Page 54 of The Way We Swing

Gavin reached us about fifteen feet ahead of Easton and sat down next to me. He tossed his Mizuno glove on the table and said, “Easton says he’s going to throw me BP after your guy’s game tomorrow.”

“I’m sure he did,” I laughed.

“Thanks,” he whispered, wrapping his left arm around my back in a mini hug.

I smiled at him and looked up as Easton reached the table. He walked to Zach and kept his body positioned away from me. His shoulders were stiff. “You still want to go to dinner? I was going to tell Coach we were leaving.”

“Sure. Now?”

“Yeah. Meet me in the lobby in five, and we’ll figure out where we’re going.” He walked into the hotel, his head forward the entire time. He may not have been looking at me, but I certainly looked at him.

“You should probably stop looking at his ass,” Zach laughed, drawing my guilty eyes away from Easton’s body.

“You told Zach?” Gavin said.

“I didn’t really have to,” I said.

“Not sure they could have made it any more obvious,” Zach said.

“Pretty sure I was the only one who didn’t figure it out,” Gavin said.

“Sounds like you got an eyeful, though,” Zach laughed.

“How about you go have dinner with Easton and both of you stop talking about us?” I said, only slightly annoyed.

Zach heeded my advice and walked away. I knew they were laughing more with me than at me. Maybe I should have been upset about it, but I was just happy that Zach and I were talking about stuff again.

“What did you say to Easton?” Gavin asked.

“I told him if he didn’t make up with you that I’d tell the team about us,” I said.

“Really? You would have done that?” Gavin asked.

“Probably. I wasn’t thinking straight—I was just angry. I didn’t want to out him, but I didn’t know what else would make him listen.”

“Thanks,” Gavin said. “But you told me that outing somebody is a dick move. I’m glad you didn’t.”

I felt a tinge of regret at the reminder, knowing I’d put Easton in an impossible position. “I was out of options. He couldn’t keep being an ass.”

“I’d rather have him not talking to me than you out both of you guys just for me.”

“Well, thankfully, it didn’t come to that. What did he say when he sent Zach away?”

“He was really awkward at first. I’ve never seen him like that. He couldn’t look at me and kept pacing around the room. He said he thought everyone was asleep and that he didn’t know why he did it. Then he thanked me for not saying anything and apologized about fifty times, calling himself a prick.”

“Good. Did he say anything about me?”

“No. I asked him if you guys would be friends again, but he didn’t say. But he will,” Gavin said with all the confidence of someone who didn’t know any better.

I bit my lower lip.

There was a part of me that had hoped things would turn out better. The smarter part of me, though, was starting to realize I was worth more than the way he had been treating me. I was sick of being this dirty little secret, unable to live my own life.

I walked to Coach’s room and knocked on the door. There was another conversation that I had been dreading,but I knew it had to happen. If I could say I was gay, I could do this.

“Tanner,” Coach said as he answered the door. “What’s up?”

“Do you have a couple of minutes?” I asked, glancing behind him. No one else was in the room, so this would be easier than I’d thought.