson’s posse is in the house! His girl has got him showin’ off.”
I could have let it go.
I didn’t.
“No girl. It’s a guy. I’m bi.”
Wilkins widened his eyes and nodded. “Okay. Cool.”
“Yo…let’s do this!”
I secured my helmet and jogged out. A shocked “okay” from one teammate, a few dozen to go, but…you know, it felt kind of amazing.
No guilt, no regret.
And it certainly didn’t slow me down. I scored my second touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter.
Boston won 42 to 13 in a resounding blowout, but you’d have thought the Super Bowl was on the line. It was our fourth game of the season, and the first where it felt as if all cylinders were clicking.
I fist-bumped my teammates, shook hands with players from Carolina, and gave a couple of quick sideline interviews of the “Great win for us” variety. My gaze wandered to the section where Cooper’s seats were. Their pass would get them through security, but the field was a sea of humanity.
“Silas! Silas!”
My grin was automatic and so blinding that the reporter did a double take and stopped to see who was calling me. No doubt she was hoping for Alli. The two kids racing toward me didn’t register as significant to her, but to me…it felt as if the world had stopped spinning to correct its axis.
I dropped to my knees and opened my arms, my breath hitching as Ivy and Chase pummeled into me. They were talking a mile a minute in tandem, revved up on adrenaline and a sugar high.
“The seats were so great, the game was so good, I was so sweaty, and Dad bought ice cream for us. And nachos. And we missed you. And can we hold your helmet?”
I handed one of them my helmet and stood. “Where’s your dad?”
“He’s right over…”
“Here.” Cooper smiled, that slow, sexy sweet upturn of lips that made his eyes twinkle.
My eyes burned. Shit. I’d miscalculated, big-time. I’d known I’d missed him, but this was more.
Much more.
This was a sign that the Earth’s axis was now correct, and every missing puzzle piece had clicked into place. This was what it felt like when there were no questions, only answers. And they were right the fuck in front of me.
I launched for him, pulling Cooper into a fierce hug. “I love you.”
Cooper froze and gently pushed away, his brows knitting as he searched my face. “Silas.”
“I mean it. Weird timing, but maybe not. I really don’t think anyone is paying attention to us, and if they are…
fuck ’em ’cause it’s true, and I’ve been dying without you.
Maybe that’s the way it has to be. I get it.
Life is complicated. It’s just that…it feels so simple with you.
So easy, so fucking beautiful, and—that’s all. I love you.”
I crossed my arms, then uncrossed them. Ivy and Chase were in our periphery, alternately studying my helmet and gazing up at the stadium lights with wide-eyed wonder. They had no idea I’d just gone skydiving without a parachute.
But Cooper did. He stepped close again and set a hand on my cheek.
“Can I do this?”
“Yes.”
“I love you, too. So much.” He cradled my face, looked deep into my eyes, and there it was…
Love. Hope. Friendship. A life together.
There was no “someday” attached. It was all within reach—in a sexy plaid shirt, lumberjack package, and I was done waiting.
I grabbed Cooper’s collar, dragged him close, and fused my mouth to his.
In public.
In the middle of a stadium surrounded by sweaty football players, frazzled or relieved coaches, story-hungry reporters, random strangers, and…Ivy and Chase.
For a few precious seconds, no one paid attention. It was just us in our own little bubble. I made the moment last as long as possible, knowing the world would look different when we came up for air. Millions of people would know I was queer and in love with a man.
And that he loved me too.
A-fucking-mazing.
I’d played at the highest level of my sport, made a lot of money, knew so-called important people, and had traveled the globe. I was grateful for the opportunities that had opened doors and made my biggest dreams come true.
But I had other dreams now and—
“Dad’s kissing Silas!” Chase chirped.
Ivy gasped, jumping up and down. “I knew it, I knew it! I told you they were in love!”
Cooper released me, leaving one arm draped around my shoulders. I was pretty sure my smile matched the wide, unchecked grin on his handsome face as the cameras found us and began clicking away.
Let them.
I didn’t want to hide, and maybe I’d just added some major complications to my career, but I didn’t care. I had everything I needed now.
Right here with this guy.