Chapter Thirty-One #3
The room service came and they spread it out on the bed and devoured it naked with the Golden Girls on mute.
They got sauce on the comforter, which Elliot felt bad about, until Dustin pointed out that there was so much come all over everything that some fettuccini Alfredo was going to be the least of their problems. Afterward they sat with Dustin against the headboard and Elliot’s head in his lap again.
Exhausted didn’t begin to describe how he felt.
The reality of what he’d done tonight was beginning to sink in, and the prospect of what was waiting for them after this weekend felt suddenly overwhelming.
“We should probably figure out what we’re actually going to do,” he said, not actually wanting to do that.
Dustin didn’t say anything for a while. His arm was draped over Elliot, his thumb making small circles on his hip, and Elliot could tell he was composing words as he sat there idly doing that. Eventually, he said, “I think I’m just gonna move to Tampa.”
Elliot’s heart went completely upside-down. He looked over his shoulder. “What?”
Dustin looked down. “If that’s okay with you.”
“It’s…yeah?”
“I think I wanna get involved in the foundation here. Do something for the community. I could do it in Portland but…you’re here.”
Elliot’s heart fluttered. “Something for the community like what?”
Sighing, Dustin picked up the remote and clicked off the TV. “I’ve been doing a lot of reading…” He leaned over and put it back on the nightstand. “Do you actually wanna know?” Elliot nodded and watched Dustin wind one of his damp curls around his finger while he organized his thoughts.
“So…the percentage of queer kids that are at risk from substance abuse is just…way higher than it is for cis and straight kids,” said Dustin. “Like, it’s crazy. And obviously a hockey foundation isn’t gonna fix that, but it’s a way for people to find a support system.”
Elliot smiled. “Wow, ‘cis’. Look at you.”
Dustin pinched him, smiling. “But I also think… I know there’s a lot of local stuff that happens for queer kids already, and some of them are playing in community leagues, but it doesn’t seem like there’s a pipeline for them to get where we are.
” He looked down. “You know? There’s a disconnect.
And it’s great that people are gonna see you now, and me, I guess – but I think this has to be about more than just the players.
It can’t all come down to you and Arsenault and Riley Webb.
There needs to be people pushing everywhere.
The league is missing out by not making it easier for more kids like you to come up.
You shouldn’t need to be a once-in-a-lifetime talent to get to where you are from where you were. ”
Elliot smiled. “You really did do research.”
“It’s what I do.”
He tucked his head back into Dustin’s lap. “Diego’s gonna be ecstatic if you actually move to Tampa.”
Dustin tipped his chin back to look at him. “And what about you?”
“Sí, claro. Of course.”
“Are you sure?”
Elliot hesitated. Dustin looked worried that he wasn’t going to say “Yes,” so he quickly did, and then added, “Do you have to join the foundation, though? Because I was thinking…I don’t know, maybe this is stupid.
But since you’re retired and you obviously need something to do…
I was wondering if…maybe you could be my agent? ”
He’d been thinking about this a lot recently. He wasn’t sure if it was actually what he wanted, or just a way to get Dustin to be around all the time.
Dustin’s eyebrows jumped in surprise. Then he laughed. He laughed pretty hard, for a long time, and squeezed Elliot’s hip. “No, Amigo. Sorry. I don’t think that’s gonna work.”
Elliot felt his heart sink. “Why not?”
“Because you’re a once-in-a-lifetime talent, and I have zero idea what I’m doing. Call Gallagher if you’re shopping around for someone new.”
“You could learn. Research it.”
“Roddy, I would do a terrible job.”
“I don’t think so.”
“That’s nice. But you’re wrong. Plus, you have to be certified, and that’s a nightmare of bureaucracy I don’t want.
” Dustin stroked his hair and smiled, like he could see how disappointed Elliot was.
Then something shifted in his face, and Elliot felt a thread of nervous tension stretch between them.
“What?”
Dustin watched his fingers, but now he was doing it in a way that suggested he couldn’t quite look Elliot in the eye. Very slowly, he said, “Well…there’s actually another reason why that probably wouldn’t work. A more important one.”
“Which is what?”
A long, long pause while Dustin stroked his hair and put words together in his head, then he looked Roddy in the eye and said, “It would be a major conflict of interest. Because I think…I’m in love with you?”
Elliot felt all the air go out of the room. He went absolutely, perfectly still, and so did Dustin, and they stared at each other like terrified children, until Dustin said, “You don’t have to say–”
“IthinkI’minlovewithyoutoo,” said Elliot. Very quickly, like he was afraid it might not all come out if he didn’t say it as fast as possible. His heart was pounding like a stadium full of people watching two grown men kiss each other. Somehow it was louder.
Dustin swallowed. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Elliot nodded.
“Okay. Well that’s…good..”
“Do you wanna say it again?”
“Kind of feels like we should?”
Elliot nodded. “I…love you?”
“I love you too. Should we…kiss? Or something?”
Elliot laughed, and it was like the air came back into the room. He grabbed Dustin by the back of the neck and pulled his mouth to his, half upside-down, and held him there.
“So yeah,” said Dustin, as he pulled away and looked down at him. “Probably not a good idea for me to be your agent.”
Elliot laughed and turned onto his side again with his head in Dustin’s lap. He felt giddy. “Fine,” he said. “But you’re gonna move to Tampa.”
“I’m gonna move to Tampa.”
“And you’re gonna move in with me.”
A surprised pause. “If you want.”
“And cook for me.”
Dustin chuckled. “Risky. But okay.”
He tipped Elliot’s face back up to his and kissed him again, and then wrapped his arms around him and pulled him onto his chest as he lay down flat on the bed. Elliot braced on his forearms. “Jesus, we’re not gonna do it again, are we?”
Dustin laughed. “No. You need to sleep. I don’t wanna get blamed if your game goes out the window on Sunday because we were up all weekend doing it.”
“Oh God.” Elliot’s stomach dropped. “That’s what people are gonna say, aren’t they? That we’re just fucking all the time.”
“Probably. To be fair, they wouldn’t be wrong.”
“Ugh, I don’t know if I can do this.” Elliot dropped his forehead to Dustin’s shoulder. “It’s gonna be so weird and creepy. There’s gonna be pictures everywhere.”
He felt Dustin rubbing gentle circles on his back. “You might be surprised. I don’t think most people are as bad as the media tells us.”
“You know they were already asking me at the press event, like, what we are?” He lifted his head. “‘Is he your boyfriend?’ ‘How long have you been together?’ ‘Was that the first time you kissed?’ ‘Isn’t he a little old for you?’ ‘Is that why he retired?’ Like…what? I didn’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. It won’t always be like that – PR will manage it better when it isn’t an unprecedented free-for-all.”
Elliot sighed. He stacked his hands on Dustin’s chest with his chin on top of them and studied his lumberjack beard. Maybe he was right. Tonight had been pretty crazy – he only had himself to blame for that. He didn’t regret it though. Maybe it wouldn’t always be that bad.
And if it was, he’d have Dustin. Researching. Helping him figure it out. Anyway, Elliot had more important things to worry about than the media. Like helping Dustin stay healthy, and setting a good example for the kids.
He turned his head to the side and put his ear on Dustin’s chest. “Fine,” he said. “I won’t worry about it yet. But I have a question.”
“Mm.” Dustin’s default response. It rumbled into Elliot’s ear like a sleepy purr.
“What should I call us?”
“Mmmm…” A deeper, more thoughtful rumble. “For the media?”
“Yeah. Like if they ask me again, what should I say? Lovers? Because ew, no. Partners? Bennriguez? Roddy and Dusty?”
Dustin snorted.
“I’m serious, though.”
Dustin was quiet for a while, thinking about it.
Then he tipped Elliot’s chin up and studied his face again.
His eyes were squinty, with tiny lines at the corners, and he looked so much like the legend in the cowboy movie, and also the legend Elliot had been in love with his whole life, that Elliot thought he might completely go on fire.
Dustin smiled. He got a kind of wily look. He leaned in and kissed him.
“You and me, kid?” he said. “Pretty sure we’re wingmen.”
THE END
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