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Finally, he muttered tightly under his breath, “And you want to take him with you toDraft Night. As yourdate.”
Breck’s throat constricted. “Yes,” he rasped.
“For the love of God, why?” his dad all but bellowed. “Of all the fucking places—”
“Ben!”
“Because I want it out in the open! I don’t want to hide who I am anymore!”
“ButDraft Night?!That’s the worst possible place!”
“No! That’s thebestpossible place!” Breck countered passionately. “Ithasto be there! I don’t want to be signed by a team that’s run by bigots! This is mycareer!I’ll be in it foryears!I don’t wanna have to pretend I’m something I’m not for my whole fucking life!”
“You won’t have to, Breck, because you won’t get signed!”
“Ben, calm down.”
“You don’t know that,” Breck insisted. “It’s the twenty-first century. Gay athletes get picked up all the time. It’s no big deal.”
“That’s not true.” His dad shook his head adamantly. “They come outafterthey’ve been signed, Breck. Because they know it’d never happen otherwise.”
Surely, that couldn’t be right. But even if it was, Breck couldn’t bear doing the same. Aside from the notion of prolonging the torment, it felt deceitful. Dishonest. Like selling a lie. A fabricated image of what others wanted, rather than who he was.
He stood his ground. “No. I need to be me.”
“But you’ve workedso hard,” his dad vehemently reasoned. “You’ll be throwing it all away! All those years of practicing day and night. All your efforts will have been for nothing if you go down this path.”
“I don’t believe that.” Breck lifted his chin. “I refuse to believe that.”
His dad groaned a curse and dragged a hand down his face.
Breck’s heart clenched. He frowned. “Do you love me, Dad?”
His father paused. Then frowned as well. “Of course I love you. Don’t you see? All these years, everything I’ve done. It’s beenfor you. To make sure you get the lifeyouwant. To make sureyou’rehappy.”
“Are you sure it’s notyouyou want happy, Dad? That all of this hasn’t been to get whatyouwant out of life?” His dad stiffened and opened his mouth, but Breck kept going. “Because what you’re asking of me won’t make me happy. And it sure as hell isn’t what I want. I don’twantto pretend. I want to beme. Not some poster-perfect athlete that doesn’t exist. If I can’t be who I am in the NBA, then maybe I don’t want to be part of that club. I mean, I sure as hell don’t support discrimination. And if fame and fortune won’t allow me to be happy, then what’s the point?”
His dad exhaled and gripped his hips. Shook his head. “I can’t believe this.”
Breck’s chest squeezed. “Shouldn’tyouof all people understand? When you were dating Mom, you were in a similar boat. Back then, interracial relationships weren’t exactly smiled upon.”
His parents exchanged a look of bleak remembrance.
“The world was much crueler then.” His mom nodded with a sigh.
“But did you care?” Breck asked his dad. “Did you give Mom up because the world around you didn’t approve?”
His dad peered back at his wife with heavy-hearted eyes.
“No,” Breck’s mom answered for him. “He didn’t give me up.” Her tone sounded suspiciously sad. “But in doing so, Breck, your fatherdidpay a very high price.”
Breck frowned, not understanding. “What do you mean?”
His parents traded yet another unhappy look.
“Just like you, your father was an incredible basketball player. One of the very best in both high school and college. But back then… as you said, society wasn’t as accepting… and when the Draft came… because of our relationship… he didn’t get signed.”
Breck’s jaw nearly dropped to the floor. They’d never once told him this. He’d had no idea. Hell, he’d always assumed that his dad just hadn’t made the cut.
