Page 126 of Role Model

“Oh fuck.” Harris shook his head. “Nope. Okay. We’ve got serious stuff to discuss.”

Troy’s eyes lost some of their heat. “We do.”

“How’d it go with your mom?”

“Amazing. She was super supportive and great.”

Harris beamed, and nearly kissed him right there in the locker room. “That’s awesome!”

“Yeah. And when I got here, Coach called me into his office to tell me that Crowell is mad that I’m posting again.”

Harris rolled his eyes. “Oh fuck. Are you serious?”

“But listen, Coach said management supports me. And so does he. They aren’t going to do anything to discipline me, even though Crowell asked them to.”

God, Harris loved this team. “I’m not surprised. I told you we only have good people here. Sounds like you got a lot of love today.”

“I wouldn’t mind a little more,” Troy said seductively. Then his eyes went wide. “Oh! And Coach knows about us! He caught us, uh, smooching, as he put it, in your office.”

Whoops. “Shit, Troy. Sorry. Are you okay?”

Troy nodded. “I’m okay. I feel great, actually. I think I might come out to the team. Like, maybe right now?”

“Right now? Here?”

“Yeah. What do you think?”

“It’s okay with me, but are you sure you—”

But Troy had already stepped up to stand on the bench in his stall.

“Hey, everyone,” he announced loudly.

The room got slightly quieter. Then Ilya said, “Everyone shut up and listen to Barrett,” and the room went silent.

“Just one thing,” Troy said. His voice was surprisingly steady. “I’m dating Harris. We’re together. I’m gay.”

Well, it wasn’t poetry. But it still made Harris’s eyes fill with tears.

There was another seemingly endless moment of silence, and then there was applause. And whistling. And cheering.

Troy slumped back against the wall, as if he couldn’t believe he had just done that. He stared wide-eyed at his teammates until a wide, elated smile stretched across his face.

“I’d like that to stay in this room for now,” Troy said, still smiling. “Please. Okay. Thank you.”

He stepped down, into Harris’s waiting arms. Harris hugged him tight, not caring at all that he was drenched in sweat and smelled like a gym bag. “That was weird. I loved it.”

“It was okay?”

“I said I loved it.”

“We still have to, like, officially disclose the relationship,” Troy said.

“I know. It’s just a formality. No one will care.”

“Okay. Can I kiss you?”

“Everyone is probably watching.”

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