“The Gays Can Play guys always get together over the summer for a couple weeks on a yacht. It’s massive and luxurious and expensive.” He laughs. “I’ve asked them to holdoff scheduling in case you want to go. We try to book it for May or June, depending on the playoffs. But I don’t imagine you’d want to go right before your wedding. And I’m guessing right after your wedding is your honeymoon, yeah?”
Keno looks at me. “We haven’t scheduled a honeymoon yet. But I think we were planning it for immediately following.”
“So, if we booked the cruise for the end of July into August, a last hurrah for the summer before training camps start, think you might want to go?”
Keno shrugs, eyes still on me. But he’s smiling.
“Sure,” I answer. “Sounds good.”
“Awesome. Now you can convince Lo and Caulder to come, too.”
“Why don’t you want to go?” Horny asks. “I’m not even gay and I totally want to go.”
“We invite straight guys all the time when they hear us talking about it. Then they back out when they realize it’s upwards of fifty gay, bi, and pan guys walking around in Speedos for two weeks talking about dick,” Noah says, laughing.
Horny squints his eyes. I can see that he’s debating the tradeoff.
“Before you answer”—Noah directs to Caulder and Lo—“this has nothing to do with the leagues agendas of advertising inclusivity. This is just us hanging out. Gay guys from other sports join us too. It’s just for fun. No cameras. No speeches. No being a role model. Most of the places we stop at are off the grid and the crew signs NDAs. We’ve had the same crew for several years now and we trust them. I swear, it’s nothing but fun.”
“We’ll talk about it,” Lo promises.
“We’ve been talking about it,” Caulder clarifies. “You’re not the first, nor will you be the last to bring it up.”
“No offense to our straight friends here, but sometimes, it’s nice to be surrounded by people who completely understandyour life. The struggles, challenges, obstacles… Again, we have some great friends who aren’t gay and they’re still loud allies, but no matter how aggressively they support us, they will never know what it’s like to live this life. For two weeks, we’re surrounded by people who do. No questions. No glances or people looking away. Just us living in a world that we wish we could be surrounded by all the time,” Noah explains.
“You sure you want us to go?” Keno asks. “I get that we’re… not straight, I guess, but we haven’t lived that life.”
“You are now,” Caulder says quietly. “The longer you live it, the more you’ll understand. It’s not a choice.”
Keno looks at me. I wonder what he’s thinking. Regret? Dread? But he smiles. “I’ve already seen the impact of my presence when I was going along with the gay label,” Keno says. “I may not understand what the kids I’ve worked with are going through from experience, but to see how much hope they have in their faces when they see me and what I’m representing to them? It’s a glimpse into an unfair world I was always thankful to be leaving a small, positive mark on.”
“It’s not all bad,” Lo says.
“If it was good, you wouldn’t have remained closeted for most of your life,” Caulder points out.
Lo chuckles. “That’s fair.”
“I hate to end this discussion,” Hilt cuts in, “but we need to get going. The bus is heading out in forty-five minutes.”
“Head to extractions,” Noah instructs.
We’re quiet as we finish the mission and get out of the game with our loot. I can’t decide if I’m wondering about the nastiness in the world that we’re now going to face, or the hope Keno has spoken of many times since attending the events for queer youth.
CHAPTER 30
KENO
Etna wakesme up in the morning with an orgasm to end my life. I swear, he stuffs his entire hand up my ass as he sucks my dick and plays with my balls with his free hand. I come like a waterfall. My entire body aches after. I didn’t know that was a thing.
He just smiles, quite pleased with himself, and kisses me. He still tastes like my cum. If I weren’t so drained, I’d swat him away. As it is, my arms feel dead to the world. Which is wild since I didn’t use my arms for a damned thing.
He leaves for the bathroom and returns a few minutes later. This damn man practically picks me up and carries me right into the hot bath he ran for us.
“You make it stupidly easy to fall for you,” I mutter as we settle in the hot water.
“Then my plan is working,” he says.
I snort as I lean into him.
