Page 37 of The Poster Boy
“Yeah. See you.” I waited in the stairwell for a few minutes before letting myself out in the lobby. As discreetly as possible, I slipped the keycard back to the person at the desk and prayed that they didn’t sell the story to a tabloid or getfired.
I went straight back to my room and grabbed my phone. I’d just seen him a few minutes ago, but I had access to him now and I wanted to use it. Jay was like a drug. An obsession. It had started before we’d even fucked the first time. Right from that awkward meeting outside the arena, when I could tell he didn’t like me and wasn’t happy to see me, I’d found him attractive. It was hard not to.
Jay Brookbank was a heartthrob. Thick, dark curls that he kept longer on top. They looked soft, and I’d wanted to run my fingers through them the first time I saw him. Even though he scowled at me. Hazel eyes that had hidden depths to them. That was especially clear now that I’d gotten to know him a little more.
But the thing I clung onto the most was the way he didn’t hate me.
I ducked into the bathroom when I got back to my room, washed my hands, and disposed of the condom by wrapping it in toilet paper and burying it in the trash can. Griffin, my roommate, laid on his bed and was texting someone on his phone.
When I dropped down onto my bed and grabbed my phone from the charger, he glanced at me.
“Have fun?” The smirk on his face suggested that he knew exactly why I’d left the room.
“I don’t kiss and tell.” I unlocked my phone and checked for messages from Kelsey. I wondered if she’d seen the news yet. “That’s the press’s job, apparently.”
“You should stop taking so many interviews.” Griffin voiced the thing that I’d thought a million times. “You’ve given them enough of yourself. Let them latch on to the next gay player.”
My stomach fluttered nervously at the thought that if we weren’t careful, the next out gay player could be Jay. Iwondered if he’d even told the team that he was gay, or if he navigated life as a queer hockey player all by himself. The thought saddened me because even when I hadn’t been publicly out, Kelsey had known. And before it was official and I was outed with a celebrity, I sort of thought of my sexuality as a badly-kept secret.
I let my panic encourage me to send a text to Jay.
Does anyone else know you’re gay? Bi? Pan?
My nerves had me second-guessing everything.
Gay. Boone knows. Maybe a couple of the guys because they’re not dumb. But, in general, not really.
I exhaled a shaky breath.
We need to be extra careful then. I don’t want you to go through what I did.
That’s decent of you, Myers, but I’m a big boy. Don’t worry about me.
I know you’re a big boy
OMG did Broody Brookbank just SMILE at me?
It was an emoji. It doesn’t count.
Too late. No backsies. You smiled at me.
Go to sleep, Myers. It’s past your bedtime.
Age before beauty.
*Middle finger emoji*
My phone went silent after that, and I took a minute to text Kelsey to warn her about the mess I’d accidentally caused. Despite everything that had gone on after the game, sleep was easy to come by. I tried not to give the credit to Brookbank, but he was the last thing I thought of before I crashed out.
Chapter 18
Jay
Boone knew something was up with me. He kept giving me the side eye whenever we were alone. I’d have offered to tell him what was going on, but I wanted to keep it under wraps. It was nothing. A fling. And I didn’t want to hear how stupid I was for fucking a teammate. I’d weighed the risks and found there were few. If things went south between us, well, then I’d go back to hating him and nothing would change.
Only now the idea of hating him held no appeal. Neither did the idea of something happening between us to cause a rift. I was enjoying the tentative friendship we’d formed. It made me realize how isolated I’d let myself become. Not just with friendships, but as a gay man. I’d buried myself deep in the closet. I kept my head down and played the game. But one day, the game wasn’t going to be there anymore.
That didn’t mean I wanted to come out, especially not the way Myers had, but for the first time, I started to think of all the things I’d been missingout on.
