“I know. Fucking vultures,” I snapped.
“Hey, language, bro, little ones are around.”
I smiled. “Speaking of… where are the munchkins?”
My brother led us into the dining room where the rest of the family were. Hugs and kisses were passed out and a great meal was eaten over a loving family conversation. Eventually, all of the media people were gone and we were really able to enjoy our time. I watched as Aiden played with my niece and nephew, he really did love kids. I did too. I hoped to have some one day. I thought we’d make wonderful parents. As for my brother and I, we needed our heart to heart, so we made our way to the backyard with two beers.
“So, how are you feeling?” Rico asked me.
I took a swig of my beer and smiled. “I feel good.”
“You want to tell me why you didn’t trust me?”
Okay, he was getting right to the point. That was how we were in this family. I looked at him. “Because of how dad was. The things he would say made me too afraid to come out when I was younger. You seemed impressionable back then and I thought that you were still that way. I thought you wouldn’t accept the fact that I was gay.”
“Ahhhh, I see.” Rico nodded. “Yeah, I was a dumbass teenager back then. I looked up to dad a lot, but after marrying Macy and going off to college, I realized he was wrong about a lot of shit. I also realized he was a shitty father. I made sure I’d never be that way with my own kids. I never want my children to be afraid to confide me in the way we were with dad. I never want my kids to ever question whether or not I love them. They’ll just wake up and go to sleep knowing in their hearts that I do.”
I nodded and smiled. My brother was an amazing father and one I inspired to be like. “You’re a great dad, Rico.”
“Thanks. Macy’s brother is gay… he came out at Christmas, to no one’s surprise,” Rico said, laughing.
I laughed too. I’d only met Macy’s brother once, but he had more sugar in his tank than an ice cream truck. He was out long before he officially announced it.
Rico wiped the tears from his eyes from laughing so hard. “Ohhhhh, god…. It was hilarious. Anyway, Macy also helped me keep my mind open. So when I saw you parading around with Kathy, I knew something was off. For as long as I’d known you, you were never into girls. Macy was like, ‘he’s gay, baby’. Then you did the two interviews with Aiden and spoke so highly of him… I started putting two and two together. Aiden was out, you were in… in love, that is. I’m happy for you both, by the way.”
I was grinning now. “That means a lot to me.”
He nodded and we clicked our beers together. “And fuck dad if he can’t accept that, you hear me?”
I was shocked to hear Rico say those words, but it made me love my brother ever more. “I hear you.”
“Good. Now, let’s go back inside, these damn mosquitos are tearing me up,” Rico said, slapping his arm, killing one. “Gotcha, bitch!”
I laughed and followed him back inside. This truly was the best time of my life.
The week after Macio came out was like living a dream. Most of the time it felt like a beautiful one that I didn’t want to wake from, such as getting to know each other’s families. Then there were a few dark spots that felt a little nightmarish, like the hateful voicemail message Macio received from his father or being stalked by the media. As frustrating as those moments were, the good times outnumbered them by a landslide. Macio didn’t seem to be too upset about his dad’s message and no gauntlet of story hungry reporters were going to darken my days and keep me away from my love.
The chaos outside Ringside Magazine headquarters was more than my editor, Jerry, wanted to deal with daily, so he asked me to work from home until the circus died down. He figured they’d get tired of waiting for a guy who never showed up and would move on. Now, Jerry didn’t tell me I had to work frommyhome, so I worked from Macio’s.
Macio went off to train daily and Caesar and I worked poolside. It was the kind of life I always dreamed of – I was referring to sharing a life with the other half of my soul, not the luxurious surroundings part. So maybe I did take a midday swim with Caesar every now and then, but I gave as good as I got. I prepared healthy meals for my man every night and pampered his tired body with my hands and lips. The truth was, I would’ve lived in a tent to be with Macio if I could pick up a Wi-Fi signal so I could work. Hey, he wasn’t the only one who loved his career.
I was blown away by the amount of support we received on both the online story and the interview that went into print all around the world. It was hard for me to imagine, but there was most likely a copy of that magazine in nearly every doctor and dentist office throughout the continental U.S. It was doubtful people knew that I interviewed Macio buck ass naked and there was a lot of heavy petting and kinky foreplay going on, but that was okay because people didn’t need to know everything. Macio had answered many interview questions for me that day, but two of his answers stood out the sharpest and would be words I’d hold onto for the rest of my days.
When was the first time you realized that it was okay to be gay?Honestly? It was when I met you for our first interview. You were this confident, sassy man who wasn’t afraid for the world to know that he was attracted to other men. I thought to myself that I might never be as brave as you, but I at least recognized that it wasn’t wrong for me to feel the way that I did.
What made you decide to come out?I could never be the man you needed me to be living in the shadows. I hurt you and subjected Kathy to a lot of negative press with my publicity stunt. There isn’t a title belt I could earn that would mean more to me than you do.
I was sure there were fighters who read the article and rolled their eyes or gagged on the sweetness of his words, but they were true and spoken from the heart. Let them underestimate his prowess in the ring since he came out as gay. It would be a lesson they never forgot, that much I was sure of. Surprisingly, there were no fighters who came out and publicly took a stand against him. I wasn’t sure if it was because word came down from the top that disrespecting him wouldn’t be tolerated or if the men just wanted to avoid a media shit storm like the one we were dealing with more than a week after the online article went live.
Fans of the sport, and people on the internet in general, however, didn’t show the same restraint as the ETC fighters did. The comments from the fans ranged from being disgusted by his “lifestyle choice” - which pissed me off because being gay wasn’t a choice – to supportive and even jealous. The jealous ones cracked me up the most. It turned out, Macio had a large fan base among gay men that he didn’t know about. Some of them thought we were “awwww, such a cute couple,” and others were like, “what’s he got that I don’t?” In the beginning, I often wondered what the hell Macio saw in me that made him want to turn his world upside down, and that was before he came out. My favorite commenter by far was the one who said I was “hot, but what the fuck was up with my loafers?” It was Macio’s favorite too.
“I love having you here, Aiden,” Macio said one night when we were making out in his hot tub. “Is there any possible way you could move here and still work for Ringside?” His question stunned me so much that I only stared at him for several long moments. “Forget it, baby. I know it’s too soon and it’s not fair to…”
“I’ll talk to Jerry tomorrow,” I told him excitedly. “Other reporters do it, so I don’t know why I can’t. Hell, I can do conference calls for meetings and it’s not that big of a deal if I have to travel to L.A. once in a while. It’s no different than any other kind of traveling I have to do.” I set my glass of wine down and straddled Macio’s lap, completely unsurprised to find how hard his dick was. My baby was a fighteranda lover. “Are you sure you’re ready for this, Macio?”
“Aiden, I’m only happy when you’re by my side. I would move to L.A. if I could, but Vegas is the mecca of ETC fighting. I’d have to ask Barry and his family to relocate or find a new trainer. I would do that if it was the only way to be by your side, but…”
“I’d never ask that. Either Jerry approves of the change or I’ll find another job,” I told him.
