“Because you buy them whatever they want during the year, so when Christmas rolls around, there’s nothing left.” Cotton got off his bike and reached for his own towel. “Can I come shopping too?”
“Sure.” Roman grabbed his water bottle off the floor. “The more the merrier.”
“And then you guys can come car shopping with me,” Sandro said. “I’m in need of new wheels.”
They both lit up.
“Can we do that first?” Cotton asked.
“Yeah, fuck Christmas shopping,” Roman added.
Shaking his head at them, Sandro moved to the mats to warm up. Bennett followed and watched him do a series of side lunges for a few seconds before setting the camera aside and leaning back against the mirrors. “Didn’t you just put down a deposit for a new engine? Do you need two cars?”
Sandro almost pointed out that most of his teammates had upwards of three or four cars, at least one of which was their summer sports car. Instead, he took the question at face value and eyed Eli where he was now spotting Deeley. Sandro could see them in the mirror, Deeley laughing at something Eli said. “No. I don’t need two cars. I’ve got an idea for the one that’s being fixed.”
Bennett looked past him, probably also at Eli, because of course he could read Sandro’s mind, even after years of no communication.
After so much time, they were different people, sure. But at their cores, they were who they’d always been, and Bennett had known him inside and out.
Sandro held a side lunge, stretching out his inner thighs. Bennett slid down the mirror onto his haunches, putting them closer to eye level. “That program for rookies,” Bennett said. “It’s smart.”
“You and Eli gave me the idea.”
“I gotta wonder how things might’ve been different if I’d had a program like that my rookie season.”
“Don’t give it too much credit,” Sandro said with a self-deprecating laugh. “I haven’t built it yet. It might not work.”
“It’ll work,” Bennett said, and his confidence bolstered Sandro’s own. “I’d like to interview you about it for the series.”
Sandro transferred his lunge to the other side. “I figured.”
“After the holidays,” Bennett clarified. “I’ve got to fly to New York in a couple of days for a meeting about my next project.”
“What’s your next project?” Sandro asked, aware that their future still needed to be discussed. With him here next season—because yes, he still intended to play another couple of seasons—and Bennett wherever he was working on his projects, they’d need to figure out a game plan.
They’d been separated by distance before and failed.
They wouldn’t fail this time.
“I’m not really allowed to talk about it yet,” Bennett hedged.
Sandro straightened and reached for one of the skipping ropes hanging on a hook. “Are you staying in New York through the holidays or going to see your mom?”
“I’ll only be in New York for a day or so, and Mom’s heading to Mexico with a friend for the holidays, so we’ll catch up in the new year. When do you go home?”
“I’m not,” Sandro said. He’d surprised Bennett judging by the raised eyebrows. “We’ve got a game on the twenty-third and then we fly to Seattle on the twenty-sixth. Didn’t make sense to go home—I’d spend Christmas Day driving back. Are you heading to LA, then?”
“No, I’ll be here.”
“Really?” The prospect of spending this first Christmas with Bennett warmed Sandro from head to toe. “You’ll spend Christmas with me then.”
chapter seventeen
When Sandro had said, You’ll spend Christmas with me, Bennett expected a quiet day by the fire, lounging on the couch in their sweatpants, munching on cheese and crackers, watching movies, and exchanging blow jobs.
But Eli arrived at noon with a green bean casserole. Hughes and CC showed up together shortly after that with a giant cauldron of mashed potatoes and a smaller pot of gravy. Prinnie, Deeley, DeShawn, and Matty Coates walked in within minutes of each other, toting their own contributions. Gaff made a brief appearance with his girlfriend, and even Dabbs dropped by with his boyfriend, Ryland Zervudachi, who played for the Columbus Pilots. They didn’t stay long before heading out to join Ryland’s family for Christmas in the nearby town of Maplewood.
Turned out that while Hughes hosted Thanksgiving for the single guys on the team, Sandro hosted Christmas for . . . well, anyone who felt like showing up. A core group of players stuck around all day, and others came and went, sometimes with their partners and kids.
