Page 1

In retrospect, maybe I should’ve told Finn the news somewhere private. Or better yet, over the phone. But I wanted to talk to him in person, off campus, where we wouldn’t be overheard or interrupted by anyone we knew. Taking him to Tunnel City, our favorite coffee shop, had seemed like a good idea at the time. Now, though, seeing him spurting out his coffee, eyes bulging, veins popping, I wasn’t so sure.

People at the nearby tables threw glances at us as he went into a full-on coughing fit, and I offered them an awkward smile in return. Finn was just being extra. Everything was always up to eleven with him. I was lucky he turned his head in time, or else I’d be wearing a wet shirt right now .

“You caught—your dad—” he managed to croak out between the coughs, staring at me like I just confessed to a murder.

“With a dude, yeah,” I said again as he took another sip of his coffee. “And not just any dude, for that matter. It was our next-door neighbor Daniel. My brother and I used to play with him when we were kids. He’s only two years older than me.”

Finn spat his drink again, spraying the Tunnel City’s shiny wooden floor. I drew back my legs just in time to save my sneakers from being splashed. More heads turned in our direction, some curious, some annoyed. We looked like a typical pair of obnoxious college jocks that swarmed Williamstown, too loud and reckless, ignorant of those around us.

“Would you stop doing that?” I growled under my breath. “You’re going to get us kicked out.”

“Excuse me, but how am I supposed to react to that ?” Finn tittered, wiping his chin with a napkin. He leaned closer and spoke in a quieter voice. “So, you literally walked in on them fucking?”

“Yeah,” I said, fidgeting in my chair as the scene from two weeks ago replayed in my head. Matt and I were used to seeing our dad in the buff growing up. He was not shy about nudity and seemed to have some kind of allergy to underwear. We were raised not to give a fuck about it, and we never did. In fact, we enjoyed being au naturel as much as our old man. But coming home on a summer break and finding your super-straight father balls-deep in another man’s ass was something else. And there I was, thinking I would shock him when I told him I was gay.

“Wow. So first your mom developed a sudden taste for pussy and left your dad for a woman she met at a yoga class—”

“They’re now engaged,” I interjected.

“—and now you’re telling me that your dad is having a gay old time with your childhood friend?” Finn grinned at the cleverness of his recap.

“Yes, thank you for that thoughtful summary. Very perceptive. Now you see why I didn’t want to tell you anything over text messages.” I’d been sitting on this news for two weeks, waiting for the semester to begin, and then I couldn’t get any alone time with my roommate. As soon as I got back and walked into the dorm, the guys from our team burst into our room with beer and snacks, sharing stories of their summer vacations like they turned up to a frat house party. Then a few girls joined in and Finn was lost to me, beguiled by their feminine wiles. I could wait one more day, I thought. Hell, I even debated if I should tell him at all. But Finn was my bro and there were no secrets between us. There’s no way I could keep this from him. So, determined not to miss my chance again today, I grabbed him as soon as our classes were over and took him here before anyone else could interrupt us .

“Man, it’s like someone has put a queer hex on your house. You’re going down one by one. If your brother turns next, I’ll be majorly worried.”

I snorted.

He threw a piece of crumpled napkin at me so I’d know he wasn’t being serious. Finn wasn’t one of those insecure, narrow-minded jocks who thought that being around gay people will somehow make them gay too, and I loved him for it. That’s why we were still best friends. “I guess your coming out to your dad didn’t go exactly as planned, then?”

“You guessed right.” I swallowed a gulp of hot coffee and leaned back in my chair. “I wanted to ease him to the news, tell him over dinner or something, but… after my brother and I walked in on him and Danny, I just sort of blurted it all out, right then and there. Well, technically, it was Matt who outed me. Not that I blame him—seeing our pops nailing another dude pushed him over the edge, and he snapped. I just went on from there.”

Finn looked about ready to spurt out his drink once more, but he managed to restrain himself. “You should sell the rights to your life story to some daytime TV producer. It would make for a decent soap opera.”

He chuckled and I kicked him under the table. “Shut up.”

“All right, all right. Tell me how it went.”

I sighed. “Well, we sat and talked it out afterward. My dad told me he loved me and supported me, and we all hugged and lived happily ever after. Or at least moved on to other issues.”

“Like your dad getting it on with a guy more than half his age?”

“I think that’s over now,” I said after taking another sip of coffee. “He didn’t see Danny again while Matt and I were there, anyway. And then Danny went back to his university the day before we did, so…” I let the sentence trail off, my meaning hopefully clear enough.

“Are you telling me your dad is free for grabs now?” Finn wiggled his eyebrows, leering at me.

“Ew, man, don’t be gross.”

“What? Your dad is a catch. So rugged and manly—” I kicked him under the table again, and he guffawed until he was out of breath. “Okay, okay, I’m just messing with you, man. You know I don’t swing that way.” Finn glanced at me as he said it, his face almost apologetic. God, like he needed to remind me.

He was my first real male crush. As it happens, he was the reason I figured out I was gay. We had an awkward situation last semester when some of the guys dared us to make out at a frat party. Drunk and hot-headed, we went for it. But while it was all fun and games for Finn, I realized I actually liked it. A lot. Almost popped a boner right there in front of everybody.

Finn and I had been roomies since our freshman year, and we were both on the wrestling team too. I knew he was a great guy. So, after a week of brooding and fretting, I bit the bullet and came clean, told him I had feelings for him and all. He was the first person I came out to, even before I told my brother Matt. Finn was cool about it, didn’t freak out or anything, but he was clear that he didn’t feel the same. It took a few months for me to get over him, but we managed to remain the best of buddies through it all. We were even closer now than we were before. I know he’s got my back, and I got his, no matter what. That’s why I had no problem confiding in him and telling him all this.

“Well, as I always say, all’s well that ends well,” Finn offered as a closure after I stayed silent, stretching in his chair like a big, lazy cat.

“You never say that,” I countered, taking another sip of coffee.

“I sure do!”

“It’s literally the first time you’ve said it.”

“Okay, whatever. I’m just glad that everything turned out all right. That’s all.”

Despite his constant joking, I knew he meant it. As I said, he was a great guy. “Thanks.”

“Yo, it’s almost two,” Finn said, looking at his phone. “If you don’t have any more bombs to drop on me, we should get going. Don’t wanna be late to the practice today, what with the new coach and everything.”

“Right,” I said and slurped the rest of my coffee before standing up and stretching my legs. I almost forgot about the first practice with the new coach today. I just hoped he’d be as good as Coach Simmons—he was old, but he knew his stuff and everyone liked him. He and Assistant Coach Jenkins have been with us ever since I got into the Williams College wrestling team, until Jenkins got a better offer and moved out of state at the end of last semester. We knew we were getting a new assistant coach. But yesterday, at the very start of our junior year, Ms. Millson dropped some unexpected news. The Athletic Director told us that Coach Simmons had to take a semester off due to hip replacement surgery, and that we’ll have to go on with only one coach this season, this new guy they hired to replace Jenkins. Now we were about to meet him. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and said, “Let’s go.”

As we hurried up Spring Street and back to the campus, Finn said, “Did you hear anything about this guy? Blane something?”

“I think it’s Blake. Blake Hudson.”

“Sounds vaguely familiar.”

“Scott said something about him winning several national championships, and even being on the Olympic team at one point. I think he used to compete in the UFC’s Heavyweight division. Then, few years ago, he disappeared from the face of the Earth. And I heard that he’s still kind of young, like, mid-thirties.”

Finn’s brows furrowed as he strode beside me. “Huh. Guess he went into coaching. ”

“Yeah.” Unlike other more popular sports, wrestling wasn’t exactly a lucrative long-term career, unless you go into WWE and get big. I didn’t have any illusions about that. My dad also used to wrestle all through high school and college, but gave it up after graduation to become an architect. And after I graduate, I’ll probably ditch wrestling too. Same as Finn. We were both majoring in Computer Science, our career path already determined, so we kept practicing and competing purely out of love for the sport. Speaking of which, I pulled my phone from my pocket to check the time. “Shit, we’re gonna be late. Hurry up! ”