DR. JAYLEN MAZUR
You said your mother was off limits in these conversations, but you’ve just cracked the door open.
COOPER
I’m shutting the door again. I’m not talking about her right now.
DR. JAYLEN MAZUR
Our time is almost out for the day, but I want you to think about this and we will discuss it the next time we talk.
DR. JAYLEN MAZUR
This cage you’ve created for yourself and those closest to you was designed to keep you all inside it. To keep you safe from the harsh truths of being a queer football player. I want you to think about what life could be like on the outside of it. I don’t want you to focus on the things you perceive as bad. Focus on the good things.
COOPER
Can’t wait, doc.
Cooper tossed his phone onto the coffee table beside him and slung his arm over his eyes. What kind of life did he want for himself? What kind of life could he have for himself?
Chapter Twenty-Nine
august 2026 - orlando
The flashof the camera blinded Nico.
“Turn to your right,” the police officer demanded.
Nico did as instructed and stared blankly ahead at the two-way mirror in front of him.
“Turn to your left,” the officer said.
Nico rotated a hundred and eighty degrees and as a blue light lit up the side of his face, he wondered how he got here.
Nico sat in the passenger seat with his head propped against the window as the sun rose on the horizon. The long stretch of highway raced by him, the Orlando skyline a blur. He wanted to blame Cooper fucking Callahan so damn bad, but Cooper didn’t make him have three too manydrinks. Cooper didn’t make him take some girl home from the bar. Cooper didn’t push the start button on the car. Cooper had done a lot of things, but making Nico do the one thing he swore he’d never do wasn’t one.
Natalie didn’t say much on the long drive home, not until they merged off the highway. “Your friend was picked up by her sister.”
“She’s not my friend,” Nico groaned.
“Pretty blonde girl with blue eyes,” Natalie peeked at him out of the corner of her eye. “You sure do have a type.”
“Natalie, I’m never going to tell you to shut up?—”
“But you want me to shut up?”
“Yes.”
Nico walked into the house behind Natalie, praying their father was still asleep. Best-case scenario was Nico could sober up enough to ditch town before his father could confront him. The idea of a quick escape disappeared as soon as Nico saw his father sitting at the dining room table with a hot cup of coffee.
“Sit down,” his father commanded, and Nico did as he was told.
Natalie stood by the entryway to the dining room.
“I can’t treat you like a child, Nico,” his father said, gripping the cup of coffee with both hands. “We’re way beyond you being a child. You’re a grown adult with a fully developed brain and these are the choices you have decided to make.”
Nico palmed over his throbbing forehead. “Dad, I’m really not in the mood right now.”
