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“I…don’t know that his agent knows about him. Or us. He’s really private.” I say, slowly. In fact, I’m certain his agent doesn’t know.
“Good to know that he’s just as stupid as you, then. He needs to tell his agent.”
“I’ll talk to him. And yes, the plan is to stay locked in the closet, as you so aptly put it.”
“You do that. I’ll be expecting a call from them. Now, about your contract.” He sighs, and I thunk my head back against the wall a couple of times. “I don’t know that South Carolina will work out. Either they’ll keep you but re-sign you for half of what you’re worth, or they’ve got their sights on someone else and were just using you as a placeholder.”
“Please.” I say, feeling desperate. “I don’t care about the pay cut. Any extension South Carolina offers, I’m taking it, okay? Don’t negotiate.”
“I’ll try, buddy, but don’t get your hopes up. Best case scenario is we keep you on the East Coast. Worst case is we hear what L.A. has to say.”
“No. I’m not moving to fucking California.” An icy pool of dread forms in my stomach. What if L.A. is my only offer? On the complete opposite side of the country—might as well be on the opposite side of the world; Corwin and I would likely go months without ever being in the same room together during the season. “East Coast. Just focus on the East Coast.”
“I will. And don’t forget to talk to Sanhover about his agent. I’m serious, St. James, this will be a media shitstorm if we don’t have a plan in place. Any jackass with a cellphone and a Twitter account can cause you a world of trouble.”
“I’ll speak with him. And thank you.” Jack grunts and we hang up. I linger, unwilling just yet to burden Corwin. The possibility of a long-distance relationship is a conversation we need to have; hell, it’s a conversation we probably should have had months ago. Standing up, I key myself back into my room. Corwin has removed his shoes and shed much of his suit; he’s sitting at the head of the bed, reading a book he must have pulled out of his carry-on while waiting for me.
He smiles when I walk back into the room, closing the book and resting it on the side table. “Everything good?”
“Well, I guess that depends on your definition of good.” I say, toeing off my own shoes and scooting in next to him. “First off, I’m sorry, but I had to tell him about us. I probably should have told him back when we starting dating, but I didn’t want to out you.”
“Oh.” Corwin’s eyes widen slightly. “Shit, I didn’t think of that. I should probably tell Isabelle, too.”
“Isabelle as in Isabelle Frost? She’s your agent?” He nods and I whistle, low. “Damn. She’s a shark.”
“She is. She’s going to be pissed when I tell her I’m gay and seeing a teammate.”
“So was Jack. He wants your agent to call him so they can come up with a gameplan for when we are inevitably outed by someone.” Corwin flinches, and I lay my hand back on his thigh, squeezing gently. “Best to plan for the worst-case scenario. Hopefully we won’t need it.”
“Hopefully. Was that all he wanted to talk to you about?”
“No. I guess L.A. has been putting out feelers.” I say, slowly, and Corwin turns his body to face me more fully. He wraps his fingers around my wrist.
“You can’t go to L.A.”
“That’s what I told Jack. But…he thinks there isn’t a high probability of South Carolina extending my contract.”
His hand tightens around my wrist as though I told him I’m leaving right now. There is real fear in his eyes, and my heart breaks a little to see it. I want to console him, tell him it’ll all work out and I’m not going anywhere. But there is a very real possibility that those words would be a lie, and he’s smart enough to see through it.
“What would we do?” He asks, carefully, speaking as though I’m a wild animal he’s trying not to spook. “If you had to leave. What would that mean for us?”
“It would mean that I’d be flying back here every time our schedules gave us days off that coincide. And I’d spend the summer in South Carolina, obviously, or wherever you were. It would be tough, but we could make it work if we had to.” I sound far more confident than I feel, but the words have the desired effect on Corwin. He relaxes, shoulders loosening and expression moving from panicked to just worried.
“Like a long-distance relationship.” He elaborates.
“Right.”
“Okay, good. We could do that, if we had to. We could make it work.” He nods at me, smiling reassuringly. His tone has me slightly confused.
“Wait, you didn’t think I’d break up with you, did you? If I got traded?”
“It was a possibility.”
“It’s also possible to be struck by lightning. But let’s not worry about things that are so unlikely.” I say, and he snorts a laugh. Moving closer to me on the bed, he wraps an arm over my shoulder. The move is so unlike him that it takes me a few seconds to lean into it.
“We’ll be okay.” He tells me.
“Yeah. We will.”
