Page 53 of Man Advantage

Oh fuck yooou

Goddammit. I’m going to have this stuck in my head all day.

I hate you.

That was followed by several rows of middle finger emojis, and I was laughing so hard I nearly dropped the phone and my coffee. I was probably going to pay for this, but that was okay. Totally worth it.

I’d say I’m sorry but we both know I’m not. Getting off the bus and heading to a team meeting—TTYL

I’m Amazon Priming spider eggs right now. They’ll all be hatching in your room when you get home.

I just laughed, pocketed my phone, and continued into the hotel. I followed some of my teammates into a small conference room for the team meeting, and I took a seat by Bells, Tremblay, and Hoes. We were early, so everyone was shooting the shit or playing on their phones while we waited for the coaches.

I was scrolling social media when some of the guys walked in, and I caught their in-progress conversation.

“—it’s no fucking wonder you’re playing better on the road.” Spaulding smacked Chats on the back. “Maybe we should ban you from seeing him so you can pull your weight at home.”

Chats met him with a big shit-eating grin. “Yeah, you wish. I’ll get used to it.”

Spaulding rolled his eyes as they walked past me. “Don’t let Coach see it affecting your game, man.”

“Nah, it’s not.” Chats gave my shoulder a shove. “Trev can vouch for me, though—that kind of cardio takes alotout of a man!”

The response from our teammates was a mix of irritated glares and—from the new guys—snickers. I just gritted my teeth and stared intently at my phone.

“What’s he talking about?” Bells asked innocently. “Why can you vouch for him?”

I closed my eyes and pushed out a breath through my nose.

From Bells’s other side, Hoes quietly said, “Chats is with Trev’s ex-husband.”

The rookie stiffened, and when I looked at him, he was staring at me in horror. “Oh. Shit. Man, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to?—”

“It’s fine,” I said. He clearly wasn’t convinced, so I added, “Chats just thinks it’s a lot funnier than it is.”

Elsewhere in the room, someone said to Chats, “Man, I don’t get you. Is getting with someone’s ex really that much a flex for gay dudes?”

I groaned, pressing my elbow into the armrest and rubbing my eyes with my thumb and forefinger.

Chats scoffed. “Nah, but when you see what someone else tosses out?” I couldhearthe smug grin on his face. “Trust me, this car doesn’t havenearlyas many miles on it as you think.”

I was relieved that my teammates responded with muttered admonishments. The newer guys who’d laughed a minute ago were quiet now, having evidently read the room.

Whatever Chats said next, I couldn’t make it out since he was a few rows back. Fine. I didn’t want to know. From the tone of the hushed conversation, though, the rest of the guys weren’t having it.

Well, thank God for that. I really couldn’t have cared less that Chats and Bryan were together, but I had no patience for having it repeatedly thrown in my face. This wasn’t the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last. Though maybe now he’d stop doing it somuch around our teammates, since they were clearly done with it.

Thanks for having my back, guys. Because otherwise I’m going to throw gloves with him.

Except there was that whole thing about our bullshit blowing back on other queer players. My life would’ve been so damn much easier if Chats cared about things like that and stopped acting like a twat. But no, I had to be the responsible adult who cared about other people like us. I had to be the one who quietly gritted my teeth through his crap so no one else got punished for “those gay dudes who can’t keep their drama out of the locker room.”

Ugh. I hated this.

Fortunately, our coaches came in a moment later, and the team meeting kicked off. I was only half tuned in. Embarrassment and anger bubbled beneath the surface. Even knowing my teammates were on my side didn’t alleviate this humiliated feeling or the desire to curb stomp Chats.

It made me wonder what Bryan saw in him. He’d never been into guys who were mean-spirited and nasty. Then again, he hadn’t been a vindictive asshole himself, so maybe they were birds of a feather now.

And this guy is around my kids all the time?

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