Page 60 of Dickathlon

I was at the mall, trying to find a present for Declan. And I had to pick him up at the airport in an hour. I still can’t believe I forgot.

Thank God I told them.

My mom was the one that asked what I was getting him. I hadn’t bought anyone presents in so long that I forgot to tell him we didn’t do that. Ever since that moment, I had been thinking of what to get him, but hadn’t thought of anything good enough. And now it was crunch time. Too late to get anything online, so the mall was my last chance.

* * *

It was Casey’s ninth birthday last week. We always made sure to celebrate it separate from Christmas after the debacle of his fifth. He finally figured out he was getting cheated and tried to run away. I ended up finding him three blocks over with a Tupperware filled with holiday cupcakes and a thermos of cocoa.

I took advantage of the family gathered together. I didn’t want to have five different phone conversations, so one night, after the kids were all in bed, and everyone was in the kitchen finishing off an early batch of adult eggnog, I announced someone was joining me for Christmas.

“Someone?” my dad asked with air quotes. “Do you mean Luke?”

“Oh, it will be nice to have him here again.”

“It’s not Luke, Mom…but it is a guy.” Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared.

“A legit guy? You mean like a boyfriend?” Travis asked.

“Yeah.” I nodded. “His name is Declan. Declan Moore.”

“Holy shit!”

“Language, Pierce!” Mom scolded.

“ESPN’s Athlete of the Year Declan Moore?” Pierce asked, eyes wide.

“That’s the one.”

“You know him, Pierce?” Dad asked.

Pierce scoffed and shook his head. “I wish.” Coming over to stand next to me, he crossed his arms and asked, “How did you land Declan Moore, little bro?”

“How do you think he did, Pierce? He’s so handsome.”

“Mom, Declan is like a Greek god in the track world. He broke the world record for decathlon last year.”

“I didn’t know you were so obsessed with my boyfriend.”

“Everyone’s obsessed with him.”

Half in shock, I turned to look at Rene.

She continued, “The name sounded familiar, so I looked him up.” She showed the room her Google results. “And yeah, my spin class crew is obsessed with him. There’s a poster of him in our gym lobby.”

“The one with the stomach tattoo or the one with the big beard?” Kyle asked.

“Stomach tattoo.”

Fuck, even Kyle noticed him.

“He has posters?” I asked, mouth a little open in shock.

“Aw, baby bro didn’t realize he’s dating a sports celebrity,” Travis teased.

I guess I hadn’t realized, but I was happy my family seemed to be more focused on how awesome my boyfriend was, rather than freaking out over me bringing a guy home. Not that they would have, but I had been nervous to tell them.

Now, I was nervous I was dating someone out of my league.