Page 61 of The Home Game

“So, do you watch this show a lot?” Antoni asked. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen much TV. First it was being in school, then it was work, and then it was the kids …”

“Oh.” Matty glanced back at the screen, his ears a little warm when he realized the only thing he’d been watching was Antoni. Taking in the slope of his nose and the fullness of his lower lip. “Um, I watch a lot of these silly baking competitions, yeah. Probably not really your thing though, huh?”

“They’re not necessarily what I’d pick but I don’t mind watching. They’re usually kinda funny and it’s cool to see the stuff they make.”

“Nah, let’s do something we’ll both enjoy. Let me see, what do we have …” Matty grabbed the remote and browsed through some of the offerings.

“Hey, wait, is that Preston Graves?” Antoni said.

“Yep,” Matty said, clicking back up to the image of him. “How do you know him? I thought you didn’t watch much TV.”

“I don’t but he’s one of the biggest gay icons in Hollywood right now. Of course I recognize him.”

Matty grinned. “Fair enough. Well, he’s been on this show for a few years. Northdale Heights. Ever watched it?”

“No, but I’ve heard about it,” Antoni said, glancing over. “It was like this sort of indie sleeper show that got really big after it came out, right?”

“Yeah. I didn’t think it would really be my thing but it’s kind of interesting,” Matty admitted.

“What’s it about?”

“Well, it’s like a bunch of friends who live in the same apartment building and it’s all about their love lives and the drama around that.”

Antoni took another sip of his beer. “A bunch of the characters in it are queer, right?”

“Yeah,” Matty said. “It’s super popular. I think most people got into it because they were curious about the kink thing but then they stuck around because it’s just a really good show.”

Antoni blinked. “Wait, it’s about kink?”

“I mean, some of it is,” Matty said with a shrug. “It’s just a mix of people into a bunch of different things in their dating lives. That’s just a part of it.”

“Huh.” Antoni shot him a sidelong glance. “Are you, uh, into it for those reasons?”

“The kink? Nah.” Matty shrugged. “Honestly, I’m pretty boring in bed. I guess I was curious though. I don’t want to do any of the really kinky stuff they talk about or whatever but it’s still interesting to watch. I do like seeing how many different things people are into. And they treat it like it’s all normal.”

There was even a demi character like Matty.

“No, I totally get that,” Antoni said. “I’m not into really kinky stuff either or anything. But I definitely think it’s great that there’s such diverse representation.”

“It kinda reminds me of the team,” Matty admitted.

“The Fisher Cats?”

“Yeah, you know. Some guys are gay, some are bi or pan, some are straight … we’ve got a little bit of everything.”

Antoni smiled. “I think that’s so amazing that everyone is so accepting. I never wouldn’t have expected sports to be like that.”

“Oh, it’s not like that everywhere,” Matty admitted. “But yeah, Toronto … we have something special here.”

“Cool.”

“You wanna watch the show?” Matty gestured to the TV with his remote.

“Sure.”

“I’ll start at the beginning.”

“Oh, no you don’t have to—”

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