Page 8 of Game of Revenge

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I say, remembering the small town Carrie grew up in. This town gives me a vibe of secrets and familiarity. Suddenly, I think about how happy I’ll be to be leaving.

Opening Tray's and my door, I wave at the brothers as I walk inside.

“I have a feeling there aren’t many gay men who live here,” Tray says as he drops his bag on the bed next to mine.

“At least not openly,” I agree. “Did you see her face when she asked about our rooms?”

“I don’t want to say that we shouldn’t be open about being together, but getting into a fist fight with a bigot and getting thrown into jail isn’t high on my bingo card this year,” he grunts, pulling his shirt off.

“Jail would suck,” I growl, my eyes tracking his every move as he toes off his shoes.

“It would. So let’s go ‘not be obvious’ after we shower together,” he says with a dark chuckle.

I don’t think I’ve ever stripped so quickly in my life. The sounds of our laughter echo as we run into the shower.

Brian

God, what am I doing here?

“Yo, man, I didn’t think you’d show your face,” Craig Peterson crows, slapping my back as he comes up behind me. Everyone around us is wearing monkey suits and dresses, yet Keir, Tray, my brother and I are getting odd glances.

I’m unsure if it’s because ours appear to be tailored to us instead of off the rack and unfitting. Why buy something that looks like shit on?

I’ve never understood that concept. The four of us look sharp, but even our nice loafers unfortunately stand out here.

“I got the invite,” I remind him. “It’s my reunion too. I figured I’d come for old times sake. Is that a problem?”

I told myself I’d contain the chip on my shoulder for how the team treated me, or try to let it go for tonight. I played well back then, which is why I was on the team. I didn’t expect to figure out my sexuality in a high school locker room surrounded by well muscled boys.

It was a teenage dream and nightmare, and I was outed by a girl I thought was a friend at the time. She told the team I was gay. I told her I wished she was dead and never spoke to her again.

Sometimes, I dream about hunting her through the corn fields and killing her. I always wake up rock hard and reach for Tray or Kier. That’s the only way I’d ever get an erection for a girl.

I’m unsure what that means for me, but my little family is just as depraved as I am. I wish things were different, and that we weren’t constantly fighting. I need to figure out how to talk to my twin about sharing better.

I don’t want to lose people I love because we both can’t get our jealousy under control.

“No problem,” Craig says as the other Bulldog’s football players begin to crowd around me. I didn’t even notice when it happened.

Good ole mob mentality is cliche but still effective. “I just hope you understand what you’re starting by being here. Are those guys your little boyfriends?”

“I thought you called gay men who are together fuck boys,” Ricky says, brows drawn down in confusion. Ricky was never the brightest crayon in the box. It’s safe to say that he still isn’t.

“That’s absolutely not a thing,” I groan. “This town is still backward and ridiculous. You can’t change my sexual orientation, and you’re not going to catch it. Just in case though, you should go find your wives.”

The guys take steps away from me as if I casted some kind of fucked up spell. Again, I’m gay, not a witch. I don’t understand why they’re having such difficulty with this. We all went to the same high school, and I came out with a solid education.

Rolling my eyes, I find myself able to relax a little bit as teachers come up to chat with me. They want to know what I’ve been doing in life, and all seem interested when I explain the remote work that I do.

I have the freedom to work from anywhere, and we’ve created a decent nest egg for ourselves.

“I’m glad you didn’t let your unfortunate experience keep you from coming back,” Coach Edwards says, taking a sip of his water bottle. “People grow up, their pettiness hopefully bleeds out of them as they do. This town is full of people who have a hard time letting go of the past, though. Maybe things would change for the better if they did. Every year we have someone come out, I have to grit my teeth in worry that somethingbad will happen. They usually end up transferring out before it does.”

I can hear both the praise and the underlying message of concern as well. It’s depressing that they’re running gay kids out of town for fear of getting hurt.

Sighing, I find Tray, Michael, and Kier talking, their gazes firmly on me as I cross the room.

“You good?” Kier asks, eyes bouncing over my face as he waits for an answer.

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