Page 21 of Find Me Again

"You're far from good." His mom ran a hand over his hair. "You're here with us, though, and we'll deal with whatever it is, okay?"

He closed his eyes.

As if it could be that easy.

"Hey." She tugged at his ear gently like she did when he was a kid whenever she wanted to get his attention. "You may be an adult and all, but we're still your parents. We're here to help."

"Here or wherever you need us," his dad said with another, gentler squeeze of his wrist. "Once you tell us what's wrong."

Neil hadn't felt like crying in a long time before coming here, but his parents' support nearly did him in—again.

He cleared his throat and made a decision. For better or worse, it was all it had ever come down to, wasn't it?

"I'm not in any physical danger," he started with, because he could only imagine what kinds of ideas they might have already come up with. "There's this guy, and he's… Well, he's blackmailing me."

His father pursed his lips. "He wants money?"

"No." Neil shook his head. Money would be easier, in away, but it would also be a never-ending game until he was left with nothing. "He's a teammate who's about to be a former teammate. It's his own damn fault, but he's not handling it well, at all. He and I, we were never a couple or anything, but we sort of…"

How did one explain hooking up to their parents?

"You were sleeping together," his dad suggested bluntly, and Neil almost choked, prompting his mom to snort humorlessly.

"This is not a modern concept, you know," she told him, but she also gave him another rub on the head, so it was clear she wasn't offended.

"Well, yes. It was out of convenience more than anything else, and we stopped a few months ago. However, now that he's in a mess he himself created, he's angry at the whole world, including me. He wants me to talk to the management and get them to extend his contract." Neil shook his head. "Even if I wanted to do this—which I don't—I don't have that kind of power. I honestly don't. And he has to know that, he knows how things work in the team. These decisions are made above us. I think he's grasping at straws, but it also feels like he wants to drag as many people down with him as possible. He suggested I'm not the only one he'd given this ultimatum to, although I assume he has different things over different people."

"And what…" His mom glanced at his father before looking back at Neil. "What does he have on you?"

Neil frowned. "I told you. We slept together. He's going to tell the world that if he doesn't get his way."

"So he's going to—out you, and himself along the way?" she asked, hesitating there for a second, but Neil was still surprised she even knew the word.

"Yes. I guess he doesn't care about himself any more, since it doesn't matter whether a former player is gay or not. But forme, that's a scandal."

His dad rubbed his chin. "Is it, really?"

Neil sat back at that.

"You know it is."

"It is in a way that any surprising news is considered a scandal these days," his dad said. "And sure, it will ruffle some feathers, but I don't believe it's a career-ending revelation anymore."

Neil snorted. "I'm glad one of us thinks so."

"Two of us, actually," his mom spoke up. "I mean, I'm not saying it would be easy or anything. I'm not. But if being gay is the worst thing someone can throw at you, you're an upstanding man."

That got him right in the chest, and he covered his eyes with his hand, willing the tears back.

"What do you think is best, here?" his dad asked after a minute. "What do you want to do?"

Neil rubbed his eyes and rested his elbows on the table, staring at the flowers in the middle.

"'Want' is not the word I'd use, but I think I should… I think I'm going to come out myself before he can say anything to the public."

There it was. He finally said it out loud.

It had been the only logical solution from the moment Josh had thrown that threat his way, but Neil had been too afraid to say it.Hell, he'd been too afraid to even think about it.

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