Page 39 of King of the Crease

They nod, a bit nervous and unsure.

“You’re all just…gay. Openly gay?”

“No,” Des scoffs. “Some of us are bi. Or demisexual.”

No wonder they all seem so chill. None of them are encumbered with a secret weighing them down like an anvil.

Bill stands up, cautious vein pulsing in his forehead. “Is that a problem?”

“N–no. I just…didn’t know.”

“That we’re all queer as three dollar bills?” Griffin laughs. “It wasn’t planned. We probably would’ve picked a better team name if we all knew.”

“What about Derek?”

“His boyfriend Cary is the best,” Hank says. “Drinks way too much iced coffee.”

I blink at Hank, wondering if he’s going to join the coming out chorus.

“Are you okay?” Hank asks me, eyes ringed with concern.

These men are getting to live and love openly. And dammit, why can’t I? I’m not Prince Nicholas here. I’m Nick from Baltimore. And Nick from Baltimore is a grown adult who doesn’t need to worry about heirs and royal optics.

“I’m okay. I’m also glad I found this team because…” Deep breath, Nick. You can do it. “Because I’m also gay.”

Silence descends on the table for a long beat.

“Okay. Cool,” Bill says. “Anyone need a refill?” He holds up his almost empty beer glass.

Tanner and Griffin give him their order. Bill stands up and heads to the bar. For a moment, I wonder if they misheard me. But no, they heard just fine. Their teammate is gay, and it’s no big deal.

I sit back down, feeling like a new man, one slightly more in control of his destiny.

12

HANK

Did Nick just come out? Like full-on come out of the closet?

And why is that making my palms sweat and my heart race?

Even though he announced that he was gay in a nonchalant way, and guys took it as such, there’s an energized aura to him that I’m picking up. Nick seems lighter than he did just a few minutes ago, less reserved.

Or maybe he really was confused by all of my teammates being somewhere on the rainbow spectrum.

“I guess we should’ve told you sooner,” I say. Nick’s only been to one practice and one game. Our personal lives didn’t happen to come up. He hasn’t known us that long, even though it doesn’t feel that way.

“It’s fine,” he says with the brightest grin on his lips. There’s a twinkle of confidence in his eye like he figured out the secret of the universe.

“You seem very zen,” I say.

“You ever have those moments where you’re in the exact right place at the exact right time?”

“I guess.” I find myself getting pulled along by his energy.

“What about you, Hank?”

He turns that all-knowing gaze to me, and the nerves jangling in my chest take it up another notch.