Page 150 of I'm Your Guy
“Hey, nice pics,” Carter says. “Love the Speedo.” But then my boyfriend gasps. “Tommaso! You’re in twenty-first place. That’s just wrong. I’m voting for you. And I have two email addresses, so I can vote twice…”
“Dude, no!” Stoney complains. “It’s too late for him. Don’t throw your vote away when you could be helping me get to the top of the pile.”
“Hmm.” Carter is still tapping on his phone. “I don’t know if I see you as a top.”
Everyone howls, but Stoney just shrugs. “When a man is this sexy, no label can hold him down.”
A small salad plate lands on the table in front of me, and my stomach growls.
“Butter lettuce. Local strawberries, and candied pecans,” the server says.
“Ooh, strawberries,” Carter hums after he thanks the server. “I like this party already.”
“But where’s the rest of it?” Kapski complains after the first few bites. “I’m gonna starve if all the courses are this size.”
“At least there are five of them, not counting dessert,” Stoney says. “One every ten minutes. I counted. But I’m still not sure how this round-robin thing works. Am I supposed to carry my silverware around from table to table?”
“Nah,” Newgate says. “They’ll bring it for you. Just carry your drink. You’re going to need it.”
That’s good advice, so when Tate rings a little silver bell to start the rotation, I grab my wineglass as I get up from the table.
“Have fun, baby,” Gavin says as Newgate stands up, too. “Come back before dessert, or I’m eating yours.”
“You can have mine anyway,” his fiancé says. “It’s not a cheat day.”
Carter picks up his wine glass and gives me a relaxed smile, and I almost can’t walk away from the table.
But duty calls. I find Table 10—per the list in my pocket—and take a seat. The player who sits down opposite me is Hale, the grumpy goalie. He hasn’t warmed up to us much yet, but he backed us in a shutout last night, so I can’t complain.
“Hi, folks,” he says, wearing the expression of a man who’d rather be anywhere else. “I’m Jethro Hale, a goalie.”
“And I’m Tommaso DiCosta. I play defense. So professionally, I’m a pain in the ass. Anyone have questions?”
“I’ve got one!” A young dude raises his hand. He’s maybe twenty years old, with slicked back hair and a giant gold watch. “Who’s your date tonight? Is she hot?”
I open my mouth to say, his name is Carter. But I don’t get the chance. Because Hale gives the guy a death glare. “Kid, literally the only rule here is no personal questions. Try again.”
He laughs nervously. “Fine. This one is for DiCosta. Why did you hit your cousin?”
Hale rolls his eyes so hard that I think he might strain something. But I have an answer prepared, nonetheless. “I’ll only say that it was not my finest hour.”
“Does anybody have a question that is not personal?” Hale asks. And his tone is so irritated that I’m worried a fight will break out right here at Table 10.
“What do you think about a rule change to get rid of the trapezoid?” an older man asks. “Could that ever go through?”
“Now that’s a question,” Hale says. “I love this idea. Obviously, the game would be more fun for me if we abolished the trapezoid. I want that extra space to play the puck…”
A dish lands in front of me. It’s a cup of soup. Some kind of bisque. I pick up the spoon that came with it and taste the broth. There’s a zing to it, probably from tomatoes. Carter will like it. He likes tangy flavors.
As my teammate chatters on about hockey rules, I sneak a look at Table 3. I see Carter in profile, chatting with Gavin. I wish I could just get up and walk back over there.
When we’re on the road, I miss him. But things are good between us. With a little help from our friends and my teammates, his Kickstarter campaign brought in tens of thousands of dollars. His storefront is finished, and business is thriving. He seems so happy lately, and I like knowing I had something to do with it.
On the nights when I’m in town, he usually stays with me. Sometimes we go out for dinner. Sometimes we cook dinner together and watch a movie. A few times we’ve hung out at Stoney’s place or Newgate’s.
I never really had to come out to my team the way Newgate did. They’ve all met Carter by now, and they know we’re a couple.
Tate asked me if I wanted to make a public announcement, and I said no. That’s not really my style. I don’t want Carter and me to end up on any news sites. We’re still a relatively new thing.
