Page 64 of Switch Pitching

“Yeah, I know.” I glance around the room, noticing how empty it’s become. “It sucks, but we’ll bounce back. We always do.”

He glances up at me, and beneath his usual neutral, guarded expression, there’s something else. “Thanks, man. I needed that.”

I smile, nudging him lightly with my shoulder. “Hey, that’s what I’m here for. We’re in this together, right?”

He returns the smile, small but genuine. “Yeah, of course.”

I clear my throat. “Speaking of together, do you know if the team’s admin staff are still here?”

Ethan eyes me, confused, before realization creeps across his face. “Are you saying that you want to go to PR? Now?”

“Yeah.” I shrug, mulling my next words. “I kind of want to avoid someone figuring us out and catching the team off guard.”

Ethan nods, grabs a sweater from his locker, and pulls it over his head. “Let’s do this.”

I finish getting dressed, and we head out of the locker room together toward the usually dreaded PR office. At least we’re going there by choice.

When we reach the door, I pause, then knock before heading in. We’re greeted by Ashley Morales, the head of PR. I’ve onlymet her a handful of times, but she seems kind, someone you want to have on your side.

“Hi James,” she says, surprised to see me. Ethan files in right afterward. “Oh, and hello Ethan. What can I do for you both?”

Silence. Ethan nudges me to say the first word, which is fair, but I’m racking my brain. “We have a disclosure,” I finally say.

Seriously?We have a disclosure? Way to make it more ominous than it needs to be.

Ashley raises her dark eyebrows in a silent request for one of us to elaborate. Her quizzical expression does nothing to calm my nerves.

I decide then and there to just say it. “Ethan and I are together. Like, together-together. Not only living together but more than that.” I stumble over my words and kick myself mentally. The point got across, but I could have phrased that a lot better.

Ashley blinks, but I can’t see any judgment. The silence stretches for a moment, and my heart hammers in my chest, but then she nods.

“Well,” Ashley starts, leaning back a bit. “That’s great news. I appreciate you both letting me know.”

“So, everything’s okay?” I ask, trying to gauge her reaction.

“I won’t lie. Your relationship makes things complicated for the team,” she says.

Immediately, I open my mouth to speak, but Ashley puts her hand up to stop me.

“That said, we can’t regulate what you two do in your private lives. You’re both adults, and I appreciate you being upfront about being together, since that helps me do my job better,” she continues.

Ethan clears his throat, sounding a little more confident. “We wanted to make sure there wouldn’t be any surprises, you know? If anything were to get out.”

“Right.” Ashley gives us a nod, reaching toward her keyboard. “I’ll draft a statement just in case. For now, I suggest doing what you’re currently doing. I’ve read those wild articles speculating about you two, but they have no actual evidence other than pictures of two friends having a good time together. It would look far more suspicious if you retreated from the public eye.”

I laugh when Ashley references the tabloids. Now that I think about it, I’ve noticed fewer articles being written about me and Ethan over the past few weeks, which I don’t mind at all. Maybe the presence ofactualscandals elsewhere in the sports world are getting more clicks.

“Yeah, that makes sense. We’re not trying to make a big deal out of it or anything,” I say.

“You did the right thing. And don’t worry, the team has plans in place to deal with relationships like yours.”

My eyes shoot over to Ethan, who looks stunned. “The team has plans?” he asks.

Not looking up from her computer, Ashley laughs. “There’s a plan for everything.” The noise from her keyboard stops abruptly as she finishes the sentence she was typing and then glances up at us. “Before this, I worked with our women’s league affiliate. They’re way ahead in terms of acceptance, so I’ve dealt with situations like this before.”

“Thanks, Ashley,” Ethan says.

“Thanks,” I add, the weight in my chest easing a little.

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