Chapter 35 The Church Game
The Church Game
The church was massive. It looked like a convention center. Taylor knew right then and there that this wasn’t a normal church.
There was a whole entire section of the parking lot with just Ford trucks.
Like they had a truck meetup before church to thank God for letting them have matching trucks with their buddies.
Taylor thought it was a little over the top.
Fletcher passed the parking lot, pulled around to the back of the building, and flipped the car’s sun visor down to press a button.
It opened a garage door that Taylor assumed was for Fletcher’s family.
He pulled into an empty spot and put the car into park before taking a deep breath.
“It’s not too late to turn around,” Taylor promised him.
Fletcher had his hair nicely slicked back, and he wore a plain white polo with dressy shorts.
Taylor laughed at him when he pulled out an old pair of Birkenstocks from his closet and slipped them on.
Fletcher definitely looked the part, down to the gold chain that peeked through the collar of his shirt.
Taylor told Fletcher that he had no idea what to wear.
Fletcher went through Taylor’s suitcase and handed him one of his nicer dress shorts—something only an over-packer would think to bring—and picked out the polo Gretchen had chosen for him.
Fletcher fished a pair of tan Hey Dude shoes out of Taylor’s bag and joked that he’d fit right in with all the other churchgoers their age.
Fletcher pulled Taylor’s hair back into a low knot and proceeded to tell Taylor that he would need to learn how to braid because he “would probably do it better” than Taylor could.
“I was thinking that after the service we could walk along the beach. The church isn’t too far from it.”
“Sounds good,” Taylor replied.
They got out of the car and Fletcher had a moment of aggravation when another empty Starbucks cup fell out of the side door. “We’re going to the fucking car wash,” he muttered to Taylor who just laughed at him.
Taylor followed Fletcher through the back entrance, which led them down a long hallway of offices.
Fletcher pointed out a larger office with “Head Pastor” on a placard next to it and “Will Armstrong” below it.
The noise of chatter grew as they approached what seemed to be a large lobby full of other churchgoers.
“This is a lot of people,” Taylor said as he gave the room a quick scan.
Off to one side was another larger hallway with a youth ministry sign above it.
On the opposite end of the lobby there was a cafe that seemed to be serving breakfast. Taylor could smell the coffee from where he was standing.
It was a pretty contemporary looking church, but Taylor didn’t have enough of a reference to know what to expect beyond the wooden doors leading into the “worship hall” as Fletcher had called it.
“Are your parents here?” Taylor asked nervously. He was more nervous than usual.
“Yeah, they’ve probably been here since like six-ish. Dad definitely has been here all morning, but I don’t know if Mom came to any of the earlier services today.”
“How many services are there?”
“Two on Sunday mornings, one in the afternoon, and an evening service on Wednesdays just for members.”
“That’s… a lot.”
Fletcher gave him a look of agreement and nodded. “And it’s the same at the three satellite locations. They live stream the services here and play them at the other locations if people don’t want to drive all the way out here.”
Taylor thought that was a little absurd.
He’d never really considered the fact that churches could be so big that they had multiple locations.
He knew Fletcher’s family had money, but not four churches and a private jet money.
It didn’t necessarily bother him that Fletcher came from money, but it was still a little shocking to find out his boyfriend was brought up in a completely different world than he was.
“We don’t have to sit with them,” Fletcher told him reassuringly. “And we can leave at any time.”
Taylor shrugged. “I’m kind of curious to see what it’s like. Will we get to take a sip of wine?”
“That’s only for denominational churches. Lutheran, Catholic… our church is a little different.”
Taylor quickly understood what Fletcher meant by different as they walked into the main room.
Three stories worth of stadium seating half-circled around a large stage in the center of the room.
Fletcher told him that his family had their own reserved area off to the side with other families who worked at the church.
This was weird, Taylor thought. Like really fucking weird.
“I feel like we’re here to see a concert,” Taylor whispered to him.
“Oh, just you wait,” Fletcher warned him.
Taylor spotted Lauren and Laura sitting at the very front row. He could feel a pit in his stomach form as Fletcher walked over and leaned in to hug them. He could tell by Fletcher’s body language that he was just as nervous as Taylor was.
“It’s so good to see you!” Laura smiled as she leaned in to give Taylor a hug like they’d known each other for years. “Fletcher said you were still asleep when I called so I wasn’t sure if you would make it.”
“Yeah, because you called me at seven, Mom. Last night was the first night we really slept in like two days,” Fletcher complained.
“Taylor Piers,” a voice beckoned from behind him. Taylor turned and faced Sean Armstrong and gave him a polite smile and nod.
He offered his hand out to give Sean a handshake, but Sean took his hand and pulled him in for a hug. “Welcome to Jacksonville,” he said. For some reason it made the hairs on the back of Taylor’s neck stand up when he said that.
“Thanks for having me. I’m looking forward to helping with the camps,” Taylor told him kindly. He told himself to put on a brave face and to hold himself together for Fletcher’s sake.
Sean looked at Fletcher and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“It’s so good to see you,” he told him before pulling Fletcher in for a hug that probably lasted a little longer than it should.
From the look Fletcher gave him from behind Sean’s back, Taylor got the idea that this was out of character for Sean to act like this.
“Your grandfather will be so glad to see you again. It’s been too long, son,” Sean told Fletcher.
“I know,” Fletcher said plainly. Sean shifted past them both to sit next to his wife. Lauren was in the middle and Taylor and Fletcher were at the end of the aisle.
“I’m really fucking weirded out,” Fletcher whispered to Taylor.
Lauren must’ve overheard because she poked her head out and mouthed “see what I mean?” to Fletcher. Fletcher just nodded as the lights went dim.
A band walked up on stage and told everyone to stand up while they played three or four songs. Taylor didn’t really catch what any of them were saying because he was too focused on the fact that they had fog machines, strobe lights, and other little special effects that added to their performance.
This was a concert church, Taylor decided to call it. It was a full-on concert.
Finally, the lead guitarist told everyone that they were allowed to take their seats. Taylor held his breath as William “Bubba” Armstrong walked onto the stage. Probably one of the greatest hockey legends in the NHL to date. He was starstruck to say the least.
Although Fletcher and his dad had a horrible relationship, Fletcher had still looked up to his grandfather and valued a lot of his principles. Bubba Armstrong was known as a force to be reckoned with on the ice and a major philanthropist. And a pastor.
It was honestly intimidating to date Fletcher knowing he came from such an influential family.
Not because they were rich, but because the Armstrongs were so beloved by most NHL fans.
Bubba Armstrong put Florida on the map as one of the major teams to beat.
Even Taylor could admit that the Manatees were good.
It wasn’t until Sean Armstrong signed with the Manatees that a huge rivalry between the Manatees and the Seaporters was formed.
Sean Armstrong was two years older than Pancek, but they had been pitted against one another since Pancek joined the NHL because of an interview Armstrong did, claiming that Pancek was a joke.
Taylor had been obsessed with Bubba Armstrong long before he knew Fletcher.
He was even a huge Sean Armstrong fan when he was younger.
When he learned that he would be playing with Bubba Armstrong’s grandson at the first hockey camp he attended, Taylor was excited.
Until Sean Armstrong steamrolled over everything and crushed Taylor’s dream of being a team captain.
Regardless, it was still kind of surreal seeing him up on the stage, even if he was preaching about something Taylor couldn’t really bother to pay much attention to.
Not when his boyfriend sat next to him, tapping his foot and fidgeting with his hands.
Taylor hated that he couldn’t reach over and hold Fletcher’s hand or even rest one on Fletcher’s leg to try and help calm him.
He couldn’t bear to see Fletcher so nervous.
He was going to be whoever Fletcher needed him to be while they were in Florida for the next two weeks.
He would be his teammate. His best friend.
And in the privacy of Fletcher’s apartment Taylor would be his boyfriend and do his best to take care of him.
The service went by pretty quick. Taylor honestly didn’t even hear a lick of what Bubba was trying to preach about.
After the service ended, they all stood up.
Taylor was introduced to a few of the retired Manatees players he knew briefly about.
It kind of startled him to know they had all heard his name.
Taylor didn’t want to think of himself as famous or anything, but it made him feel proud of himself that he had made a name for himself in the NHL.
Enough that even retired players had been keeping tabs on him.
Fletcher’s mom asked if they were going to join everyone back at his parent’s house for brunch, but Fletcher told her that he was going to show Taylor the beach. Taylor had never seen the East Coast beach, so he was pretty excited.
Before they went to the beach, though, Fletcher stopped at a car wash.
He shot off the occasional complaint about the fact that Lauren had his car all scratched up as the car went through the automatic car wash line.
He pulled into a spot that had vacuums and Taylor helped Fletcher collect all of the trash to dispose of it.
“What if we drove back to Seattle?” Fletcher asked once they were nearing the beach. “I’m not leaving this here for anyone in my family to mess up.”
Taylor looked at him and smiled. “A last-minute cross-country road trip? That’ll take us, what, a week maybe?”
Fletcher shrugged but kept his eyes on the road. “Could be fun. Just the two of us.”
“Gas, hotels, food. How are we going to afford my in-unit laundry?” Taylor joked.
“Honestly, I think my rich hockey player boyfriend could swing it,” Fletcher said, reaching over to hold Taylor’s hand to kiss it.
“Well, I hope you and him live a happy life together,” he laughed.
“We will.”