“No. I’d like you to look, but we need to be careful. That can get us into trouble…and it’s also something we should have saved for a time when we’re not running out the door so we’re not late.”
Danny cupped himself, adjusted his package, then grabbed a pair of old pants and tugged them on. Afterward, he pulled a T-shirt on, then socks, and fuck, was I disappointed that the view was gone. Not that a dressed Danny wasn’t still gorgeous.
“Come on, handsome. Let’s get out of here.”
“Handsome? I thought I was J? Or Carson? Or honey? You have a lot of names for me.”
“Trying out a few until I find one that fits, is all.”
He tugged on his shoes, then nodded toward the door.
I got up and followed him out of the apartment, supplies in tow, as we’d had the bag waiting by the door.
Practice was at a field by Piedmont Park, so it didn’t take us long to walk there. A group of men was already waiting—guys of every shape, size, body build, and background. No one Danny knew, though. The coaches, Ron and Cliff, were a married couple who looked to be in their fifties. Everyone introduced themselves, their experience and position they’d played or were interested in.
The coaches gave us positions after that. Ron, the head coach, was going to hit some balls to us, and his husband, Cliff, was in the outfield.
It felt good to be active this way, running to catch pop flies, then throwing to basemen as if we were trying to get other players out.
Practice continued, and before I knew it, eight rolled around. I was sweating, muscles aching, but I had the biggest fucking smile on my face.
“That was a great throw.” A guy clapped me on the shoulder. He was maybe a little older than me, with a shortly trimmed beard and eyes so blue, they almost didn’t look real. He pulled off his shirt and wiped the sweat from his face.
“Thanks, man. It was fun. I’ve never considered being a part of any kind of organized sport as an adult.”
“Your boyfriend’s idea?” He pointed at Danny, who was by the dugout.
“His idea, yeah, but we’re just friends.” Fuck, I was thirty-two years old and had never had a boyfriend or someone I really liked. How sad was that?
“Mark.” He held out his hand for me. Even though we’d all introduced ourselves earlier, it wasn’t as if I remembered everyone’s name.
“Jonathan.” I shook. He had a firm, rough grip that I liked.
“You have one?” he asked.
“One what?”
“Boyfriend.”
Oh, fuck. I should have known that was what he meant. “No.”
I must have done something to out myself because he said, “Newly out?”
“It’s that obvious?” Clearly everyone knew I was a…what did Danny call me? Baby gay?
“Lots of years of practice,” Mark replied. “Good for you, though. Nothing like living your truth. Listen, if you’re interested, maybe we can go out and grab a beer sometime.”
Of course that was when I tripped over my own two feet, because I’d lost my mind. I wasn’t this stumbling, insecure person, at least not outwardly. I never had been before, but all these new experiences were turning me into exactly that. “I, um…” My gaze found Danny. He was talking to someone but looking over at me. He smiled and nodded as if he knew what was happening.
“No worries if you aren’t interested.”
I looked back at Mark. “Yeah. That’d be cool. I’d like that.”
“Good. My phone is in the dugout; we can exchange numbers.”
We walked over together, got our cells from our bags, and took care of business.
After that, Coach Ron talked to us about practice, uniforms, and stuff like that. We only had two weeks until our first game, and things would go pretty quickly.
When Coach dismissed us, I said goodbye to Mark before walking away with Danny, who nudged me. “Sooo…?”
“So, what?”
“So what, he says. Like you don’t know.”
I rolled my eyes, but damned if I didn’t like being able to talk to him. “He got my number. We’re gonna go have a beer sometime.”
“Fuck yes!” he replied, then surprised me by jumping on my back. Danny wasn’t a small guy, even though he was smaller than me, and I almost stumbled but somehow managed to stay on my feet. I hefted him up on my back as his legs went around my waist, which was something I’d sure as fuck never done with a guy before.
“What am I, your ride home?”
“As far as you can take me, handsome. We’re celebrating.”
“By me lugging you around?”
“Well, I can’t think of a better way, can you?” He laughed, and I did too. The thing was, I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate. Spending time with him was always so damn much fun.
My stomach was twisted up as I made the drive to Mom’s house. I hated that I felt this way going home, seeing my family, spending time with my brothers. But it was Dad’s birthday, and we always had dinner together for Dad’s birthday.