“He, uh, hasn’t had a serious relationship before,” Graham admitted.
She blinked. “Like …ever?”
“No.”
“Aww, you’re dating a fuckboy,” she cooed. “I love that for you.”
Graham snorted. “Thanks. Jerk.” He winced. Was it weird to call his ex a jerk and mean it in a joking way?
But Madison laughed. “No. It’s just funny. You went from wanting a serious relationship with a woman to dating a gay fuckboy.”
“He’s bi like I am,” Graham corrected. “And I don’t see how that’s funny.”
“Bi,” she acknowledged. “And I dunno. It just struck me that way. You’ve always been so … socarefulwith every choice you make. Always weighing the pros and cons and being sure you’re doing everything ‘correctly’.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“Well, c’mon. You’ve never exactly rocked the boat,” she pointed out. “I know there’s some family pressure and stuff, but you’ve never … never seemed tomindtoeing the line. It’s kinda nice to see you doing something different. Something unexpected. Have you told your family about him yet?”
“No, not yet. He and I … we’re kinda keeping our relationship quiet. Because he works for the Harriers too.”
He’d thought about telling Cory but, honestly, he was kind of enjoying having this secret. After a lifetime of always playing by the rules, it was almost refreshing.
“Yeah, I get that. That’ll be an interesting conversation when you do tell them, that’s for sure.”
“My family won’t have any issue with me dating aman,” Graham said. “I mean. They won’t, right?”
He glanced over at Madison.
She shrugged. “You tell me. I met them a handful of times and we got along well but it’s not like we were close.”
“I don’tthinkthey will. But I guess until I do it, I won’t really know for sure.” Graham sighed. “Honestly, I’m a lot less worried about coming out to them than what they’ll think of him specifically.”
“Why?”
“Well, he’s older than me,” Graham admitted. “By, uh, kind of a lot. Sixteen years?”
She nodded.
“But I think if he makes me happy, they’d be cool with that. I … There are some things in his past that might not look great. I‘m not really worried about what Cory will think, but there’s always the worry my parents will make a snap judgment about him when they find out.”
“Find out what?”
“Uhh.” Graham took a sip of his beer. Shit,thiswas where it got complicated.
Madison leaned in and said in a stage whisper, “Dude, can we stop pretending like I don’t know who you’re dating?”
“What?” Graham said hoarsely. “What do you mean?”
Madison laughed. “Oh, babe. I put it together pretty quickly. You’re dating your buddy Thad.”
Graham glanced around. “Yeah, but keep your fucking voice down. No one in the organization knows.”
So much for having a secret …
She winced. “Oh, shit. Yeah. Sorry.”
“It’s fine. We’re worried about what his brother will think though. They have this whole huge, complicated history and Gavin’s the GM. He’s my boss and while he’s not technically Thad’s boss anymore, he’s still why he got hired in the first place and …”
