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“What?” He eventually asked.
“I said, you look nice,” I repeated with a nervous smile.
Merri shook his head, trying to rattle things back into place.
“I’m sorry. You just threw me for a second. I’ve never heard those words come out of your mouth before. It took me a moment to figure out what they meant.”
“What are you talking about? I’ve said you look nice before.”
Merri feigned thinking about it before saying, “No. I was in love with you for three years. I think I would remember that.”
“So, I’ve never complimented you before?” I asked, surprised.
Merri pretended as if he had remembered something and then said, “Nope. Not once. Not even that time when I wore a tuxedo and looked an awful lot like James Bond.”
“Oh, I remember that,” I said with a smile.
He stared at me, waiting for something. “And?”
“And what?”
Merri sighed. “Nothing. Look, I’m here because I want to make you another offer.”
“Did the Cougars’ owner reconsider?” I asked, feeling a tingling in my chest.
“Oh. No. He’s still a bigot and a dick.”
“Oh.”
“The offer I want to make involves a pre-season showcase.”
“A pre-season showcase?”
“Yeah. There’s a showcase for undrafted players held in the middle of pre-season. I’ve been pulling a few strings, and I think I can get you included.”
“Why would you do that?” I asked, unsure how to feel.
“Because, despite how much you pretend not to want to play for the NFL, I think you do. I think you want it a lot. And I might have screwed things up for you with the Cougars, but you could still make it on a team. You could become the best quarterback in the history of the league; I just wouldn’t be your assistant coach,” he said with a sad smile.
I didn’t know how to feel about that. One of the only reasons I played football was for Merri. I had wanted to show off for him. What would football be without him?
“But, you heard your team’s owner. I’m slow to my spots and I can’t make a split to save my life.”
“Yeah, but he also believes that gays shouldn’t be involved with football. So, I would hardly call him a reliable source of information.”
“But I feel it. I feel slow,” I admitted.
“And that brings us to the other part of my offer.”
“Which is?”
“I would like you to stay at my place for the summer while I train you. I guess you don’t have to stay at my place. You can stay anywhere. But, my place is free. And since I still have access to the Cougars’ facilities, I could use it to prepare you.”
“For the summer?”
“Until the showcase.”
“I have a business to run.”
