Page 60 of Dibs
I nodded. “It appears that way, yes.”
Will turned his attention to Kurt. “Like Coach Statler was saying, do you know how amazing it is that our boys are being coached by Chase Matthewson?”
Kurt rolled his eyes. “All of you are starstruck. I don’t want my son thinking being gay is acceptable.”
“Being gay is acceptable,” Lydia, one of the moms, said. “Why would you think it’s not?”
Before Kurt could answer, I stepped in. “Everyone, I’m sorry this was brought up this morning, but we have a tournament to play and that’s what we should be focused on. I hope to see everyone out on the field in an hour.” I turned on my heel and ushered Jase along back to the elevators. Gage, Dylan, and Tyler followed. I didn’t want to have breakfast in the hotel any longer and I needed to get out of there. When we got to the elevators, the doors slid open and Jamie and Cammie were on the other side. “We’re going somewhere else for breakfast.”
Jamie blinked. “What? Why?”
“Nathan’s dad is a homophobe,” Jase stated.
Jamie sucked in a breath as I closed my eyes. I didn’t know what to do. What if a lot of the players didn’t show up to the game? If it happened, we would have to forfeit, and the boys would miss all the fun. I hated to think that it might end all because the person I wanted to wake up next to every morning was another man. Only two parents had offered their support, but I hoped more felt the same way.
“Let’s grab all our stuff and get breakfast somewhere else,” I said, needing to get out of the hotel.
* * *
No one spokemuch as we ate breakfast at a fast-food place down the road.
Once we arrived at the sports complex, everyone piled out of our cars. Before we headed inside, I said, “I need you all to give me and Gage a minute. We’re playing on field three, so start warming up.”
They hesitated for a moment, and Gage nodded to Tyler. “Go with Jamie. I’ll be there shortly.”
I motioned for Gage to get into my SUV and after we shut the doors, I turned slightly to him. “If you want to find someone—”
“Stop.” He held up his hand. “I’m not going to replace you.”
“Maybe you should.”
“Did you not hear me back at the hotel? You’re the best one for this job.”
“But what if other parents agree with Kurt?”
“Then they are fucking assholes and we don’t need them on the Mavericks.”
“But wouldn’t it be easier?” I argued.
“It may be easier, but it’s not the right thing. Those kids are lucky to have you as a coach, baby.”
My head twitched slightly at his term of endearment. We hadn’t used those words before, but as it hit my ears, I instantly felt the stress of everything wash away. However, I knew once we opened the doors to my car and stepped back into reality, everything would come back to weigh me down. How was it that in less than twenty-four hours, my world had been tilted on its axis?
“I just hope we still have a team.”
Gage cupped my cheek. “Just know that whatever happens with all of this won’t scare me away. I love you too much to let some shithead parent destroy what we’ve discovered.”
I blinked at his words, unsure I’d heard them correctly, but then I grinned and asked, “You love me?”
His brown eyes widened, and he dropped his hand. “I … I didn’t mean to blurt it out like that, but yeah, I do.”
I smiled. “I love you too.”
“Fuck,” he growled and pulled my head toward him, taking my lips in a scorching kiss. Once we came up for air, he said, “We better get out there, but we are having alone time as soon as we can because I don’t know how much more of not tasting you I can take.”
My dick hardened slightly at his words as I envisioned him on his knees. Clearing my throat, I cracked the driver’s side door. “I’ll get another hotel room tonight and after everyone is asleep, you’re mine.”
Without another word, we both exited my vehicle and walked to field three. When we arrived, it appeared everyone was there except Nathan. As the day wore on, I kept reminding myself that it wasn’t my fault his father was an asshole and he was missing out on winning our two games that day. Maybe his mother could talk Kurt into letting Nathan play, while he skips the tournaments. Or maybe I needed to forget about Nathan and remind myself I could still coach twelve other boys and two of them might become brothers one day.
