Family Camp (Daddy Dearest, #1)(64)

And there Travis stood. He wore his mirrored shades, a hiker’s sunhat with a large brim, a brilliant white T-shirt, and brown hiking shorts. And, yeah, there was a fucking Aston Martin parked on the street.

They stared at each other for a long moment.

“Hi,” Geo finally thought to say.

“Hi.” Travis glanced around, then stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

He took off his hat and glasses and tossed them onto a small table in the entryway.

“So… You put on a hat as a disguise but then drove up in an Aston Martin?” Geo teased.

Travis gave him a crooked smile. “To tell you the truth, I have no idea what I’m doing. Haven’t for the past two weeks.”

“I haven’t the foggiest either, if that helps. But I’m glad you’re here.”

“Me too.”

Travis reached for him. They embraced hard, holding each other tight. Pressed against Travis like that, drinking in the feel and smell of him, something dark and oppressive lifted inside Geo; a pain that had been deeper than he realized was suddenly eased.

And he thought: Yup. I’m totally in love with this guy. Holy shit.

“I’ve been so worried about you,” Geo said. “Are you okay?”

“Better now that I’m with you.” Travis squeezed Geo tighter.

Geo swallowed a lump in his throat. Aw. That was nice to hear. “Come have a glass of wine.” Geo pulled away and took Travis’s hand. “Or I’ve got iced tea or water if you prefer. You drove straight here from San Diego?”

“Yup. I have to leave in the morning early, but I can stay the night. I can get a hotel if—”

Geo gave him a look. “Ha ha! Right. Like I’d let you out the door to find a hotel. Not happening. Jayden and Lucy are staying with my parents tonight, so I’m thrilled you can stay. We can get up to some kinky non-parental hijinks.”

“Oh, thank God!”

Geo led the way into the kitchen. His house was tiny and brutally modest, but Travis didn’t pay the least attention to it. He only had eyes for Geo.

He kept a hand on Geo’s back as he poured the wine. He leaned against the counter and pulled Geo to him before taking a sip. And that’s where they talked, Travis with his back against the counter, and Geo facing him, the two of them holding each other loosely as they sipped their wine.

“Tell me everything,” Geo said. “I mean, unless you really don’t want to talk about it. But please want to talk about it.”

Travis gave a wry smile. “So. My agent wanted me to deny the whole thing. But I talked to my dad, and he helped me realize what a mistake that would be. He asked me how I thought you would feel, watching me on the news denying it outright. How Jayden and Lucy would feel.”

“It would have hurt,” Geo admitted. “But… I would have understood. It’s your career.”

“Understood maybe. Wanted anything more to do with me?”

Geo considered that. It’s what he’d half expected when Travis had gone on that talk show, and it had caused such a gut-wrenching feeling of dread. “No. Probably not. But…we hadn’t known each other very long. I didn’t think it would matter what I thought. Compared to all you had to lose.”

Travis looked at him gravely. “It mattered. And my dad also reminded me that I’d be out of baseball soon. What am I gonna do then? Stay in hiding the rest of my life? If I denied it now, and came out later, everyone would know I’d lied to their face about this.”

“That’s true.”

“I didn’t want to be that guy, Geo. I didn’t want to stand there and lie to people’s faces. At the end of the day, this is what’s real. People can take it or leave it. And it’s a relief, really. Or it will be once the media has moved on to the next shiny thing.”

Geo had come out so long ago. He’d told his parents when he was a junior in high school. He did remember feeling relief, but it had to be small potatoes compared to what Travis had been through.

“I can’t imagine how stressful it must have been for you to be closeted all these years, especially being in the limelight.” He rubbed a comforting hand along Travis’s back.

Travis shrugged. “You just get used to it. And…” He hesitated. “I guess I’ve been hiding that part of myself all my life. Felt like I had to, or I wouldn’t be accepted.” He frowned. “You probably think that’s fucked up.”

“No.” Geo felt a rush of love and empathy for this beautiful, insecure man. “I think it’s understandable given what you went through as a kid. But you know it’s not true. There are a lot of people who are crazy about you just as you are. Me, for instance. And I count a lot. I count for at least ten people.”

Travis chuckled. “You do.”

“And there’s your family. Right?”

Travis nodded. “Yeah. They’ve been great about it.” His voice was rough.

“What about baseball? Your team?” Geo asked, his stomach clenching.

“They’re not happy, but they weren’t exactly shocked. I guess they figured sooner or later a player would come out. They were probably hoping it wasn’t on their team.” Travis smiled grimly. “But San Diego is fairly liberal, despite being a military hub. So there’s been generally a good response from the public, positive op-eds in the local papers… We even have a Pride Night, you know? So it’s always been weird. Publicly, there’s this acceptance of LGBT on behalf of the team. But behind closed doors some of the management and players are basically good old boys. They look at you like you’re something they found sticking to their shoe.”