“Thanks for inviting me today,” Cody said. He shook my hand and looked me in the eye as he continued. “You might not think it was a big deal to invite one extra person to dinner, but I’ll never forget it.”

I swear, there wasn’t a trace of emotion as he sincerely and repeatedly thanked me. I didn’t have to swallow hard to keep from tearing up just a little.

“You’re welcome to come out anytime,” I assured him, which earned me a wide smile from both Bryce and Drew. “Make sure you give Drew your basketball schedule and we’ll see if we can’t make a couple of the games.”

“Really?” I waited for Cody to jump around like a kid in a candy store, but he was good at keeping his enthusiasm in check. “That’d be fucking awesome! Wait till I tell the guys at school that two of the Mavericks players want to come and watch me play ball.”

I cringed, knowing how poorly that could turn out. Either his classmates would call him a liar, or they’d believe him and it’d turn into a circus. “Maybe it’d be best if you don’t tell everyone. We’ll see how the schedule works out and go from there, okay?”

Cody’s shoulders slumped forward. I hoped Bryce would be able to explain why I didn’t want our presence to be common knowledge because I hated seeing the kid let down. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense. I’ll see ya ‘round, Eric.”

“You know it.” I gave him a quick hug and walked them to the door, telling Bryce to drive safely since the snow was still falling hard.

Chapter 20

By the middle of December, Eric was driving me crazy. It didn’t help that there’d been more snow than I could ever remember getting this early in the year. That meant he and I were stuck at home more often than we’d care for, and Bryce had been spending more time at his shitty little apartment than anyone wanted him to. Personally, I’d have been happy if he’d told his boss to give up the lease and he moved in with us. Not officially, of course, but he could have the spare room if he needed his own space and it’d save the center money they couldn’t afford to be spending.

“Do you have the list together?” Eric asked. Today was a decent day, even if it was colder than the North Pole, so we were heading to the outlet mall to see how many Christmas presents we could find. Eric had suggested ordering everything online since it’d be quicker and wouldn’t require going anywhere, but I didn’t care for that idea. I remembered going Christmas shopping with my mom when I was a kid, and I loved finding the perfect gift almost as much as the recipient loved opening it.

“Yeah, I’ve got it right here,” I told him, waving the two sheets of paper at him. There were only about a dozen young adults living at Pot of Gold, so that’s who we were buying for. All of the minors had been placed in host homes, which were essentially foster homes without the stigma attached. They had families who welcomed them with open arms and didn’t give a damn that they were gay. In fact, many of the couples who fostered for the center were gay couples or parents who’d raised gay children. It was good because that meant the kids were living somewhere they’d be understood.

“Good, so we can head downtown to pick up Bryce and then head out, right?” Eric grabbed his keys off the counter and I followed him out to the car. I hoped his mood was simply because he hadn’t heard anything more from Sam, and not because of anything having to do with us. I’d have asked, but I didn’t want to come across as needy because no one liked needy, clingy people.

“Yep.” Rather than take my place in the passenger’s seat, I followed Eric to the driver’s side and place my hand over his as he went to open the door. “Look, if you’d rather stay home, you don’t have to come with. Bryce and I can take care of it.”

Eric wrapped his arm around my neck and hugged me tightly. “It’s not that,” he assured me. “You’ll have to forgive me if I seem like a scrooge right now. I’m not the biggest fan of the holidays.”

“It’s fine,” I told him as I pulled him down for a kiss. His lips parted slightly, and I dipped my tongue into his mouth. Even after almost two months, I still loved the taste of him. “Hell, you put up with a lot from me, so it’d be rather shitty if I got on your case for being in a mood.”

“Yeah, but you had your reasons, too,” he pointed out. He smacked me on my ass and told me to get in the car, otherwise we’d never get home. “And who knows, maybe this is exactly what I need. It’s a good thing you’re putting together for those guys, Drew.”

“Thanks, but it’s not just me,” I insisted. I wasn’t doing this for accolades, but because I really wanted to do something good rather than be the somewhat self-centered guy I’d always been. Until Bryce stepped into my life, it’d been easy for me to pretend that there weren’t people out there who’d be happy to have a shitty bed in an open room and live off what was little more than prison food. We’d see people living on the streets when we traveled, but it was a rarity for me to really think about what they were going through. And these guys were barely adults. Emotionally, many of them carried around pain I couldn’t even imagine.

“No, but it was your idea. Don’t feel like you can’t take credit for that,” he scolded me. “Hell, I think most of the guys who are helping out are pissed that places like Pot of Gold have been right under our noses and we haven’t done anything to help sooner. Who knows, maybe this will be the start of more of us trying to get out into the community and really help.”

I gasped, feigning complete shock. “You mean get professional athletes to prove they’re capable of more than playing ball and collecting a paycheck?”

“Yeah, it’s a shocker, I know.” Eric laughed. Most of the guys already did plenty to help others during their off time, but it’d be nice to get something a bit more organized, to encourage players to get out into the community to help those who didn’t lead the privileged lives we do.

“Speaking of which, have you decided what you’re going to do?” I had been avoiding the question, but now seemed as good of a time as any since Eric seemed to be in a good mood. Every day that passed without him getting an offer, he seemed to resign himself to the fact that whether he tried to say it was on his own terms or not, his time in baseball was coming to an end.

“I think so,” he said, pausing long enough to pay attention at a tricky intersection. “I’m going to wait until after the first of the year, and if there’s still nothing, I’m going to call Sam and tell him he doesn’t need to keep looking.”

“Why then?” He seemed content with his decision, so it didn’t make sense that he would wait unless there was still a small part of him that hoped something would come through at the last minute.

“Because I’m not going to screw up Sam’s holiday,” he responded. “While I might not be one of his bread winners, I don’t want him going into the holidays knowing he’s going to lose the percentage he could have drawn off me.”

“Okay, so what are you going to do after that? I can’t imagine you’re going to want to hang around the house all the time.” If he did, I wasn’t sure I’d want to be there after the first month. He’d grow unbearable over time. Eric was a man who needed to be doing something.

“I’m thinking about asking Bryce if he wants some help in the administrative offices at the center. They need someone who can work cheap and Bryce can trust. I don’t need their money, and if Bryce can’t trust me by now, we have other issues to work through.”

That’d mean all three of us spending more time together. Even though we’d be doing our own thing, I liked the idea of both of them being close enough to stop by the office and say hi every day. And if Eric wasn’t constantly busy in the office, maybe he could help with some other ideas I had for the guys. A lot of them had zero interest in sports, but more than a few had mentioned that they’d like to do something to feel better about how they looked. I’d offered to work out with them, but it wasn’t enough. My mind only knew what I needed to do to get back into shape. I had no clue what others should be doing. Eric did. Not only that, but he knew which muscles to work to get different results. All that shit was way above my head.