That night after our argument, I sat in the quiet of my home and thought about my relationship with Macio. I couldn’t help but compare it to the failed relationship I’d had with Geoff. I had promised myself that I’d never let myself fall for a man who would deny me in front of his friends and family, yet there I was with Macio. Then I realized that it really wasn’t entirely the same thing.
In my relationship with Geoff, no one knew that we were anything other than friends. To be honest, I don’t think Geoff had admitted to himself that he was gay. He always said he didn’t want to put a label on our relationship. I didn’t know if he was ashamed of himself, thought it was a phase that would pass, or was too confused to know what the fuck he wanted. All I knew was that he made me feel cheap and dirty. Those were things that Macio never made me feel.
While it was true that Macio wasn’t out publicly, the people closest to him, except his brother, knew about our relationship. Beside Rico, Barry and Rupert were the closest thing to family that Macio had. He rarely spoke to his father and I didn’t think he cared too much what the man thought about him. Rico, however, was another story. He idolized his brother and I knew he worried about losing him. Yet, Macio didn’t seem eager to take Kathy home to meet the family either. It seemed it was a line he refused to cross, and though I suspected the reason, I needed to hear it from him.
“What does Rico think about your relationship with Kathy?” I asked the next night on the phone. I was certain that the two brothers must’ve talked about his new relationship. There was no way Rico hadn’t seen their pictures blasted all over the internet and social media.
“Aiden,” Macio said on a sigh. “I really don’t want to talk about this with you. I don’t want to fight with you.”
“That’s not what this is about,” I assured him. “I just…” I struggled to find the right words to say without leading him into the answer I wanted to hear. I needed it to come from his heart.
“Rico thinks she’s pretty and that she conducts herself well publicly. He likes that she comes across as an intelligent woman with a lot of passion and knowledge of the sport, rather than some groupie.” Macio chuckled then and I felt the deep timbre of his voice roll through my body. I was almost distracted by it.
“What’s so funny?” I asked him.
“Rico doesn’t think she’s the one for me.”
“What? Why?” My heart sped up and I sat a little straighter in my chair.
“He said that I don’t look at her the way he looks at Macy and I never bring her up in a conversation.” I didn’t think Macio could say anything else that would make my heart happier than it was, but I was wrong. “He also said that if I was as crazy about her as the media reported, I wouldn’t make excuses for why I couldn’t bring her to meet my family.”
A few days prior, I would’ve been stuck on the fact that Rico wanted to meet Kathy and wouldn’t have heard the rest. “Why do you make excuses?” My voice was barely above a whisper and raw with emotions only Macio could make me feel.
“I loveyou, Aiden. If I can’t takeyouhome to meet Rico, Macy, and the kids, then I’m not taking anyone. I don’t like this charade I play with Kathy, it feels wrong to me, and I’m not going to complicate it even more by dragging it home to Rico. Besides, I would never deliberately hurt you like that. I know how hard this is for you and I know how bad that douche hurt you. I’m not him; I’m not that guy.” God, his words were like a warm hug through the phone connection and were the spark I needed to get my head out of my ass.
I wouldn’t lie and say that I never had doubts after that, but I stomped them beneath the heels of my expensive loafers Macio hated so much. The first thing I did was turn off the Google alert that told me anytime a new story about Macio popped up. Then I deleted the fake accounts I set up so I could follow Kathy’s social media accounts. It was next to impossible to believe that what I had with Macio was real with those pictures in my face all the time. Kathy loved social media and it appeared she liked the attention she got from posting pictures of them together. I knew I was the one Macio loved and it was past time that I acted like it. I wasted no more of our precious time whining about Kathy.
I knew that my access to Macio would be limited the week leading up to his big fight with Jaxon Hardy. I understood that he needed to focus all his energy on his training because it would be his greatest challenge. Jaxon was a former champion himself and he wanted that title back more than his next breath. The cocky bastard thought he could easily take down my man to get it.
Instead of moping around my house from missing Macio that week, I went out with Seth or friends from work. Not every night, but more than usual. We went to bars to watch a few games or grabbed a bite to eat. My clubbing days were long behind me, so I easily turned it down when it was brought up.
“You still aren’t going to tell me whoheis?” Seth asked over dinner.
“There’s no one to tell you about.” It wasn’t lost on me thatIwas the one denying Macio’s existence. It felt horribly wrong and I hated it, but I had no choice. I loved Seth and knew I could trust him, but I would never betray Macio that way.
“If you say so,” Seth said in a sing-song voice.
“I do.” I sang right back to him.
I went about my week without a hitch until the night before I was supposed to head to Vegas. Seth had left the bar to use the restroom, so I checked my messages. The smile on my face when I saw I had one from Macio grew even larger when I opened it up. There was a picture of him and Caesar lying in bed with a caption that read:We miss you.
I stared at the photo longer than I should have. I started to respond to the message when I realized that Seth had returned to his stool. I quickly locked the screen and set my phone on the bar before I turned to smile at Seth. My heart froze when I looked into Troy Danver’s devious brown eyes instead of Seth’s guileless blue ones. Troy looked down at my phone and then back up at me. Fuck! How much had he seen?
I couldn’t stand bottom-feeding photographers like him. He wasn’t an artist; he was a damn paparazzo. People like him didn’t care whose life they destroyed as long as they got their cash. I’d be damned if he got to Macio through me. The only expression on my face was one of disgust. “What the fuck do you want, Danvers?”
My hostility didn’t seem to faze him one bit. His sneer for a smile made me want to kick him right in the gonads. “I hear you’re interviewing Macio again before his big fight.”
“And?”
“That’s two exclusive interviews with the extremely private fighter,” he answered.
“And?”
“I want to know why you, of all people, seem to be his favorite. You’d think a guy like him would steer clear of the controversial gay reporter,” Danvers replied. “It appears that the two of you have… bonded.”
I refused to be baited by him. I was controversial to some, but not many. I couldn’t get a feel if he had seen the photo of Macio on my phone or if he was just fishing. “And you want to know what the macho fighter and the limp-wristed reporter could possibly have in common.” I let my voice soften from the arctic tone I’d used earlier. I wanted him to think I was softening too.
“You’re damn straight,” Troy replied.
