After the shower, with my hair a tangle, I wrapped a towel around my middle to exit the showers. Yanni was chatting to someone on his phone when I entered the locker room, but he gave me a thumbs-up as I stepped around him. Glancing to my left, I came to a short, squeaky stop when my gaze locked with Jari’s. Those stunning eyes of his widened, and a delicate pink sheen bloomed on his cheeks.
“Hey,” I said with a smile that felt far too big for my face, or the occasion, if I were being honest.
“Hey,” he replied meekly, balling his shirt up in front of his chest.
“Nice to see you again. We’re here for hydrotherapy.”
DOH Cameron. Why else would you be in the hydrotherapy center? For ukulele lessons?
“I’m just being shown around,” Jari said, glancing behind him at a couple of hockey guys I recognized who were chatting with one of the rehab staff. “New guy and that.”
“This is my Yanni.”
Jari’s dark gaze flickered to the naked catcher having an increasingly heated conversation on his phone with someone in rapid-fire Greek. Probably one of his brothers. They shouted at each other all the time, not always in anger, just with a great deal of exuberance.
“Not my Yanni, as inmyYanni,myboyfriend. He’s not queer. He is a vocal ally, though. Not queer. Very straight. Like aruler straight, so he’s not mine in that way.” I hiked my towel up an inch or two.
“Okay,” Jari replied, obviously unsure if I’d recently taken a line drive to the head since I was blabbering on about rulers.
“Yeah, so, he’s uh my catcher. He catches my pitches. He’s very good.” I rubbed my chest nervously. “We’re friends. Good friends. But not gay-together friends. I’m not gay with anyone right now. I’m bisexual.”
Cameron, shove a sock into your mouth right now. You’re making an ass of yourself.
“Cool,” Jari said, probably wondering about my mental stability. Two young guys around Jari’s age floated in to listen to me being a total dickwad.
“You like baseball?” I asked—always a safe subject when I was losing my shit.
“Sure,” he said, and frowned. “Don't have much time for it though,” he added in a rush, and got elbowed in the side by one of his friends. “Uh, okay, this is Mules and Becks,” he added, and we all exchanged nods.
“Big fan,” Mules said as we shook hands.
“Thank you.”
Awkward silence. Then Mules and Becks sauntered over to a vending machine, and I expected Jari to go with them, but he seemed rooted to the spot.
Say something, you idiot!
“So, I’m pitching tonight,” I blurted. “There’s a place for the other teams to watch if they want, you need your Railers ID, and there are VIP seats right down near the dugout. I mean, if you like baseball, and I know we’re not the Arizona Sunriders, but you could come to the field.”
“I um…”
“You could get a hot dog?” I added, and Jari blinked at me. Maybe he didn't like hot dogs? Who didn't like hot dogs?“They have delicious wieners at the park. All beef, with lots of condiments. No sauerkraut, though, which is sad because I like sauerkraut on my hot dog. I also like chili on them, with cheese—lots of cheese.” More blinking from him, and he had impossibly long lashes. So pretty. Fuck. I wish he'd say something, and then I wouldn't be lost in his sad, dark eyes. ”Are you into cheese, or are you lactose intolerant? My cousin Kirby is. You remember him from the meeting?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Well, ho-boy, every time we have pizza, he’s in big trouble. The last time Joy, that’s Kirby’s wife, made hot chicken and cheese dip, he ate so much that he had to spend all night in the bathroom.”
“Oh,” Jari said when I paused.
Quit while you’re ahead.Only my mouth didn’t get my brain’s message.
“He does have pills for it, but he forgets to take them when he sees hot chicken and cheese dip. She uses lots of pepper jack along with some Monterey and Colby cheeses.”
“Cam, dude, why the fuck are you talking about cheese?” Yanni cracked me in the ass with a wet towel, making me jump and yelp. Rubbing my butt cheek through my towel, I threw a dark look at Yanni before returning my attention to Jari.
“My cousin. He’s got this thing whenever he eats cheese or drinks milk that…” I realized what I was discussing and that his two friends were back, munching on protein bars, along with a couple more hockey players who were listening in now. Embarrassment crept upward from my neck to my face, then to my ears. “It’s not important. I’m going to find the meditation room. Nice to see you again.”
I turned from Jari, took four steps toward the door, and then remembered I was in a towel and nothing else. Yanni was staring at me with slight concern. Jari and the hockey guys also were,but they seemed way more worried about the rambling moron in their midst.
