“Dad... ”
“Tate, we just want you to be happy.” He kneels down next to the pew I’m in. “We want you to find someone who loves you and treats you well and makes you laugh. Sounds like maybe you found that.”
“I found it and messed it up.”
“How?”
I tell them exactly how. The whole freaking story. About Vegas, about how the relationship developed, about the FBI and the syndicate and the lies and the betrayal. About how I walked away from him in that parking garage, told him we were done, accused him of not really loving me.
And about how he nearly died trying to protect me.
“Zane…he sacrificed everything for me. His safety, his life, his career. And I told him I never wanted to see him again.”
“But you’re here now,” Mom says.
“I’m here now because I realized too late that I was wrong. I love him. And now I might lose him because I was too stupid and scared to trust him.”
“You’re not going to lose him,” Mom says, her voice firm. “Don’t even think that.”
“You don’t know?—”
“I know that men like Zane, men who put their lives on the line for people they love, don’t give up easily,” Mom says. “Hefought his way through that shooting, he’ll fight his way through this, too.”
“What if he doesn’t?”
“Then you’ll deal with it. We’ll all deal with it together.” She squeezes my hand. “But you can’t live in the what-if, sweetheart. You have to believe he’s going to be okay.”
“I’m trying.”
“Good. Because he’s going to need you when he wakes up.”
“Even after everything I said to him?”
“From what you’ve told us, the man nearly died for you. I think he’ll forgive you for being scared and confused,” Dad says, clapping a hand on my shoulder.
Mark leans forward, looks at me seriously. “Can I ask you something?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you happy? With him, I mean. When you’re together, when all the other drama isn’t happening, are you truly happy?”
I nod, swallowing hard past the lump in my throat. “Yeah. I’m happy. Happier than I’ve ever been.”
“Then that’s all that matters.”
“Even though he’s a man?”
“Even though he’s a man. Even though this whole situation is complicated as hell. Even though you’re probably going to have to deal with media attention and league policies and all kinds of other shit because of your professional relationship.” Mark grins. “Love’s messy, little brother. Always has been.”
“The team’s going to find out eventually,” Mom says. “Are you ready for that?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far ahead.”
“Well, when you do have to deal with it, you won’t be doing it alone,” Dad says. “We’ll support you however we can.”
“What about the media? The questions? People are going to want to know about your gay son and his relationship with his coach.”
“Then we’ll tell them it’s none of their business,” Mom says with a shrug. “We’ll tell them we’re proud of our son and the man he loves. We’ll tell them that anyone who has a problem with it can go to hell.”
