Rookie Move (Playing for Keeps #1)(66)

“Houston and I are close.”

“Now every time I see photos of you online, you’re with him. Are you sure that’s a good idea? He’s one of the few queer players in the league. You don’t want people to think you’re like him.”

“Fuck you,” I gritted out. I was exactly like him, and there was nothing wrong with that.

Dad laughed, then took a swallow of his whiskey. “I’m just sayin’. I know how much you hate negative attention. Hanging out with gay guys probably isn’t the best way to avoid rumors.”

Was he trying to hint he’d seen us? That he knew what Garrett was to me? But then, that wasn’t my dad’s style. He was too impulsive to hold on to something like that. He liked to gloat too much not to directly hold it over my head, but hell, it had been close. It was a reminder of how easily it could have happened, with the worst person it could happen with, and at one of the worst times. A little over a month before the playoffs was not the moment this needed to get out.

“I know what I’m doing.” I rubbed a hand over my face, worry eating away at me. “Why are you here, Dad? What do you want this time?”

He hesitated for a moment, watching me from across the room. “Been callin’ ya all day. You’re my son. It’s Thanksgiving.” His voice had a softer lilt that almost made me think he was sincere, but then he added, “I ran into some trouble…owe a few people some money.”

“No.” My jaw tightened. For a moment, I’d expected something else, something more, which was really fucking stupid. He’d never cared about me.

“Goddamn it, Warner.”

“Goddamn it you! You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to call me all day on Thanksgiving just because you ran out of other options for cash. Maybe try not gambling your shit away, or whatever it is you do!” This wasn’t how parents were supposed to be.

“There you go, thinking you’re better than me again. Perfect fucking Warner Ramsey. One of these days you’re gonna have your fall from grace.”

That right there was the exact reason I feared what would have happened if he’d caught us today. Because he held his failures against me. He blamed me for making different choices than he did, and because of that, he would want to see me fail. Or hell, I could even see him selling us out for cash. “What happened to you? I can’t wrap my head around treating your own son the way you do.”

He flinched, a wave of what almost looked like sadness washing over his features. Then he said, “Your arm was weak in the fourth quarter of your last game.” And just like always, hurricane Mike Ramsey stormed into my life, before walking out, leaving a wreck in his wake. I stared at the door he’d slammed closed.

“Fuck.”

I waited a few minutes, giving him enough time to drive away, then grabbed my keys and phone and headed to Houston’s. My fingers drummed against the steering wheel the whole drive.

Houston answered the door, took one look at me, and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothin’.” Shit. Houston was going to kick my ass. He’d told me to be careful, that he didn’t want his brother hurt. I’d promised we could keep this under wraps, but clearly, we couldn’t.

“Liar.”

“Is G here?” He’d only left my place an hour ago, but maybe he’d gone somewhere else.

Houston frowned. “Yeah, come in.” He stepped out of the way. “He’s in his room.”

“Thanks, man. I’ll talk to you soon. I just gotta…”

“You gotta talk to your boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.” We weren’t complicating this even more with titles like that, despite my feelings for him, which kept growing, somehow beyond my control.

Concern furrowed Houston’s brows, but I just shook my head and made my way to Garrett’s temporary space. I knocked, and he shouted to come in, probably assuming it was his brother. I opened the door. Garrett was lying on his bed with his phone. He looked up, gaze colliding with mine, smiled, then sobered. “What did that motherfucker do?”

Okay, well, that was sweet. “You want to defend my honor again?” He’d wanted to do that the last time my dad had stopped by.

He sat up. “Yeah. I mean, that’s how I do it. I’m badass that way.” Garrett stood and walked over, pushed the door closed, and slipped his arms around my waist. “What’s wrong? Did he see something?”

A long pause stretched between us, one where a kaleidoscope of emotions crossed Garrett’s face.

“I don’t think so. He said I needed to be careful spending so much time with you because that’s how rumors get started.”

“I’m sorry. I should have been more careful. I shouldn’t have kissed you.”

“It’s not your fault. Last I checked, we were kissing each other.” I let go of him, paced the room. With each passing second, I got more and more pissed, more and more worried. “That was close, G. Really fucking close.”

“I know. What do you think he would do? If he’d seen?” I looked at him, and he cursed, knowing the answer. “Hello, scandal. Sell the story to the highest bidder?”

I shrugged. “I would hope not, but you can’t be sure. I should just come out.”