Page 15 of Rico

Soon, others from the station joined them, including Eric Bentley, Tom Barrett, Ray Morrison, and Dave Savage. The first three were with their wives, while Savage had some busty, blonde bimbo on his arm. He had a penchant for women who didn’t have much in the brains department. When Evan introduced Rico to everyone, he wasn’t surprised that Savage didn’t extend his hand for Rico to shake like the others had. But, then again, Rico hadn’t reached out either.

As flutes of champagne passed by on trays, Rico snatched two glasses and gave one to Evan before lifting his own and gesturing to the two sportscast teams. “Good luck tonight, gentlemen.”

Everyone but Savage smiled and thanked him.

About fifteen minutes of chitchat later, the overhead lights flashed once, an indication that the attendees should head into the main ballroom and find their seats. Evan put his hand on Rico’s arm. “I’m just going to run to the men’s room.”

Rico nodded. “Sure. I’ll wait for you here.”

A few men exited as Evan walked into the upscale lounge. He’d just finished at the urinal when the door opened, and Savage strode in, spotted Evan, and scoffed. “Should’ve known you were a faggot, but I didn’t expect you to flaunt your fucking boy toy in everyone’s faces.”

Rage flowed through Evan. He didn’t care what people thought of him, but he’d be damned if he let this asshole talk about Rico that way. “Screw you, Savage.”

“No, thanks. I don’t take it up the ass like you do. You can forget about working on my show ever again. I’ll demand a new sound tech on Monday, and you’ll be looking for a new job if I have my way.”

Before Evan could respond, a toilet flushed, and the door to one of the stalls slammed open. Both men were shocked to see the president of KCXN stroll out. Bishop Kane was a good-looking man in his early fifties. His salt-and-pepper hair was neatly styled, and his sharp green eyes narrowed as he walked right up to Savage and got in his face. “Actually, Savage, you’re the one who’ll be out of a job come Monday. I don’t tolerate gay bashing or any other kind of sexual harassment at my station. Consider this the end of your career at KCXN. I’ll have payroll mail your final check because I don’t want you stepping one foot in my station ever again.”

If Evan weren’t so stunned, he would’ve laughed at how pale Savage was. The bastard tried to recover, though. “You can’t fire me! I have a contract!”

“You should’ve read it more carefully before you signed it because sexual harassment is an offense that can void it. Now, get out of my face before I have you thrown out of here.”

Now red-faced and looking like he was about to blow a gasket, Savage spun around and stormed out of the restroom, yelling something about them hearing from his lawyer.

Mr. Kane didn’t say anything to Evan until after they washed and dried their hands. He then held one out to Evan. “My son is gay and has been happily married to his husband for five years now. If you have any problems with Savage outside the station after this, I expect you to let me know.”

Evan shook his hand. “Y-yes, sir. Thank you.”

“Let’s go enjoy the show, shall we?”

Nine

Eight months later . . .

Evan sat in the broadcast booth, rubbing his hands against his pants. His palms were sweaty, and so was his brow. Usually, he was on the other side of the window that separated the sound techs’ room from the booth where the sportscasters did their shows. But today, he would talk during a live broadcast and hope it was one of the most incredible days of his life.

When he first came up with the idea of proposing on the air to Rico, he immediately dismissed it. But the more it ran through his mind, the more he thought it was romantic. He just hoped Rico agreed.

Every morning, before taking the elevator down to go to work, Rico sat in his recliner, playing around on his computer and listening to Eric Bentley and Tom Barrett talk about what was going on in sports. When Evan asked Eric and Tom if they would let him get on the air with them and ask Rico to marry him, they were all for it as long as it was okay with Mr. Kane. The older man was thrilled to have his station help with the proposal.

So, now, Evan had another few minutes before Eric and Tom wrapped up their show and gave him the go-ahead. It was almost ten o’clock, and Rico would walk out the door of his condo in a half hour, so the timing was perfect—Evan prayed.

Fear rattled around in his head. What if Rico was in the shower and completely missed when Evan put his heart on the line? What if he said no?

Evan fidgeted in his chair as Eric thanked their sponsors and said, “We have a special guest here in the broadcast booth. KCXN’s own Evan Calhoun—the sound tech for the Bentley & Barrett show. How’re you doing, Evan?”

He licked his lips and swallowed hard before replying. “I’m—I’m good.”

“Glad to hear it. We’ve got your caller on the line and are ready to go. Let’s just get him in on this conversation.” Eric hit a button on the multi-line phone. “Rico, you there?”

“I am. Although, I’m not sure why.”

Eric pointed to Evan, who leaned closer to the microphone. “Hey, babe, it’s me.”

“Evan? Hey, what’s going on?”

He took a deep breath, and all the words he wanted to say fled his mind except for “Will you marry me?”

There was a long pause, and then Tom’s eyes widened as he glanced around. “Rico, you still there?”

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