Down by Contact (The Barons 2)

“Why do you look confused?”

Forcing myself not to sneer, I glanced back at Adrián. He was wearing basketball shorts, a sleeveless striped T-shirt the color of a Creamsicle, and Ray-Bans. He was also casually licking an ice cream cone. I wanted to fuck the shit out of him, but settled for rolling my eyes back towards the community center.

“Where are we supposed to practice?”

“Probs using the high school’s field.”

“There’s a field somewhere in the middle of all this concrete?”

“Yup.” Adrián gave another slow lick while staring at me from behind the safety of his reflecting sunglasses. “I know it’s probably a real shock to your country ass.”

“Fuck you, Bravo.”

It was a bullshit insult, and I wasn’t really mad, but it still made me hate him just a bit more.

“Stop standing out here like a lost tourist and take your ass inside. The paps haven’t found us yet, but they will.”

I flipped him off and strode through the doors, hoping one of them rebounded and broke his little button nose. Fucker had nerve being cute as hell while trying his best to get under my skin.

“Soooo,” he drawled. “How was the journey from the Hamptons?”

“Just fine. How was your journey from wherever the hell you crawled out of?”

“Great. Legit walked down the street and stopped for a Mister Softee on the way.”

“Mister Softee? Sounds like a gay-for-pay bottoming porn scene.”

Adrián tilted his head, puzzled and still licking his cone. I had no idea what he thought he was doing with that goddamn thing. Introducing himself to the kids and our new supervisor while eating like a child?

“What’s gay-for-pay?”

Smirking, I glanced at the reception desk and then back at him. “When a porn star lets dudes bang him on camera even though he’s really straight. So, his dick stays limper than a softwood tree after a rainstorm.”

Adrián wrinkled his nose. “They must be getting that good money.”

“Probably. Feeling tempted into a career change?”

He pushed his sunglasses to his forehead and winked. “Not for nothing less than eight figures. They gotta match my EA Sports endorsement.”

I couldn’t stand him.

Turning away, I strode to the receptionist’s desk only to see the woman behind it had already noticed us. She was wearing a floral pantsuit with high-top Converse and had a big purple bow in her Afro. If I was straight, or a little bit homo-flexible, I’d be in love. Instead, I just admired her skin since it was glowing like a moisturizer commercial.

“Hello there, ma’am,” I said, smiling wide. “You wouldn’t happen to know where two troublesome NFL bozos should head to get started on their coaching project, would you?”

“I sure do,” she said, smiling back just as wide. Her big dark eyes flicked over me before glancing more dismissively at Adrián. I may be gayer than a San Francisco Pride parade, but I was also smug as hell.

“You guys are actually early, but I’ll show you to the director’s office.”

“Early?” Adrián wrinkled his nose. “But we were told to be here from like nine in the morning to four in the afternoon.”

“Huh. Interesting. The kids for the sports program usually come in from noon to four. Maybe you’re supposed to help out around the Center for the full-day program too?”

Adrián muttered something and went back to his cone. Child.

I flashed another smile. “Thank you, ma’am. I didn’t catch your name, by the way.”

“That’s because I didn’t give it to you yet. It’s Sheila.”

“Okay, Sheila. Nice to meet you.”

She turned away to show us to the office, and Adrián nudged his shoulder against mine. “Why would you flirt with her when you don’t like ladies?”

“Why not? It’s fine, and she’s pretty.”

Adrián gave me big, owlish eyes. He was so boyishly adorable it was hard to hate him for long periods of time. I solved that little dilemma by reminding myself that he was a douche canoe.

“You find women attractive?”

“You poor sweet child. Unlike cis hetero men, who think admitting another man is attractive will turn their fragile sexualities in a different direction, I’m more than capable of admiring a beautiful woman without questioning my shit.”

“Huh.”

“I’m just opening all kinds of new worlds for you, ain’t I?”

Adrián shrugged. “Yeah, maybe. Let’s see what else you got in the next two months.”

There were so many places that comment could go, but I tamped down on all of them and picked up my pace. Sheila led us to a grim little room that was stacked full of paperwork, overcrowded bookshelves, and one tiny window high up towards the ceiling. It was the most depressing shit I’d ever seen, but the rest of the Center hadn’t been too fancy either.

Not having spent much time in New York, the only things I knew about Williamsburg had come from people who made fun of it. They said it was a former diverse neighborhood made up primarily of Hasidic and Latinx communities that had been overrun by gentrifiers trucking in from Manhattan with their Pilates studios, tea shops, bars, and boutiques. I’d expected to see hordes of wealthy young people with eighties glasses and high-waisted jeans or whatever swanning around while taking pictures of artisanal sandwiches with their iPhones.