Page 115 of After the Siren
‘Fuck yes,’ Gabby said into Theo’s shoulder. ‘You boys. You’re going to make me cry.’
Theo looked up. The kiss was being replayed on the big screens and, well, it was some kiss. It dawned on him, somewhat belatedly, that they were all about to find out how a crowd of ninety thousand people felt about two football players making out. Someone with a microphone had bailed Raze up and was gesturing at the screen. Raze looked like he was about to pass out, but that was probably his ribs.
‘I’m gonna go help out with that,’ Paddy said and jogged in Raze’s direction.
Kat had let Jake go and pulled Theo into a hug. ‘I’m so fucking proud of you,’ she said. She was definitely crying. ‘Soproud of you.’
‘Sorry, I think we might have caused some drama after all,’ Theo said. They were replaying the kissagainwhile the team song started up for a second time. It wasn’t stopping anyone from singing along.
Kat smiled. A bit like a shark. ‘I love queer drama,’ she said.
‘Stavs, Jaze.’ Yelks had his shoulder strapped, and they’d obviously stuck him full of painkillers. He was sheet white and sweaty. ‘Let’s go see the fans.’
He put his good arm over Jake’s shoulder and they walked over to the goals to see the cheer squad. Theo had time for a moment of trepidation, but if anyone had a problem with queer footballers it was swallowed up in the ecstasy of the win. Fans reached for him and he gave out high fives, signed things, watched Jake do the same.
A woman grabbed his arm as he passed. She was crying, her arm around the woman beside her, a pride scarf draped around both of them.
‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘Thank you.Both of you.’ Theo leaned over the fence to hug her. Jake pressed up next to him and then they were all hugging, and maybe Theo was crying a bit as well.
Jake wasn’t sure how long it took them to get down to the rooms. Yelks had given them more time than usual to spend with the fans. Jake was desperate to get down the race to see his mum – she’d come down for the game with Lydia and Keeley – but he also wanted to stay with the fans, to soak up the atmosphere, tospend a few more minutes here before he had to go and face the consequences of his actions.
He didn’t regret it. It felt right, down to his bones, but a small part of him wondered whether Theo would regret it. It had been a veryJakething to do. But Theo had looked at him like he was sure, and Jake hadn’t second-guessed it.
‘Hey,’ he said, as Theo handed a football back to a fan and started to make his way towards the players gathered at the top of the race.
‘Hey,’ Theo said, reaching for Jake’s hand. His smile told Jake everything he needed to know. ‘You good?’
‘Yeah.’
Theo met his eyes. ‘I don’t regret it,’ he said. ‘And I’m not going to.’
Jake smiled and stood on tiptoes to kiss him. ‘Me neither.’
Davo was big on letting family and friends into the rooms after the game. Jake let himself be pulled into the circle by Yelks for the song, but all he could see was his mum, grinning from ear to ear over Tenders’ shoulder. He got her in a hug as soon as he could, Lydia and Keeley throwing their arms around them both. Then they all had to grab Theo as well.
Eva was there, hanging back a little, so Jake introduced her to Keeley. She gave Theo a hug and then looked at Jake like she wasn’t sure if she was allowed to hug him. He hugged her, and then introduced her to his mum and Lydia.
It felt weird. This thing that had hung over him for a decade had been cut loose and had floated away. He knew there would be shit to deal with, knew it wouldn’t be easy, but he’d done it. Knew he could make it work. Maybe he wasn’t the best role model, but he knew how he would have felt if, as a kid, he’d seen two players kiss on the MCG.
Yelks couldn’t keep the reporters away forever, and of course it was Brayden Hunter who found Jake first, smiling his oily smile.
‘Hi, Hunter,’ Jake said. In this mood, he could even find a real smile for his least favourite reporter.
‘Cunningham,’ Hunter said. ‘You surprised some people today.’
‘Probably,’ he agreed.
‘Pretty unexpected,’ Hunter prompted.
‘Was it?’ Jake caught Theo’s eye over Hunter’s head.
Theo tilted his head like,Need rescue?and Jake shook his head. Hunter leaned closer, raising his voice to be heard over the noise in the rooms. ‘Had you planned that celebration in advance?’
Jake inhaled, focusing his attention on not saying any of the things he was thinking. ‘Nah, I don’t think I would’ve guessed that was how the game would go.’
‘Are you worried this will distract from the victory?’
‘Mate, I just wanted to kiss my boyfriend. You’re the reporter. If you wanna get distracted, that’s on you.’
