I draped my arm over his shoulder, the same way I had when we were younger. Back then, it’d been to comfort him when he’d faced the wrath of his piece of shit uncle, but it became a matter of needing to feel him next to me. I needed to know he was still there, no matter what.
“Like I said, they haven’t given up on me,” I admitted. It sounded like a crappy reason to get involved with someone, but it really wasn’t. The fact that they kept pushing me to get better showed me just how much they cared. As we sat there, I wondered to myself if I might have been unconsciously testing them. “Not only that, but when they both realized I was struggling to figure out which one of them I wanted more, they offered me a solution where I wouldn’t have to choose.”
“And you think that’s going to work?” I’d have been upset about Cam’s doubts, but they were valid. Besides, I knew he was only trying to look out for what was best for me. I appreciated that.
“I guess only time will tell,” I said, unwilling to say anything more that might jinx us. I was trying to live in the moment for once in my life, without worrying about what might happen down the road. Ever since I could remember, I’d been the one who tried to plan out not only the next step in my life, but what came five steps down the road. That had worked for me up to a point, but the truth was it also led to a very lonely existence and major letdown when things didn’t go the way I’d planned. “Now, let’s get back out there before they come looking for us.”
16
Eric
By the week of Thanksgiving,everything seemed to be moving along smoothly. Drew was still mostly a hermit, but he’d made an effort to get out of the house a few times. He’d even agreed to mentor a student at Pot of Gold, which I figured was a huge step in the right direction. He needed to get out there and see that others had it worse than him, and even though they were younger, they were far wiser than his sheltered life had allowed him to be.
One young man in particular seemed to be leaving an imprint on Drew’s heart. While he’d originally agreed to meet with the kid once a week to help him catch up in school, Bryce and I had started joking that we’d never see him if I didn’t go down to the center to visit Bryce every day after working out.
Cody had dropped out of high school after his parents kicked him out. Not only that, but his father had beat the shit out of him for destroying his chances at a basketball scholarship by getting caught making out with one of his teammates in the locker room. Drew had made it his mission to do everything in his power to make sure Cody caught up on the classes he’d missed and still had the chance to go to college.
“I don’t get it,” he’d said when he got in the car. He’d been working with Cody for about a week and every night he grew more agitated with the situation. “All he wants to do is play ball. Yeah, he fucked up by fooling around in the locker room, but was that really such a major crime? Kids get caught making out in school all the time and it doesn’t get them a beating when they get home.”
“True, but I think it was more the fact that his old man thought it was a reflection on their entire family that put him over the edge.” His dad was a bit more extreme than a lot of people, but from what Drew and Bryce had told me, he was a blue collar worker who’d seen his son as a chance to correct all the mistakes he’d made when he was younger. Unfortunately, all he’d managed to do was put his son in the same place he’d been in at one point. “Cody is a prime example of why Bryce needs to keep doing what he’s doing. He’s back in school and he may still be able to graduate on time. And in a twist of fate, by his father kicking him out, he’s in a better district than he was before.”
“I know, but I still can’t imagine how hard it’d be for him to know that his family is out there and doesn’t give a damn.” I knew what Cody was going through. I was lucky enough to have my grandfather step up to the plate and raise me when my own parents weren’t around, but it still hurt to see other kids having a great time with their families, knowing I would be going home to Pa kicked back in his recliner with the evening news cranked up loud.
But he wasthere.
He made sure I didn’t want for anything and he was my biggest cheerleader at every game. He pushed me, hard, because he wanted to make all of my dreams come true.
“That’s because you have a family who loves you,” I pointed out. I reached over and took Drew’s hand in my own, noticing how much thinner his left hand was than his right. He’d finally gotten rid of the cast, but there was a lot of work to do to make sure he’d be strong enough to play come spring. “They’ve always accepted you for who you were and supported you. Not everyone has that. But the world needs the guys like you to remind the rest of us that life goes on. That there is something more out there for us, even when people say there isn’t. Hell, look at what you’ve done for Cam.”
“I haven’t done anything for him,” Drew protested, looking out the window of the car.
“You have,” I insisted. “You brought him home to your family when no one else wanted him. Your parents taught him he wasn’t as worthless as his uncle tried to make him believe he was. And that love helped him get to where he is today. Hell, would you have ever thought the kid you met back in school would be driving himself crazy trying to keep from telling us how far he made it onA Cut Above?”
That made Drew laugh. As he sat silently in the passenger’s seat, I could tell he was thinking back to his own youth, hopefully realizing just how much his family had done to save Cam. I didn’t know the guy well, but Jason had told me enough stories that I knew Cam credited the Jackson Family with saving his life. Had it not been for them, it would have been easy for him to become nothing more than another statistic like the boys and girls at Pot of Gold.
Instead, everyone had gathered around last weekend to watch the premiere of the cooking competition he was on. Drew had beamed as he watched Cam glide around the studio kitchen as if he’d been there his entire life. All of us had cheered when he’d been handed an apron with his name embroidered on it, marking his move into the top twenty competitors of the season.
“See, I’m right,” I teased. “Maybe you should think about what your family did for him back then and figure out a way you can do the same for kids like Cody. You have the chance to make a difference in his life.”
“I’m trying, but no one’s listening,” Drew grumbled. And it seemed we’d gotten to the core of his foul mood. “I talked to the athletic director today and he didn’t seem receptive to reinstating Cody’s scholarship. He’s worried that Cody will be a distraction to the rest of the team.”
“Then you have to prove to him that he won’t be,” I suggested. It wouldn’t be easy, but it could be done. We’d all heard the same concerns, all thought we had to hide who we were because if our teammates knew there was a gay man in the locker room we’d become a liability to the team.
“But how?” he asked. It’d be easy for me to list off the ways he could show this athletic director that the sports world was ready for athletes to go out there and do their jobs without anyone thinking less of them because of who they were attracted to. But I wouldn’t, because Drew needed as many distractions as possible, and if I knew anything about him, I knew he’d sit there thinking about how to help Cody until the solution came to him. And then, he’d put his plan into action and refuse to quit until something worked out.
“That’s something you need to figure out,” I told him as we pulled into the driveway. I smiled when I saw Bryce’s car already in the driveway. He’d been staying here most of the time, even though it was a bit of a drive from the center. “But I have faith you’ll do it.”
The house smelled amazing when we walked inside. My stomach growled, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten anything since lunch. I’d spent most of the afternoon running around, trying to pick up the ingredients Cam needed in order to make Thanksgiving dinner for those who were in town. The entire time, I’d been freaking myself out about the fact that Drew’s parents were going to be joining us.
Our friends had taken fairly well to the news that Drew, Bryce and I were all together, but I didn’t know what to expect from Drew’s family. They seemed open minded and accepting, but this would be pushing the limits of what most people found to be acceptable.
And I couldn’t blame them if they were concerned for Drew. We just had to make them see that there was nothing to worry about, because what we had might be weird to most people, but it worked for us.
“Honey, we’re home,” I called out, hoping to draw Bryce out from wherever he was hiding. Drew made his way down the hall while I tried to find an area of the counter Cam wasn’t using to make us something quick to eat.
Cooking was out of the question because the oven was full and there were three pots simmering on the stove. All with Cam nowhere to be found. Had it been anyone else, it would have pissed me off to know that he’d run an errand while in the middle of cooking, but this was Cam. He’d sooner call a grocery service to bring him something than risk burning his creations.
My food was forgotten when I heard playful shouts coming from my bedroom. Now that Drew was healed and cleared by the doctor, he’d picked up a bit of a playful streak that I’d never seen from him before. From the sounds of it, he was enjoying tormenting Bryce without me. I threw the bedroom door open and saw the two of them wrestling around on the bed. Or more, Bryce pinning Drew to the bed with his hand over his head.
