Page 156 of Loving the Legend
“No.” I chuckle nervously. “Why would someone give me shit?”
Fuck! He does know! How?
“No reason…Uh, why’d you ask?”
“I was just curious.”
His wife yells for him to bring something called a “boppy.”
“Let me let you go. Sounds like you’re needed.”
“Yeah, I get two minutes of peace every hour in this house. Listen, I’m here if you ever need to talk about…whatever.”
“Same, bro. I appreciate you.”
My mind’s a cesspool of thoughts—Arnaz’s coming out, the ugly comments people posted under his article, whether Sid knew about Arnaz, if Arnaz coming out will change Sid’s feelings for him, if Sid’s in love with Arnaz, and the high probability that Kaleb knows that I’m gay.
There’s one question that I can get an answer to now. I unlock my phone.
Me: Did you know?
I swallow roughly when bubbles appear under my message less than a minute later.
My love: He never told me. I wouldn’t lie to you.
My head falls back to the pillow, and I blow out a breath of relief.
I want to call and ask him how he's doing and tell him about my sessions with Jaden, but something holds me back. I need a few more sessions to prove to myself that I’m committed to seeing this through. Though it's been nine days since my last nightmare—a new record—last night, I woke up in the middle of the night feeling raw. All the sadness I ignored in the day weighed heavily on me. I miss him terribly.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Arnaz’s name is everywhere over the next few days. He’s received enormous support from celebrities, teammates, and even politicians. Most of my teammates posted messages of support online, myself included. It’s clear from Sid's and his teammates’ comments online and post-game interviews that the Royals feel protective of him and have his back. The league has been doing a great job of immediately ejecting bigots out of games for shouting slurs when the Royals are on the road.
My phone rings.
“Hey!” I bend down to lace up my kicks.
“Yo, you ready?” Kaleb asks.
I asked him to grab an early dinner, knowing how precious his kid-free evenings are locked in his hotel room. My mind was already made up, but after talking through it with Jaden, I felt surer than ever that I wanted to come out to him tonight.
“Yeah. Actually, can I swing by your room real quick? There’s something I need to tell you, and I’d rather do it privately.”
“407. See you in a bit,” he says, then hangs up.
I grab my wallet, key card, and jacket. I’m hungry, but I know the rumbling in my stomach is more from nerves.
I stare at myself in the mirror.
You got this. Kaleb is safe, and he likely already knows.
I take the stairs the two flights down, not wanting to run into any of my other teammates. When I reach his door, I knock twice, and the door flings open.
“Yo!” Kaleb nods at me. “Come in.”
“Thanks. Dude, your room is bigger than mine,” I complain, staring around at the king-size bed, couch, desk, armchair, and ottoman.
“Yeah? Good to know the player that scores the most points doesn’t get the best digs,” he says, chuckling.
