Page 95 of Catch Me
“Okay, but I’m still gonna credit you too. I have to go to work, but thank you for talking to me.”
“I’m always around and I try to answer every message that comes through Insta, so feel free to update me on your life. I’d love to hear about your journey.”
Why is your day bad?
“I don’t want to get into all that negativity. Let’s just say someone insulted a person I care about and I didn’t take kindly to it.”
Someone important?
My gaze moved away from the camera briefly. “Yeah.”
I was glad when another call came through so I wouldn’t have to field all the questions in the chat.
“Hey,” I said. “Who is this?”
“Uh, hi,” a deep voice replied. “Asher.”
“What’s on your mind today, Asher?”
“Well, I’m hoping you can give me some advice.”
“I’m the last person who should be giving advice, but tell me what’s up and I’ll see if I have anything intelligent to say about it.”
He breathed a laugh. “I’ve been struggling with who I am, but I’ve been trying to figure it out. Everything was fine, then I met someone.”
“And how did this person change what you were doing?”
“I don’t even know. He just shook everything up, and now I’m at this point where I know that I like him, but I don’t know what to do about it. I’m not...out, I guess.”
“To anyone?”
“No.”
“Is he?”
“Very.”
“Okay. Have you talked to him about your feelings, or do you know if he feels the same way?”
“I haven’t, but sometimes, I think that he does. But I don’t know if I should do anything about it. I don’t think I should. It feels wrong, but the type of wrong that I don’t really believe anymore.”
“Are you in a place where you want to come out sometime soon?” I asked.
“No. Maybe. I have no idea right now.”
“Well, I think that’s important to consider. The only advice I can give is to talk to him. If you’ve been repressing who you are for a long time and you’re feeling something for this guy, I think it’s healthy to be open about it—for you and for him. Maybe he’ll return the feelings or maybe he won’t. That’s a risk no matter who you are. If he does, then you both have to decide how to navigate the rest, but you have to do the first step.”
“Yeah . . .”
“Sorry I don’t have a magic fix for it. I wish I did.” I smiled a little. “There’s this thing my grandpa used to say when I was having a hard time: Any mule's tail can catch burrs. Struggling is inevitable for all of us, but I really hope good things come to you, Asher. If you want to talk to me about your journey, I’m always here.”
“Thanks, Travis.”
I talked to a couple more people before I decided it was time to go back inside. The sooner we got this shit over with, the better. The last thing I wanted was for Roman to get impatient and start working with Anthony and Dan while I was out here.
As soon as I walked in the door, I saw Roman sitting on a staircase that led into the stands. He got to his feet and walked up to me. When he wrapped me in a hug, I was frozen for a second.
“You okay?” I asked, wrapping my arms around him.
