Page 61 of The Blame Game

“Well, you know.” Dom waved his arm. “PR bullshit and all that.”

Dustin laughed. “I am familiar.”

“It was supposed to make the speculation die down.”

“Not so much?”

“No. Not so much.”

“Damn.” Dustin shifted. “So now what?”

“I don’t know.”

“And coming out is off the table for you.”

“Yes.” Dom’s throat went tight at the thought.

“Okay.”

“I’m not you, D.”

“Obviously. You’re not as handsome.”

“Fuck you,” Dom said, laughing. “You’ve either been spending too much time with Nico or Charlie or both because your ego is out of control.”

“Probably both,” Dustin said, chuckling too. “Anyway, you’re not me.”

Dom rolled his head to the side and looked at his captain. “I’m not … It doesn’t feel good to me to tell people.”

“Hey, no one says you have to come out.”

Dom knuckled at his eyes. “Honestly, I feel like everyone’s saying it. Like they’re saying there’s something wrong with me if I don’t want that.”

Dustin fell silent for a moment. “I think everyone should have a right to privacy about their sexuality and be able to choose for themselves if and when they share. But being public figures … we don’t always get that privilege.”

“That’s shitty and unfair.”

“Yeah, it is. I understand why people—fans—get curious about our lives but there should be a line and … there isn’t.”

Dom nodded.

“And I’m sorry you’re feeling pressured. I’m sorry you’re feeling forced to be open about things you don’t want to be open about, but even if we take the public out of the equation, Dom … you’re not even talking to your team. To Matty and me! We love you and we want to support you and you still won’t talk to us about what you’re going through. Privacy from the public is one thing but you have to admit, you take it to extremes.”

Dom huffed, looking back at the ceiling. “Maybe. Probably.”

“And you do it with everything. You’re hurting now, and what did you do? You isolated.”

Dom grumbled. “Can’t a guy like being alone?”

“Sure. He can. But do you? Do you actually like it? Or do you think you, I don’t know, don’t deserve to have anyone be there for you? Do you feel like you can’t trust us to be there for you?”

“No, I trust you,” Dom said automatically.

“Do you? Do you really feel like if something terrible happened, you’d come to me or Matty? Or would you handle it alone and then get grumpy about it and grudgingly admit what’s going on after we learn about it and tell you we want to help?”

Dom grimaced. He couldn’t deny that what Dustin described sounded awfully familiar.

“Exactly.” Dustin gave him a pointed look. “It’s fine to be private. It’s fine to be independent, but consider the idea that anything taken to too much of an extreme is not great. And ask yourself if it’s actually working for you.”

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