Page 25 of Personal Foul (The San Diego Storm #3)
Carson
I t took Colin a while to unwind after discovering that his agent had allegedly been stealing from him. Just as my father advised, he went online and froze every account Leland had access to. And when that was done, he left my house and went for a run.
“Give me a minute and I’ll go with you.”
He shook his head and placed a hand in the middle of my chest. “No. I need some time to explode alone.”
All I wanted to do was comfort him, but I backed off. “Yeah, okay. I’ll be here when you get back.”
Colin hesitated like he wasn’t sure what he wanted. “Okay.”
When he reached the back door, I blurted out to him. “You’re not alone in this anymore. I’m here. For whatever you need. And if it’s space, then fine. But it’s killing me watching you beat yourself up over something that’s not your fault.”
He laughed humorlessly. “How could I be so stupid, Carson? I blindly trusted him with everything I had.”
I walked over and pulled him into a hug. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”
He nodded, then opened the back door. Instead of heading to my home gym, he headed down the stairs onto the beach. When he was out of view, I closed the door and started dinner.
I just hoped I was right.
We’d gone to practice early on Monday, hoping to have a few minutes with Coach Henderson before everyone else arrived.
Thankfully, Marilyn managed to secure a few minutes with him. But when Colin explained, Coach thought we should inform Mr. Carlisle and the GM of the impending scandal in the sports world. So that’s what we did. Mr. Carlisle responded exactly as I thought he would.
“Thank you for notifying us, Colin. We will keep an ear out for any rumblings.”
He nodded. “Thank you, sir. I apologize for stirring things up.”
Coach smiled. “The league has seen much worse. Don’t worry. I’m sure George St. James will get to the bottom of it.”
When we stood looking at each other, Coach picked up on our hesitation.
“Is there something else?” he asked, looking at us.
I chuckled nervously, but reached down to take Colin’s hand. “Yes, sir. There’s this.”
Holding up our clasped hands, the realization took over his face.
“Yes, well, I guess it all makes sense now.”
I frowned and side-eyed Colin. “Makes sense? What does?”
He chuckled and side-eyed Mr. Carlisle, who appeared amused. “There’s a video circulating online from the airport when Colin arrived. Quite entertaining.”
How the fuck had I missed that?
I covered my mouth with my left hand as Colin squeezed the shit out of my right.
“That was all me and my shenanigans,” Colin confessed, putting his right hand onto his chest. “Carson had nothing to do with it. I caught him completely off guard and thought if I kissed him, it would distract the lookie-loos from filming our little argument. He was berating me for my sheep shirt.”
I curled my lips in to keep from laughing.
“Rams,” I muttered.
“Does Carson have anything to do with that?” Coach asked, pointing to our clasped hands. “Or is this a media ruse?”
“No ruse,” I said, clasping harder as he tried to pull away. “It’s real.”
Colin looked as if he were going to be sick, so I shoved him down in the chair and stood beside him.
Mr. Carlisle spoke up. “Gentlemen, I’m sure you already know the official stance of the NFL.
That’s left to the individual owners. I, like other team owners, believe that who you love is none of our business.
My friend Greer Rowan has quite a few players in same-sex relationships and marriages in Portland.
He broke the initial barrier there, and I am more than happy to break the other one here.
To protect everyone, all I ask is that you talk to our attorneys about unknown issues and keep your performance on the field professional. ”
Colin slumped back in the chair but didn’t let go of my hand.
“Thank you, sir. It won’t be an issue.”
Mr. Carlisle smiled. “Thank you for confiding in us. Are you choosing to tell your teammates, or are you keeping your relationship private?”
I snorted. “I don’t think he’d be able to conceal it from them, and I don’t want to. We’re just going to play football, and as his captain, I’m going to continue to ride his ass when he does something wrong.”
It took two seconds to realize my inappropriate choice of words, but Mr. Carlisle and Coach didn’t seem to pick up on it.
“Well, don’t make things too hard on him,” Coach said. “He’s doing a good job.”
We had to get the fuck out of there before Colin commented on what I said. I could see it coming from the smirk on his face.
I pulled him up from the chair, then released his hand. “We’re going to get ready for practice. We don’t want to be late.”
“Good plan,” Coach agreed.
When we were safely inside the elevator, I glanced over at Colin. “You okay?”
He leaned against the mirrored wall of the elevator, rubbing his hand over his beard. “Yeah. It was easier than I thought it would be. Thought they might want to dump my contract.”
“Why would they do that? We’re a world away from what happened. My dad will figure it all out.”
I glanced at the floor number, then leaned over to give him a quick, reassuring kiss before the doors opened.
Colin smiled up at me. “Now to tell the team.”
I shook my head. “We don’t have to tell them anything.”
“Are you afraid of what they’ll say?”
“No,” I scoffed. “It’s no one’s business. If we keep the status quo on the field, that’s all that matters.”
“Okay. Got it.”
The look on his face should have been a warning about what was to come. But I missed it. As soon as we walked into the locker room, Colin went to his stall and stood up in his chair.
“Excuse me, gents. I have an announcement to make.”
Conversations died away, and the music that usually blared through the locker room to pump us up stopped. All heads turned to him.
In the eerily quiet locker room, Colin announced our relationship to everyone within hearing distance while I prepared to make a run for it.
“If you don’t know me, let me introduce myself to ya. My name’s Colin Kearney, and the rugby bloke you’ve been hearing about. You may have seen me getting railed by my captain.”
“That’s one way to put it,” Evan added, making everyone laugh.
Colin wiggled his eyebrows. “I’m here to announce to all you blokes that said captain, Carson St. James, is mine. He’s off the market, so if you had any ideas, kindly back the fuck off. Thank you and carry on.”
He stepped down from the chair and marched toward me like a man on a mission. Grabbing my face, he kissed me like a porn star to make his point. Momentarily forgetting where we were, the catcalls brought a special kind of embarrassment.
“I fucking hate the way you do things,” I murmured.
He grinned. “No ya don’t. Ya really don’t.”
Lennox interrupted our moment, yelling over everyone.
“Alright, assholes, get your wallets out! You remember the rules. The first question is worth five dollars, the second ten, the third twenty, and so on. The first question you get wrong eliminates you, and you pay up. We’ll start with all you fuckers who had no faith in true love.”
Mason started gagging as Drew whacked him on the back. But my attention was diverted to where Lennox unfolded a big piece of poster board and began marking off names while Evan collected their money.
“Told you it was just foreplay,” Evan added.
“Okay, now. Round two. Who made the first move?” Lennox asked, looking between us.
Colin raised his hand. “That would be me.”
“Okay, great,” Lennox added, marking off names. “All you fuckers who said St. James are out, but thanks for your money.”
He and Evan continued their Vegas gambling shtick until they got to the final question for Colin. There were three names left. “Have you met the parents?”
I groaned as he grinned. “Yep. Love Elizabeth and George.”
“Okay,” he beamed, making two marks on the paper. “We have a winner! Where’s the punter?”
My eyes popped open as Lucas stepped forward and stood beside Evan. “Which charity are you choosing?”
Charity?
“LGBTQ Youth Center on Third Street.”
Evan clapped him on the back. “Excellent choice, my friend. We’ll make the donation on your behalf. Keep the receipt for your taxes. You’re gonna need all the right-offs you can get.”
By the time the flurry was over and almost everyone had headed to the field, I scowled lightheartedly over at my friends. “You guys are assholes. But I’m oddly happy you did it?”
“Well I thought it was fucking brilliant,” Colin added.
Lennox laughed. “It was Evan’s idea. We’re oddly happy for you guys. Now come on, we have practice. We play San Francisco next Saturday.”
With Lennox’s words, the attention shifted from us to the game, just how I liked it.