I bit back my irritation at his fifth mention of his previous partner in less than an hour. “A gimmick?”
“Yeah. What if we were pretend boyfriends? Bi dudes together.”
I held the ball for a second and cast a “What the fuck?” glance his way. “Are you coming on to me?”
“Fuck no, but you’re out and proud, so it could work. Everyone is pro-queer these days.” He motioned for me to bump the ball to him. “Nah, bad idea. That might kill my cred with the ladies. What if I go out with your sister instead?”
Okay. My partner had officially lost it. If we were friends, I’d probably tackle him. But I didn’t know Gus all that well, and while I could appreciate that we were trying to find a groove, this wasn’t what I had in mind.
“She has a boyfriend,” I lied.
“Oh. You could date my sister, then. Or my ex,” he offered.
Seriously? “Yeah, no thanks.”
“What if I date your ex?”
“Uh…”
“The girl ex. Anna, right? She’s hot.”
Again, WTF? I scoffed. “Uh, I don’t know. Seems like we’d be better off trying to play great ball.”
“Obviously, but it’s never enough. Whatever, man. I’ll keep thinking. You should too. It’s important to make our fans feel connected to us. I’ll get Dave to update our website with personal stuff like double-date photos and—I got it. What if I date your ex and you date mine at the same time? She’s hot. Her name’s Melanie. She looks like a younger version of your mom. Big tits and—”
I grabbed the ball and flipped my sunglasses atop my head before rounding on him angrily. “Do not talk about my mother’s tits, asshole.”
Gus held a hand up in surrender. “Sorry. My bad. Just do me a solid and put your thinking cap on. We need content.”
Tucker strolled up then. “What do you need content for?”
“Our website,” Gus replied. “See, I think we need…”
Oh, my God. I tuned Gus out as he ran through another round of lame-ass ideas with my friend. I heard the occasional catchphrases: “Long-lost brothers,” “My dad dates your mom,” “Your mom adopts me”…each one worse than the last.
Welcome to the pros.
“Ask Sophie. She’s great at that stuff,” Tucker suggested. “But I think Anna is out. Sophie’s trying to set her up with Elliot’s roommate.”
What the hell?
“Whoa.” Gus tucked the ball under his arm and frowned. “I called dibs. I want her.”
I put my hands on my hips and glared at him. “Dude, you don’t call dibs on a girl. That’s not how it works.”
“That’s exactly how it works,” he argued. “We gotta be playmakers and rock stars at the same time. We need Karma in the stands, wearing low-cut sparkly tops, Gay and Bi Pride banners, and a pop of Hollywood glitz. We’ve got the first two, but we need something else…something sexy or slightly taboo. Think of it like the bearded lady at the circus. We need something to make us sound exciting and different. We’ve got the Hermosa Open coming up next month. Let’s get creative. Call Sophie for us, Tuck.”
Gus lowered his shades with a wicked grin before ducking under the net and motioning for me to join him.
“Do not call Sophie,” I growled, tossing the ball to Tucker, then grabbing it back. “And how do you know she set Braden up with Anna?”
Tucker widened his eyes comically. “Yikes, relax, man. I saw her at a party over the weekend. She said Braden wanted her to set him up with someone nice and that since you didn’t have a problem with anyone dating your ex, she was going to make some magic happen.”
“Braden said that? He didn’t mention it to me.” I frowned.
Wait. He had mentioned it. And Sophie had too. I didn’t give it much thought because Braden said he wasn’t interested.
“Maybe it didn’t happen yet.” Tucker’s brows creased over the rim of his sunglasses. “You don’t care, do you?”
Yes, I fucking care! I want him, I screamed in my head. But that wasn’t what I said.
“Of course not,” I scoffed with the studied nonchalance I’d perfected back in high school when I first caught on that I might be wired differently than other guys.
“I didn’t think so. It’s been over a year. Anna’s cool, and Braden seems like a good guy.”
I popped the ball to Tucker. “He’s cool. It’s fine.”
“While we’re young, assholes!” Gus hollered from across the net.
“He’s definitely cooler than Gus,” Tucker snorted.
“Yeah, that’s not exactly a high bar,” I muttered, moving closer to Tuck so I wouldn’t be overheard when I added, “Do us both a favor and tell your dad you’re not interested in managing wealth portfolios. You and I should be partners.”
He gave me a weak, lopsided smile. “My old man would kill me. He sent out a company-wide memo to officially welcome me on board the family business. I start September first. Enjoy me while you can.”