AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I fucking loved it. I was usually kind of nervous at parties, and I sometimes stuck close to Darren just so I’d be near someone I knew. Being in a room full of celebrities should’ve blown my semi-introverted mind.
But that hand resting comfortably on the small of my back, not to mention the chill vibe in this place—I didn’t think I’d laughed this much in ages, and for once, I wasn’t eyeballing the door and scrambling for an excuse to leave.
A few times, I glanced around for Darren just to make sure he was still enjoying himself. He was lost in an animated conversation with Aston and Adamo, so, yeah, he was fine.
At one point, Tanner and I broke away from the group to go up to the bar. As we waited for our drinks, he turned to me. “You doing okay?”
“Yeah.” I grinned. “This is fun!”
God, the way his eyes danced when he smiled. “Glad you’re enjoying it.” Chuckling, he added, “Maybe now they’ll get off my back about when I’m finally going to introduce you to them.”
I stared at him. “Seriously? They’ve wanted to meet me?”
“With as much as I talk about you?” He blushed and cleared his throat. “They were, uh, curious.”
“Whoa. I still… I can’t believe you talk about me to your teammates.”
He shot me an incredulous look. “Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?” He motioned past me with his glass. “Bens was telling me forever I should grow a spine and meet you. And now he never misses an opportunity to tell me he told me so.” Tanner rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, Darren’s been insufferable like that, too.”
“Really?”
It was my turn for an eyeroll, and I was rewarded with the most adorable laugh. I was so fucking stupid for this man, and I loved it.
Right then, the bartender produced our drinks, and we turned to rejoin the rest of the crowd. Brittany Marcus, the team’s reporter, came up to us, wineglass in hand. “So, this is the boyfriend we keep hearing about?”
“He is. Brittany, this is Isaiah. Isaiah, Brittany.”
We shook hands. I knew who she was—anyone who watched sports in Pittsburgh did—but I didn’t say anything except, “Great to meet you.”
“Likewise.” She gestured at us with her glass. “So do you want the world to know about this? Or just let it come out on its own?”
Tanner looked up at me and shrugged. “We’re here. We’re out.” He squeezed my hand, and renewed excitement danced in those beautiful eyes. “Want to go public?”
I was stunned for a second. He… wanted the whole world to know? Walking in here, hand-in-hand, and introducing me to his teammates was one thing. Even in the era of camera phones, there was no guarantee someone would notice and make it public.
Plus, we’d met through the burner accounts we’d used to scrupulously keep ourselves anonymous. Except… those accounts existed to give us space to express opinions and let our hair down in ways our jobs didn’t allow. They gave us a chance to weigh in on controversial topics and tell trolls to go fuck themselves.
Our relationship was separate from all of that, though. We wouldn’t be outing our accounts or our political opinions. Just ourselves. As a couple. As an out and proud queer couple in a world that couldn’t make up its mind about people like us. It would be noticed, but my school district knew I was openly gay, and the League and fans knew about Tanner. We wouldn’t be revealing anything except that we were openly together.
So… did I want the world to know I was dating Tanner Jeffries?
Fuck yes, I did.
I grinned back at Brittany and nodded. “Let’s do it.”
Tanner squeezed my hand, and when I glanced at him, he was smiling. Hell, yeah, I wanted the world to know about this.
Brittany put her glass down on the bar and took out her phone. “Smile!” We posed for her, arms around each other. She snapped a photo, showed it to us, and then, with our permission, posted it. Expression a little more serious, she said, “I’m not going to tag you, Isaiah. I tagged Tanner and the team, but I’m going to spare you the barrage of comments and messages. Especially since people can be…” She grimaced.
“Thanks. If people find my account…” I shrugged. Then I chuckled. “My coworkers are going to be shocked.”
“Oh yeah?” Her eyebrows rose. “What do you do?”
“I teach middle school.”
She laughed loudly and clapped her hand over her mouth. “Oh. Wow. Yeah, you’re gonna get some attention on Monday.” She paused, and she sobered again. “You won’t get in trouble, will you?”
