Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 102549 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 513(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102549 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 513(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
“Do you swear at your other employees, Uncle Damon?”
“No. I reserve that special treatment for you.”
“I’m … honored?”
“Stop deflecting.”
I lean forward in my seat and run a hand through my hair.
“Oh shit,” Uncle Damon says. “It’s serious, isn’t it. Is it …” He gasps. “Is it a woman? Are you straight?”
I manage a laugh. “I know you’re trying to ease my nerves with humor, and I’m grateful, but—”
“Whatever it is, we’ll work through it. You just need to tell me before I freak out and think of the worst thing possible, like wondering if they’re even eighteen, and if you met while you were in college, then they’d be illegally young, and—”
“Not young. If anything, I joke about them being closer to your age than mine.”
“Them. Nonbinary? We can work with that, no issue at all.”
I suck in a sharp breath. “Not them, singular. Them … plural.”
I said it. I actually fucking said it. Yet the weight on my chest hasn’t lifted at all because Uncle Damon sits there silently with a real-life thinky emoji expression on his face.
“That’s the issue,” I say. “I’m thinking of the media fallout when Marcus Talon and Shane Miller not only raised two queer kids, but one of them is the poster boy for debauchery and sin with multiple partners. Peyton already has enough pressure piling on his career because of who our dads are. Add into the mix that he discovered he was bi while playing college football. I’m gay. It plays into the queer is contagious stigma when the reality is we were raised in an environment where we could be ourselves. It turns out I’m not only gay, I’m also poly. You taught me it’s our job to make things easy on our players. My private life could affect Peyton. Or Kelley and Torey. And anyone else I end up repping. But mainly, I’m worried about Peyton.”
Uncle Damon’s still quiet, but then he stands. He rounds his desk with a stoic look on his face, and my heart rate kicks up a notch.
“I’m fired, aren’t I?”
He stands above me now. “Get up.”
I’m totally fired.
On shaky legs, I stand, and in the next instant, I’m being embraced like my life depended on it.
“Is this hug a way to soften the blow of being fired?”
Uncle Damon laughs. “You’re not being fired, dumbass. But you do need the hug.”
He pulls back, and I meet his gaze.
“Uh, why?”
“Why aren’t you fired, or why do you need the hug?”
“Both.”
This time, when we sit, he takes the seat next to me instead of going back behind his desk. “First of all, when you say plural, how many are we talking? A quadruple circle jerk? A—”
I hold up my hand. “There’s just two of them.”
“And are you all together, or are you dating two guys at once. I assume they at least know about each other if they were both there at the house.”
“That’s another reason I haven’t said anything. We’re together when we see each other, but that’s hardly ever. One lives in Cali, the other in Virginia, so in between, I guess we’re single, even if I haven’t been interested in anyone else, and dating is a bust because … well, I’d rather be with them.”
“You’re not looking to add more partners or anything.”
I screw up my face. “I really hope that wasn’t a hint at an invitation. I don’t want to know what you and Uncle Maddox get up to, and no, I don’t want to share Kit and Prescott.”
That earns me a love tap upside my head.
“Do you hit all your employees too?” I shriek.
“No. Still just you. But I’m trying to think of a way to spin it if needed.”
My heart sinks. “So I am right. This does have the potential to hurt Peyton.”
“It does, but does that mean you shouldn’t follow your heart? Fuck no. You’ve put your brother first your entire life. You were as good at throwing a ball as your brother was. You chose to give him the quarterback position.”
“No, I didn’t.” Did I? “I figured Pop was an offensive tackle, so I thought blocking was in my blood. Just like being the next GOAT is in Peyton’s.”
Uncle Damon shakes his head. “Football is so much more than DNA and natural talent. With who your parents are, you could’ve played any position you wanted, and they would’ve hired coaches to get you where you needed to be. I know you say you didn’t like the pressure of football, but I always had the impression you only quit so you could be here, doing what you’ve always done—supporting and protecting your older brother.”
“I …” I pause. “I’ve never thought about it like that, but maybe you’re right.”
“I didn’t create this firm so I could make being queer in sports palatable for the straights,” Uncle Damon says. “You should live your truth, no matter what that truth is. Will it be more difficult? Will you and your guys be in the spotlight for a while? Yes. But any story can be spun. Any situation can be ‘fixed.’ Unless you’re screaming racial slurs from rooftops or they were underage or anything else truly problematic. Loving two men in the age of love is love shouldn’t be as scandalous as it will be, but it will be manageable. I promise you.”