“No, you’re stuck with me, Blayne Dickenson.”
There was a moment when Blayne wanted to grab Ethan in his arms and do all kinds of unsavory things with him on the couch. The sight of Dr. Secada brought him back to reality.
“And what about you, Mr. Bond?”
“What about me?” Ethan asked.
“In previous sessions, you’d admitted you were scared to death of being outed. How are you doing after last night?”
“I had a sniper trying to blow my brains out yesterday. A viral video showing me making out with the man who stopped that from happening just doesn’t seem as important today.”
Dr. Secada raised an eyebrow at Ethan. Blayne squeezed Ethan’s hand as the room filled with silence.
“Okay,” Ethan said, a little exasperated. “It still hasn’t hit me yet.”
“Have you heard from your parents?”
“Maybe…”
Dr. Secada cocked her head to the side. She didn’t ask a question, but the question was heard.
“Okay, I haven’t even looked at my cell phone today. I’m unsure if I’m ready to deal with that drama yet.”
“Drama?”
“My family. The ZERO team. My fans. Thedrama!”
“Well, ZERO is gonna be cool about it. They’ve known,” Blayne said.
“The guys have known. But Hightower and Rawlins, not to mention everyone else…?”
Blayne let out a sigh. “They’ve known. I know they’ve known. Everyone has talked about it. They just haven’t talked about it with you.”
“How do you know?” Ethan asked, almost a little defensive.
“How do you think I know?” Blayne asked back.
Blayne and Ethan answered at the same time, “Ric.”
“He can’t keep his mouth shut,” Blayne admitted.
“He never could,” Ethan agreed.
“I know you’ve been worried about coming out to them, but they’ve always been your biggest support team, and they will continue to be.”
“What’s the worst that could happen?” Dr. Secada asked.
“I could lose my job, my livelihood.”
“And I would beat them up. Remember, I’m ‘a real gay American hero’ and you’re just my ‘boy-band boyfriend.’ I’ll protect you.”
Ethan stared at Blayne and couldn’t help but smile.
“I’m missing something,” Dr. Secada said.
“Last night on television, RTN had a special about what happened yesterday. Stephen McNeil used those words to describe us. I knew you wouldn’t let me forget them,” Ethan said with a playful pout.
“Never. I will have those words etched on our tombstone when we are old and gone. ‘Here lies the gay American hero and his boy-band boyfriend.’”
