After close to ten minutes, Dev hefted the bag on his shoulder. “Okay, guys. Blink and I gotta get goin’, but we’re in town, getting ready to do a fund raiser for the shelter on Walnut Street. Posters will be going up, so keep an eye out. We’ll be doing meet and greets and raffles, so you won’t want to miss it.”
An excited buzz rose through the crowd, and Dev and I made our getaway. He waited until we’d hit the highway, then leaned over, kissed me, and sighed.
“I missed you.”
I took his hand in mine. “Same. I was thinkin’ how much I used to like bein’ by myself after a full season surrounded by the team, but it ain’t true. Not anymore.”
Dev played with my fingers. “Yeah. Instead of calling people I know to meet and hang out, I sat in my apartment, staring out the window, wondering what you were doing.”
“So you didn’t hit the clubs or go out?” I knew I didn’t have to worry about Dev stepping out on me, but it was good to hear it from his lips.
“Why bother? The only person I’d want to be with is you. I’m tired of faking it to make everyone else happy. When do we get our chance?”
I didn’t have an answer for him, and I squeezed his hand. “I don’t know.”
Once home and sitting together on the couch, Dev’s head in my lap, he reached up to grasp me around the neck and bring my lips to his.
“I told Ezra I’m gay.”
“You…did? Why?” Fear shot through me, and it must’ve revealed itself on my face because Dev shook his head. “No. I didn’t mention you at all, if you’re worried. That’s your story to tell, not mine.”
“I’m not worried. I know you wouldn’t. But what made you do it?”
Sighing from his whole chest, Dev swung his legs over the couch and sat up to face me, more solemn than I’d ever seen him. “I was in his office and saw the pictures of him and his husband. He’s married and happy. They’re going to have a family. I-I got so angry that because of what we do, we’re forced into this corner, where we can’t have that. If anyone could understand, it’s him. So I told him.”
“He’s a good guy.”
“He is.”
Something changed in Dev’s expression. I knew him so well by now that I could tell there was more.
“And what else?”
Nervouswasn’t a word in Devlin Summers’s vocabulary. He attacked everything with the confidence he’d been born into. But here he was, chewing on his lip. Hesitant. So I waited.
“As I sat in Ezra’s office, I got an idea. About how we could be together.”
I frowned. “What’re you talkin’ about?”
Those bright-green eyes flared to life. “It’s almost four years that we’re playing now. Our rookie contracts are coming up.”
“Yeah, I know. Ezra told me he’s had offers from other teams, but I don’t wanna move farther away.”
“How about closer?” Dev cupped my cheek. “What if you came to the Kings?”
I stared at him. “What? Your team?”
Excited, he nodded. “It’s the perfect answer. The Lonestars don’t need a quarterback—they’ve got their starter, who’s great, and they just signed the top draft pick last year, so it wouldn’t make sense for me to go to your team—and Ezra said the Kings are gonna make me a great offer, he’s just working out the details. But…what if you could come play on the Kings? We need offense, especially someone big and strong yet quick. You’re one of the top tight ends in the country. The Kings like their stars. The fans demand it, and they have the payroll for it.”
“I-I dunno. I never thought about it. What did Ezra say?”
“I didn’t mention it to him because I wanted to talk to you first. Plus, I’d just come out to him and said I had a boyfriend.” He brushed his lips to mine. “I think he’d figure it out pretty easily if I mentioned bringing you to my team.”
“Wow, I guess…yeah…that could be amazing. But wouldn’t they have already made inquiries if they were interested?”
“Not necessarily. You know how fast these things can happen. Right now they’re focusing on defense, but I know one of our tight ends has been talking about retiring lately. You can talk to Ezra about it, and he can put out feelers. The Kings have a solid general management team, always searching for the best. Their owner is gay. If anything damaging ever happened to us, I bet we’d have his support.”
“Yeah, that’s true. I’ve seen articles about him.” Anticipation rushed through me. “It would be pretty fuckin’ awesome to be on the same team again.”
