I shook my head.
Barry rubbed his eyebrow, which was something he did when he was frustrated. “That’s because they aren’t. For all we know, there are probably more men in the sport who are gay, but they keep it under wraps.”
“That’s what I’m going to do,” I protested. “It’s what I have been doing.”
He shook his head. “Fucking an escort to get your rocks off is one thing. They are discreet and they are gone a few hours later. You’re trying to have some kind of relationship with this guy. That means a lot of sneaking around, never being free to date in the open. This isn’t going to end well, Macio. For you or him. It’s best to break it off now before you both get in too deep,” Barry said, which was a blow to my heart.
I wasn’t blind to the obstacles that surrounded us… I just believed that what we had outweighed the risk, and I still believed that. I had to. Even though Aiden and I had to keep what we had on the down low, I’d never been happier. I loved talking to him for hours every night skyping with him and even our phone sex was hot.
“I hear you, Barry, I do, but—”
“But you’re going to continue on with this relationship and risk it all.”
“I can’t help what I’m feeling for him, Barry.”
He threw his hands up. “You’re stubborn as fuck, kid.”
“About this, I’m going to have to be, yeah.”
“Fine. I’ve expressed my concern.”
“You did.”
“If you’re going to keep trying to have a boyfriend, I guess I have to help you two idiots out so you don’t fuck up and get busted,” Barry said.
I smiled. “Thanks. Oh, Barry, there is a certain paparazzi bitch that’s been stalking me.”
“Yeah, I know of the bastard. For some reason, he’s made you his object of obsession. Troy Danvers, which is one of the reasons I’m concerned about this relationship. But…” He put his hands up, stopping me from saying anything, “I’ll work with you. You say this guy makes you happy, I want you happy. But I think we need to give the media something to talk about. Something that may throw them off your trail. With you seeing Aiden, you need to solidify your straight persona.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, slightly confused.
“You have this event coming up tomorrow night. I’ll get you a female companion that I want you to be affectionate with for the sake of the cameras…but not too affectionate.”
Oh, I wasn’t sure about this. “Ahh, I don’t like that idea.”
“Tough shit, kid. You have the media in your business whether you want them or not. You want to date this reporter, who is openly gay, by the way. That just adds on a whole other dynamic that makes trying to hide your relationship so much more troublesome.”
“How is going to this one event with a woman going to help?” I asked.
“Oh, it won’t just be this one event. You’re going to have to establish a fake relationship with her in order to successfully hide your gay relationship with him.”
“She’s my beard?”
He nodded. “Exactly.”
I frowned. “How much is this going to cost me?”
He laughed. “Knowing Kathy, a nice pair of Manolo Blahniks and you paying for every meal you go out on.”
I blinked, slightly confused. Kathy was Barry’s daughter, who at one point, had a crush on me back when I first started training with her father. But once I turned her down… three times, she let it go. “Barry, I’m not sure having Kathy do this is a good idea. I mean, she did have a thing for me.”
“She’s over you, Macio, and she knows that you’re gay.”
“You told her?”
“She asked me after you turned her down when she was eighteen. I knew she would keep your secret, just like I know now. You need people who can be trusted to help make this work for you,” Barry said.
“I feel weird doing this with your daughter,” I said, feeling skeptical.
