Page 59 of Switch Pitching

“Deny it?” Ethan asks. “Are we obvious or something?”

Shaking his head, Will keeps chuckling. “No. I might have had a sneaking suspicion, but everyone else on the team thinks you’re close friends, and nothing more.”

I grin at Ethan. “Told you he’d take it well.”

Ethan manages a smile.

Will looks at us with mild disbelief. “Yeah, there’s no reason for me not to take it well.” He pauses. “You guys know I’m also gay, right?”

Ethan and I jerk our heads up, not shocked, but a bit surprised.

“I’m sorry, what?” I ask.

Ethan kicks me under the table, I yelp, and Will laughs.

“It isn’t something I’m super open about, since I don’t want to be the first guy in the league to come out, but I don’t necessarily keep it a secret.”

“That makes sense. It’s essentially what I’ve been doing,” says Ethan.

Will starts speaking again. “Anyway, moving on. You two are a thing. How long has this been going on?”

“Since June,” I admit.

“And you’re sure about this?”

“Absolutely,” I say, at the same time Ethan says “yeah”.

Will leans back in his chair, considering. “Alright, well, I’m happy for you guys. Just remember, you don’t have to rush anything.”

“We know,” Ethan says. “We’re taking it one day at a time.”

“Smart. And about telling the team…” He trails off, focusing his eyes on both of us.

“We were thinking of keeping it between us for now,” Ethan says.

“Yeah, at least until the season’s over,” I add.

Will clasps his hands together. “That’s probably smart. But you might want to think about talking to PR. If anything happens, whether you guys decide to go public or someone sees you, it’s better if they’re prepared.”

Ethan’s eyes dart to me, and then to Will. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

Will gives us a thumbs up. “Good luck with that. I’ll keep your secret.”

We spend the rest of the night talking and laughing, the initial awkwardness fading away. It’s a relief to be ourselvesaround Will. I lose track of time, but at some point, when I glance over at Ethan, I realize that he’s yawning up a storm.

That makes me yawn too.

Noticing this, Will stretches and gets up from his chair. “Alright, guys, I’m gonna head out. I’ll catch you tomorrow.” He pauses, giving us a grin. “I’ll let you two go to bed.”

I smile back. “Thanks, Will.”

He walks out, and I shut the door behind him. Turning back, I get an eyeful of Ethan collapsing onto the couch and wrapping himself in blankets.

“Wow, you’re such a hypocrite,” I tease. “You accuse me of using too many blankets, but look at you now.”

Ethan wraps his head in another blanket and shushes me.

In response, I jump onto Ethan, push all my weight into him, and he flails around theatrically.

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