Chapter 18 #4
“Speaking of—” his dad says at the same time.
“Oh, go ahead,” Leo says.
“Well,” Johnny says, “I was just going to say, speaking of your mom, before we fly out, I wanted to tell you that I’ll be sticking around Delray with her for a bit when we get back home.”
“For a couple weeks, right? Until Atlanta?” Leo asks.
“Um, no, actually,” Johnny says. “Until New York.”
“Wait, what? You’re not doing the summer swing? Is everything okay?”
Johnny brushes his hand against the white dahlias beside him. A sudden cackle from Tess erupts in the background. She’ll probably have a funny story to tell him later.
“Leo, you deserve a consistent coach. You need a stable team. I can’t be up and down like this. I know it threw you off in the quarters when I couldn’t be there last minute, and—”
“No, it—”
“Leo, you don’t have to do that. I know it affected you, bud.
I could see it in your game. So, if it’s okay, I’ll come to the Open, but I should skip the warm-up tournaments.
I should just rest up, crank the AC, watch from home.
And if it makes sense, I’ll rejoin you guys in New York. We’ll figure the rest out from there.”
“Are you sure? Maybe we could—”
“I’m sure,” Johnny says, and puts his hand on Leo’s shoulder.
“Okay but, Dad, you have to come to the Open,” Leo pleads, knowing that this is likely his last shot for them to win it together.
He suddenly feels much younger than thirty.
“We need you there. We … I can’t imagine doing that without you.
So, I need you to take care of yourself this summer.
I’ll come home when I can. But be ready for New York. Okay? Please?”
“Okay,” Johnny says, nodding. “I’ll be ready. And you will too, right? Keep practicing hard with Brian. This is your year. But, Leo, have fun, too. I want you to have fun. I do.”
Leo gives him a hug, hoping for some stability amid the emotional turbulence. He can practically hear the clock ticking—on his dad’s career and his own.
“Now, what were you going to say?” Johnny asks.
“Oh, um,” Leo says, sputtering. “You know what? I don’t even remember now.”
“Ah, I’m sorry. You sure?”
“Yeah,” Leo says, waving his hand, “slipped my mind. Must not have been anything important. Let’s get back to the party before everybody takes off.”
“Yeah, let’s go enjoy what’s left,” Johnny says, walking back to the group with Leo. “Happy birthday, bud.”
The summer swing ahead of the US Open is always steamy.
Over the next month, the players will make their way through a swampy American circuit—from Atlanta to DC to Cincinnati—as temperatures climb higher, an oppressive heat radiating off the hard courts, practically melting their sneakers.
But Leo’s dad is always quick to remind him, “It’s not the heat that gets you, it’s the humidity.
” Leo sort of misses those dad-isms as he inches closer and closer to the US Open without him there.
What distracts him from the anxiety that his dad might miss their last Open together, though, is that this summer swing is even steamier than usual. Playing the same tournaments, Leo and Gabe are inseparable, their bodies constantly finding their way to each other.
One night, in the Cincinnati locker room, Gabe walks past Leo in nothing but a white towel, which he briefly opens as he passes, flashing him. “Let’s go,” he says, nodding toward the showers.
“Excuse me?” Leo panic-whispers back, unable to take his eyes off Gabe, who’s slowly getting hard. “We have to be careful!”
Stolen touches, quick kisses. That’s as far as they’ve let themselves go in public. They’ve been good about keeping things clandestine. Really, they have. But did Leo actually think it would stay that way? Come on.
“Nobody’s here right now,” Gabe says, looking around at the empty locker room, then back at Leo with a mischievous glint in his eye. “Practices are done for the day.”
Leo does another scan of the room as he bites his lower lip. “Okay, fine!” he whisper-yells as Gabe walks away. He pulls off his shorts, yanking them over his own dick that’s now growing, wraps a towel around his waist, and scurries after him.
The curtain on each shower stall is pulled shut, except for one.
Leo can see steam wafting out of it farther down the row.
He glances over his shoulder one last time and walks toward it.
Inside, he finds a scene that may actually strike him dead.
A naked Gabe is facing him, fully hard, hair slicked back, soaping himself up.
“Get my back?” Gabe asks nonchalantly, that smirk of his slowly emerging, clearly aware that he’s causing Leo’s entire body to malfunction.
Well, not his entire body. He’s now poking out of his towel as he stands there, trying to grasp how he’s found himself at a tennis tournament, in a locker room, gazing at Gabe in a shower stall. It’s like a waking wet dream.
“Get in here,” Gabe says, hands moving in circles over his chest and stomach, spreading around the suds.
Leo drops his towel, steps into the stall, and pulls the curtain shut behind him. He knows this is risky. He knows this is the opposite of what Esme told them to do. But holy fucking hell, this might be worth ruining his career.
There is no speaking in the minutes that follow.
Leo couldn’t find the words if he tried.
He can only focus on muffling his own moaning.
One hand is steadying himself against the white tiled wall, the other is getting himself off.
Gabe’s hands grip Leo’s waist as he thrusts, slick thighs slapping against slick thighs.
Leo turns his head to glance back, and Gabe leans forward, kissing Leo deeply.
It’s a little sloppy and a lot wet, and he loves it.
He never wants this to end, but he can’t hold back, and releases onto the wall.
After Gabe finishes, Leo faces him, and pulls him in gently, arms wrapping around his back, hands pressing into his firm shoulders.
As Leo holds onto him under the water, watching dozens of drops slide down the curves of Gabe’s body, he senses it.
A feeling that’s been working its way to the surface over the past several months.
Over the past several years, really. And now it’s here.
He pulls his head back to look into Gabe’s eyes, and he’s sure of it now.
He can come clean, to himself at least. He smooths out Gabe’s hair and quietly admires how beautiful this man is, while water streaks down both of their faces, steam swirling around them.
Yes, he’s sure of it now. Leo is in love with Gabe.