The End Zone (Atlanta Lightning 2)

“Thanks, Philip. I appreciate it.” That was…interesting.

West and I went to the art room. I peeked in the window on the door to see Darren sitting at a table across from a teenager with cornrows, who was crying. When Darren’s eyes flitted toward the door, he gave a small shake of his head, as if saying not to come in.

I backed away. “Let’s give them a few minutes.”

West nodded, and we snuck away to his office.

“How are you guys doing?” he asked.

“Good. Everything’s great when it’s just us, but I…worry he’s not really dealing with it. He posted the photo and then deleted all the apps from his phone. Which could be good. Maybe that’s smart, but maybe it’s also because he regrets it and it’s too much.”

“I get your concern, but as long as I’ve known Darren, I’ve never known him not to say how he felt. If he had second thoughts, he’d talk to you about them.”

West was right, of course. I trusted Darren, but sometimes things like that were subconscious too. “Have you seen the stuff being said?”

“Yeah, apparently he and Anson were always fucking, and the four of us get together for big gay orgies.”

“I’m sorry.”

West shook his head. “I don’t give a shit what other people think. Even bad attention can be good.”

I rolled my eyes, knowing he was being partly playful but in other ways completely truthful. He’d been the subject of many articles online about his dating life before Anson, but all that changed when they met and fell in love.

“It’s different with you and Darren than it was with Bobby, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” I answered honestly. “In a lot of ways. I’m able to see things more clearly now…and admit I’d wanted things to change between Bobby and me, but he couldn’t do that.”

“No more sleeping with others?”

“We haven’t talked about it, but I don’t want to. It’s hard because I really don’t see anything wrong with an open relationship if that’s what a couple wants. I was happy with it for a long time, and I know people who’ve been happily open for longer than Bobby and I were, but…my needs changed while his didn’t. We’re all human, and those things happen. I don’t want that anymore, though that was only one of the reasons for the divorce.”

“Yeah, yeah I know. I can see more signs now than I’d noticed before.”

There was a noise behind me, and I turned to the door to see Darren standing there. “Hey, what was that?” I stood. He came over and wrapped his arms around me.

“I’ll talk to you at home. You ready to go?”

“Sure, let’s head out.”

“I’m leaving soon too,” West said. “I’m going to Elias’s to watch the game with him, Carly, and Mom.”

I smiled. Blood wasn’t always what was important—how you treated people, how you loved them and stood by them was what counted. “See you later, man.”

We went to the office, shut everything down, and headed out.

“Want to run through the drive-thru at the teriyaki chicken place you like?” I asked when we were in the car.

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

I drove there, and we got grilled chicken, brown rice, and vegetables, which we both enjoyed. When we were paying at the window, I looked in and saw some of the employees pointing at us.

“You’re Darren Edwards, aren’t you?” one worker said as another held up his phone to snap a photo.

“Is that his boyfriend?” someone else said, but I couldn’t see who they were.

“I can’t believe he’s gay!”

“Hey, man. Not cool. Put the phone away. We’re just trying to get some dinner. Have a little respect.” I could tell Darren tried to sound like it didn’t bother him, but there was a rough edge to his voice that told me it did. He’d always been the type who would sit around with fans and take pictures, but it was different now. They were taking them because of me and not his game.

“Sorry!” the first guy said.

We took our food, paid, and left. “I wish that didn’t happen to you now.”

“That’s always happened to me, Angel.”

“Not because you’re queer, though.”

Darren shrugged. “It is what it is.”

We were quiet the rest of the way home.

I was curious about the kid but didn’t want to ask. I figured if Darren wanted to share, he would.

We ate on the couch, our plates on the coffee table. Pregame interviews were on.

One of the commentators said, “Conners isn’t doing too bad for the Lightning. Better than expected, actually. Edwards might have some competition on his hands when he comes back.”

The other commentator chimed in, “And remember he’s going to be a free agent, so he might not be back with the Lightning. I’m curious to see how things go in the off-season—between his announcement and his injury—but I will say, Conners is good, though we all know he doesn’t hold a candle to Darren Edwards. The man is a veteran player, Super Bowl champion, MVP, Heisman Trophy winner, one of the best in the league, and will go down as one of the best in history.”