“Yes and no.”
“Okay, I don’t know what that means, but I’m listening.” Her bracelets jangled as she leaned forward. “Talk.”
I drank more water, flitted my gaze to a nearby table that was definitely watching us. Weird. They were too far away to overhear, though, so…
“I met someone.”
She squealed. “What’s her name? What’s she like? Tell me everything!”
Here we go.
“Heis amazing.” I chuckled at Alli’s blank stare. “I met a guy, Al.”
She wrinkled her nose in confusion. “Huh?”
“You heard me. A man. Not a woman. His name is Cooper, and he’s a single dad with two kids.”
Alli’s jaw dropped. “You’re not kidding, are you? I know your joking face, and that’s not it.”
“Nope. Not kidding.”
She closed her eyes for a beat and beamed at me. “Jeeeee-sus. A man. I guess I’m not surprised. I always thought you were bi, but?—”
“You did?”
“Yeah, I mean…I wasn’t sure. It was a feeling more than anything, but I didn’t know how to ask. We weren’t always good at communicating,” she said, her smile fading slightly.
“No, we weren’t.”
“You’re gone for him, aren’t you? I can tell. You’re blushing.”
“I’m not fucking blushing,” I griped, almost giddy with relief. Cool. Someone knew.
“You are, and I’m happy for you. What are you going to do? Will you come out?”
“Now? No. New team, new city, new season. I can’t.”
“But you want to,” she stated.
“Yeah, I do. Eventually.”
Alli grinned. “And then…move to Vermont and make maple syrup with your new beau? What does he do? What does he look like? Do you have a photo or?—”
“No, no, no. He doesn’t make fucking syrup. He’s a logger…and a businessman.”
“A logger?” She widened her eyes. “Like a lumberjack?”
“Yeah.”
Alli fanned herself with her napkin. “I have to meet him and?—”
“We’re not together, Al. It was a summer thing.”
She deflated like a sad birthday balloon at the end of a party. “I understand not coming out right away, but why can’t you be together?”
“Too complicated.”
Alli set a comforting hand on mine. “I don’t think that’s a good reason. You and I were simple. We liked the same things, came from the same backgrounds, our friends even got along. But we didn’t work. I think I bored you.”
