Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82543 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82543 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Growing up in the open household that I did, I knew if I hadn’t told them, then Brady would have. Or he would’ve at least heavily hinted and teased me about it, so I cut him off at the knees.
But the story has always been that it was no big deal, it was okay but awkward, and I had no desire to go there with another guy.
I thought they’d believed me, but with the way they’re acting, I’m guessing they didn’t.
I’m dreading this dinner. I don’t know if Levi is out, how he identifies, or even if he’s queer at all.
I was all cocky about his dick growing hard in my proximity, but that could mean nothing. Just like our hookup that made him come all over me meant nothing to him back then.
I don’t want my dads to pressure him into a corner about his orientation. Not that I think they would—on purpose—but I sometimes think they can’t remember what it was like to be closeted. They’ve always been so open. Sometimes too open. It’s like they forget not everyone is like that.
If he is queer, I would put money on Levi not being out to his family. Especially his dad.
When I hit the locker room, I get wide-eyed stares from some of the freshmen, but the other guys don’t pay me attention anymore. This happens when five-time Super Bowl winner Marcus Talon shows his face. Everyone realizes I’m not only his kid in theory, but he’s real, and he’s here. They all no doubt want an autograph.
And this is where people’s true colors show. As if on cue, Addison Knight, a freshman offensive tackle who has been nothing but nice to me this whole time, commits the ultimate sin. “Do we get to meet them in person?”
My heart gives its usual squeeze when that doubt clouds my brain. Every interaction Knight and I have had runs through my mind—from him telling me he chose Franklin so he could joke that he’s both a Knight and a king. Was that true? Or was it that he knew his quarterback would be a direct contact to the NFL world? When he came to a party at our house and asked if my parents were around, was it because he wanted to know how hard he could party or because he was only there to try to meet them?
This is what happens every time, and the entire team learned quickly that if they treat me like some kind of celebrity or kiss my ass because they want a meet and greet with my dads, it’s the quickest way to get on my bad side. Maybe I need a designated representative to give a seminar at the beginning of every year. Rule number one of FU football: Don’t talk about the quarterback’s famous dads. That’s it. That’s the only rule.
Green tells Knight to “Be cool.”
And I’ve found my representative. I love that guy.
So, as I try to shower and get dressed before everybody else so we can get away quickly without my dads being mobbed by my new teammates, I put on a brave face and ignore the mix of dread and excitement simmering under my veins over going to dinner with Levi. And my dads.
Together.
When I reach outside, they don’t look like they’re torturing Levi too bad. They’re all smiling and chatting, but then Levi’s eyes meet mine, and his wide smile falls to a cheeky little smirk.
I approach them and close my eyes. “They’re talking about all the embarrassing stuff I did as a child, aren’t they?”
“Apparently, your uncles call you and Brady ‘Destruction One and Two’?”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I mutter.
Tonight is going to be torture.
Kill me now.
CHAPTER FIVE
levi
Peyton’s teammates file out of the stadium behind him, so Peyton lowers his voice.
“You guys promised to be normal human beings.” Peyton sounds so defeated, and I have to say, it’s all kinds of adorable.
Talon and Miller, as they’ve insisted I call them, are hilarious, but I can tell they’re making Peyton uncomfortable.
I try to give him a reassuring smile, but then his dads make me laugh again.
Miller throws his arm around Peyton’s shoulders and says, “I don’t remember promising anything? You’ll have to remind me. You know your dad and I are getting senile in our old, old, old age.”
“Speak for yourself,” Talon says. “I remember everything. Including promising to embarrass the fuck out of Peyton in front of his high school friend.”
Peyton visibly cringes at the emphasis his dad puts on friend, and if I didn’t know for sure before, I do now. What happened between Peyton and me at my graduation party is common knowledge in this family.
High school me would be freaking out about them telling my dad, but this me, I have nothing to hide from my family anymore. Well, that’s not entirely true. I don’t have anything to hide from them in regards to my sexuality.