Page 25 of The Forever Vault

“And he’s cool with you two?” Ezra asked.

O nodded. “Yeah, he is. He’s fine with it. Everyone on the wrestling team is.”

The unspoken words seemed to hover over us. That certainly did not describe our team.

“Would he ever have to wrestle Austin?” Miles asked.

O shook his head. “Nope, not in the same weight class.”

“Oh that’s right. You said that. Sorry,” Miles said, a little flustered.

“Plus, Austin’s freestyle. Keion’s Greco-Roman.”

“You act like we know what that means,” Ezra said.

O sighed, then explained. “Just like gymnastics, there are different disciplines of wrestling. We don’t do trampoline or rhythmic. We do artistic. It’s pretty much the same. The biggest difference is Austin can use his legs while wrestling. Keion would get penalized for doing so.”

“It sounds like you’re a wrestling expert, O.”

“You know I am, Luke. After years of watching him compete, I better be. Any more questions?” O asked the group. “Ezra? Ezra!”

“Wh-what? Sorry, I was thinking about Austin’s legs.”

O crinkled up his napkin and threw it across the table.

“I mean, can you blame me? A wrestler and a gymnast.” He paused. “Still, two gymnasts is probably better. Right, Luke?”

I finished my water, then replied, “Not gonna answer that. Maybe you should find out?”

“Yeah, right. With who?” Ezra asked.

“You mean, with whom.”

“Oh, whatever, Miles.”

“What about Jack Davies?” I suggested. “I have zero experience, but apparently, hate sex is hot.”

“Uh, hell no. Is he even gay?”

“So you do care?”

“I do not!”

“As much as I’d love for this to continue, we should think about heading back to the gym.”

I smiled at O’s suggestion. “We’re on for dinner tonight, by the way. Fanboys unite. Zeph will be there.”

“And Cam too?”

“Yes, Ezra.” I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “I’m going to have to find you your own boyfriend, so you can leave mine alone.”

“I’m not holding my breath.”

“Well, this is San Francisco.”

Afternoon training went just as well as the morning, though it was weird with Preston keeping to himself. We felt more like a team of four, but I was grateful to not have to deal with him. I hadn’t met many bigots in my life and I certainly had never had one on my team before. To my knowledge, anyway. I’d like to think it was progress, but maybe it had just been luck.

After over a decade out of the closet as a world-class athlete, it was kind of a shock, but fortunately I had plenty of distractions. When I wasn’t worried about Cam, I was minding the rest of the guys. O had some Olympic experience, but even with him on the team, I felt responsible for everybody. I knew I didn’t have to be their pseudo big brother. And certainly, no one pressured me into that role.