"I hate all of you."
"Love you too, man."
I shower fast, throw on jeans and a hoodie, and grab my bag. The guys yell goodbyes and more jokes about being whipped as I head out.
Doc's waiting outside the athletic complex, leaning against the wall, scrolling through his phone. He's wearing that Doctor Who t-shirt I like, the one that's slightly too big and slips off one shoulder. His hair's messy, like he's been running his hands through it.
God, he's gorgeous.
"Hey, Doc."
He looks up, and his whole face changes when he smiles at me. "Hey, yourself. How was practice?"
"Eh." I shrug, reaching for his hand. He lets me take it. "Kind of rough. Tell you about it over pizza?"
"That bad?"
"Bad phone call before. Got in my head." I squeeze his hand. "But I'm better now."
Doc studies me for a moment, those dark eyes seeing way more than I want them to. But he doesn't push. Just squeezes back.
"Pizza it is. I'm starving."
"Same. I could eat like three whole pies."
"That's disgusting."
"That's athletics, baby."
He groans at the pet name, but he's smiling. I count that as a win.
We walk to my truck, and I hold his hand the whole drive into town because, why the hell not. The pizza place is small, kind of a hole in the wall, but they've got the best pepperoni around and a booth in the back that's practically made for us.
Doc slides in across from me, and I immediately regret not sitting on the same side. Want to be closer.
"So." Doc folds his arms on the table. "Bad phone call. Spill."
"Can we order first? I think better with food coming."
He rolls his eyes but flags down the server. We order large pepperoni for me, small veggie for him because he's "trying to maintain some semblance of a balanced diet," and then he's staring at me expectantly.
"It was my dad."
Doc's eyebrows go up. I've mentioned my family in vague terms, enough for him to know we're not close, not enough for him to know why.
"He heard some stuff. About the frat." I peel the label on my water bottle. "About how there are openly gay members now."
"Ah."
"Yeah. He, uh..." The words stick in my throat. "He wasn't happy. Wanted me to do something about it. Push the gay guys out."
Doc's expression doesn't change, but something in his eyes sharpens. "And what did you say?"
"I told him no." I meet his gaze. "Told him Tyler's my best friend and the guys in the house are my brothers, and he's wrong about everything."
"Gavin..."
"He didn't take it well. Said some... really shitty things. Brought up my mom. Basically told me to choose between them and him." I laugh bitterly. "Pretty easy choice, honestly."
