“You think I needed to be told, Deck?” she makes an annoyed huff as I pull forward again. “You’re my baby. I put the pieces together pretty quick once he came back to town. When you gave up the apartment to move in with him, I knew I was right. When you moved back out, I knew it was love. Complicated, but love.”
I swallow the unexpected lump in my throat, that’s followed by a wave of relief. I wasn’t worried that my parents wouldn’t approve, but I was stressed about telling them just the same. “We intended to tell you tonight. That’s why we invited you to dinner. I’m sorry I didn’t say something sooner, but Abbott’s career has made it a little complicated.”
“You do not owe me any kind of apology,” Ma says sternly but then she softens again. “Deck, you don’t owe me or anyone access to your personal life. I’m always gonna push because that’s the type of mom I am but you can say no. I won’t be upset. Much.”
I laugh and she laughs too. We pass the Welcome to Ocean Pines sign but I almost miss it because this incredible, sudden rush of happiness blurs my vision and I have to slow down as I blink back stupid tears. Happiness is weird. It feels foreign and awkward, and I never know how to handle it. But it sure as hell beats the alternative.
“So is this what Nova would call a second chance romance?” Ma asks after a few minutes of silence. I nod. Ma smiles. “I always liked that boy.”
I grin as I pull into our driveway. I can see Abbott and my dad on the porch and as soon as I open the car door, I can hear my brothers’ boisterous voices through the kitchen windows. Aspen and Terra are walking down the boardwalk toward the house. I open Ma’s door and help her out of the car, which is high for her.
She swats me away and jumps down. As she opens the screen door to the porch, Dad turns. He’s grinning like he does when the Celtics are destroying their opposition. “Lucy, honey, tomorrow’s Cup Day is going to be full of surprises. About time someone tested this league. They talk a good game, let’s see if they mean it.”
My eyes land on Abbott. He shrugs. “He flat out asked me.”
Ma gasps. “Charlie, you knew about them?”
“You ain’t the only one with eyes and a brain, sweetheart.” He winks at her. “I’m not just a pretty face.”
Abbott’s laugh is contagious and I bark one out too.
* * *
The next morningis Cup Day, and Abbott isn’t there when I wake up, even though it’s an hour before our alarm. I find him on the beach, sitting on top of our rock, sipping his coffee. I climb up beside him. It’s supposed to be a scorching August day and it’s already so warm out I can sit there with him in nothing but pajama bottoms. He’s in swim shorts, and they’re damp so I know he’s been swimming in the ocean. He smiles at me.
“How do you feel?” I ask.
“I can’t wait to hold this thing again,” he says about the Cup. “But I’m worried I’ll never hold it again so it’s bittersweet.”
I feel a hot flash of guilt but my brain snuffs it out as quickly as it sparked. This isn’t on me. Abbott swears he wants to come out, with or without me. I believe him. I drop my head onto his shoulder. He presses his lips to the top of my head. “FYI, I’m not stressing about being gay being the reason I don’t get another Cup. Tons of players with decade-long careers only win it once. Winning it more than once is like a unicorn move, for all guys not just gay ones.”
I shift so my head is up and we’re looking at each other eye to eye. “You, Abbott Abraham Barlowe, are a mother fucking unicorn.”
He grins. “And you, Declan Charles Hawkins, can rub my horn anytime you want.”
I groan at that horrific pun and jump off the rock. I motion for him to join me. “Come on, let me take you up on that before we have to go get the Cup.”
“Really?” Abbott jumps down off the rock and we scurry back to the house like horny teenagers.
Three and a half hours later, I’m standing beside Abbott as the limo pulls up in front of the fire station. I’m in my best summer suit. Abbott told me I didn’t have to dress up but I wanted to. I feel more confident this way, and fuck, I’ve missed my suits. The entire Ocean Pines fire department is here, and the police department. Even Ronan Green can’t resist seeing the Cup, up close and personal. But I can’t help but notice his focus is equal parts Cup and Andie as she watches her uncle lift the Cup and pass it around to people with wide curious eyes from atop Javi’s shoulders.
After an hour of photo ops with Abbott and the Cup that Aspen is coordinating with the precision of a master circus director, a glamorous looking woman in heels appears. “Hi. I’m Pennie. You must be Declan.”
“Hi. Yes, I am. Nice to meet you Pennie.” I reach out and shake her hand. “It’s good to meet you. Abbott says you’ve been great to work with.”
“He’s been a dream,” Pennie replies. “No matter what Coach Maxwell says. And I’m looking forward to supporting him through the season.”
I nod. She smiles brighter. Abbott is then beside us. He’s grinning bigger than I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen — and mentally logged — all of Abbott’s incredible smiles. “Ready to go to the Shack?”
I smile. “Ma texted me and said half the town is already there, impatiently waiting.”
A man appears behind Abbott. He’s been hovering all day. Aspen told me he’s the publicist for the Boston team, but no one has introduced me. Abbott is about to change that.
“So, we’re going to the lobster place now?” the guy questions. “Your best friend’s place?”
“It’s owned by my parents. Well, my whole family, not just me,” I interject and extend my hand. “Declan Hawkins. We’ve talked on the phone during the planning of this day.”
“Right. Sure.” He shakes my hand. “I’m Carl. But you know that.”
