Fuck it. Time to rip the fucking plaster off.
“I’m gay,” I said. “And, er, I’ve got a boyfriend. Just wanted you all to know.”
There was a beat of silence that stretched out into eternity.
“That’s not funny, Danny,” Mason said, glaring at me with his enormous forearms folded across his chest.
“Trust me, it’s not a joke. I’m a dickhead, but I’m not that much of a wanker.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Hey!” Charlie said, bouncing up beside me, ready to start an actual fucking fight. Shit, I probably should have expected this. My stomach lurched and I put my hand across my mouth. Like that would do anything to stop me from throwing up.
“He’s not joking,” West said, his quiet voice cutting through the hum of chatter that had started around the room. He folded his arms too, a hard stare on his normally soft features. “And anyone who’s got a problem with it can come talk to me.”
Mason looked up at him in surprise, mouth open like he wanted to say something. “He’s not?”
“I’m not,” I said. “And no, I’m not bi, or pan, or anything else. Just gay.”
There were a few nods and from the corner of my eye, I could see Matty smiling. “Thanks for telling us,” he said.
“Yeah, well, I figured it was time.”
“Have you known for long?” Bailey asked.
“Nope,” I said. “I thought I might be for a while but didn’t really do anything about it until recently.”
He nodded, seeming satisfied with my answer.
“What does your boyfriend think of the mullet?” Jonny asked.
“Shit, please tell me he’s not encouraging you to keep it?” Hunter asked.
“Oh, he loves it. Thinks it’s cute. Says I look very sexy.” I shot him a wink. I wasn’t going to mention Ezra by name. That detail could come another day. Besides, I should probably tell Clive I was shagging our social media manager before I told the rest of the team. It was the polite thing to do. “Anyone else, or can we move on?”
“I think that’s enough,” Matty said, gesturing towards the door to the training pitch. “Come on, get your butts moving. You can ask Danny more questions, but only if he’s comfortable answering them. Think like Thumper. ‘If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say nothing at all.’”
“Yes, Dad!” everyone chorused as we all finished getting ready and trooped out onto the pitch.
As I went through the door, Mason caught me across the shoulder. “Sorry, that was a fucked-up thing for me to say.”
“You’re fine. Given what I’ve said in the past, it’s not unreasonable.”
“No, it is. I was a twat, and I’m sorry. I should never have assumed.” He squeezed my shoulder and smiled. “Proud of you, though.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I’m proud of me too.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Ezra
My plan had beento go straight up to Clive’s office as soon as I arrived, but when I knocked on the door, I didn’t get a response. I tried again, but nothing happened.
Fuck, okay, it looked like I was going with option two, which was to try and corner him in between my meetings and his busy training schedule. And hope that, in the meantime, he didn’t hear it from Danny first.
Not that it mattered who told him, but since Danny had to come out to the team, I figured I should take on some of the responsibility for our relationship.
My morning was full of back-to-back meetings, at least two of which were pointless as fuck, but I did manage to turn my camera off for part of them and spend the time messaging Shane to let him know how things had gone with Danny.
