Page 53 of Totally Opposed

Kelly gushes. “Aww, that’s so sweet. We should get him to do a drawing of Precious for Gramps. Does he take commissions?”

“I’m sure he’d do it for free. We can ask him tonight. He’s in for dinner. Texting the guys now. See you all later,” Harry says, walking away.

“You don’t have to cook for everyone. We can order pizza or something,” I say to Ryan as Kelly grabs his bag from his hand and loops it over her shoulder.

“Yes, he does. He said it was fine. I’ll carry this, you start on the grocery list. Come on, Alan, we’ll drop you at Gramps’s on the way.”

“Great,” I reply as Ryan smiles my way, then pulls out his phone and starts typing a list on his notes app. “Can’t wait.”

Chapter nineteen

Ryan

Kelly drops Alan atthe front of the building, and he takes my bag, offering to run it up for me while I go shopping with Kelly for tonight’s dinner.

“So when are you two going to properly come out?” Kelly asks, pulling into the grocery store parking lot.

“Umm, pretty sure we’re both out. I mean, I came out in high school.”

“Not out like that. You two, together. When are you going to stop pretending it’s all pretend?”

“Oh, that. Yeah, after the tour.”

“Why?”

“We don’t want the stories to become more about us and less about the sport, I guess. Plus, we don’t really know how the public will take it. Support with the star-crossed lovers bits has been mostly great, but like anything online, there are always the trolls looking to spout some homophobic bullshit. There was a big mess last year with two players that broke up, too, so we’re a little nervous the other players might have a problem withit, with us. Our friends know, but we’re keeping it to ourselves otherwise.”

“Well, just so you know, I think it’s awesome.”

“You do?”

“I do. Alan hasn’t been this happy in forever.”

“I think my family would say the same about me,” I reply, climbing from the car. We walk into the store, and I grab a basket.

“They’re all in London?”

I nod. “I came over to the US for school. I went to Arizona State, and then I got a job and then somehow made it onto a professional baseball team, and well, I guess this has become home for me. It’s hard, though, not being able to just pop over and see my parents or my gran. I think I miss her most.”

“I know I complain about Gramps a lot, but I’d feel the same if he was a plane trip away. We grew up with him always there, you know. On the ranch.”

“Yeah, Alan said. It’s good of you two to look after him.”

“It’s just what family does.”

It is what I’ve always thought family does, but until seeing Alan with his gramps, Don, I hadn’t met a guy who really felt the same way. I started to believe it might have been a cultural thing, like maybe in America, it was normal not to see your parents for years or grandparents. One guy I dated had never met his mother’s parents at all, and they lived only two states over. But it turns out it isn’t a cultural thing. The guys I was dating were just dicks.

“Okay, let’s get double everything you need so that we can make a full freezer batch for Gramps and still feed the guys,” Kelly says, and we make our way around the store, gathering supplies. We’re just about done when her phone starts buzzing.

“We’re almost done here,” she says as I push the cart to the register to check us out. “Really? Okay, I mean, sure, if he wants to. He’s not bringing the cat, is he?”

She looks my way with raised brows and the same smile Alan gives me when I’m being cheeky.

“Sure, okay. See you soon,” she says and hangs up the phone. “So, you’ll never guess what.”

“Okay, so how about you don’t make me guess and you just tell me?” I reply, putting the last of our things on the belt for the cashier to scan through.

“Gramps is coming to dinner.”

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