Two Point Conversion (11 page)

“Because he found out I’m gay? Yeah, partly,” Kevin answered quietly, hanging his head again. Kyle reached for his hand and linked their fingers. He hated seeing his brother hurting. Coach followed the movement and closed his eyes. Kyle released Kevin’s hand and moved away from him. Fear clawed at his throat, this time probably worse than when their dad had caught them. Coach wouldn’t just kick him out of his home, he’d kick them off the team and they’d lose their scholarships. “That’s not what—"

“Kyle!” Coach cut him off. He looked around and huffed a couple of times. “I figured. I guess I saw the signs, but didn’t think much about it. Most twins are pretty close. Yesterday during that pep rally and in the locker room…” He shook his head again he seemed at a loss.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about, Coach,” Kevin spoke up, but even Kyle didn’t believe him.

“Save it, Beauchamp,” Coach sighed again. “I take it your father caught you in a compromising position and lost his shit. Guess I can understand that.”

Kevin just nodded and looked back at the ground. “Our uniforms are in the back. You can just take them now. Save us the trouble of—"

“Will you just shut the fuck up for a moment? Fuck, kid.” Coach paced in front of them. “I’m not kicking you off the team. I don’t care who you fuck. You both keep a low profile. Probably the lowest of any kid on the team. You don’t run around bragging. You respect the other players. You keep your grades up and are respectful of your teachers and classmates. Private is private, as far as I’m concerned.”

Kevin reached for Kyle’s hand and held it tight in his. He was shaking. Kyle squeezed him. He’d pull him close and hold him if they weren’t in public.

“We try. Our mother wouldn’t stand for any bad behavior, you know.”

“Where’s your mother now? What did she think about this?” Coach just nodded acting like they were talking about nothing at all.

“She’s still in Savannah with our grandmother,” Kyle explained, his heart racing as the enormity of the situation began to overwhelm him. “We haven’t told her yet. Don’t know if Dad did…Probably wouldn’t, considering…”

“Don’t call him that,” Kevin practically growled. “He doesn’t deserve that much respect from us. He was never anything but a sperm donor. He showed up for dinner a couple of times a week. That’s about it. Just don’t ever call him that again.”

“Okay,” Kyle sighed. “We were going to find a hotel or something. Don’t know, Coach. Right now—"

“You remember how to get to my house?” Coach looked around again. Kyle nodded. They’d had their end of training camp party there just four weeks ago. “Be there in an hour,” Coach said and walked away. He didn’t wait for them to reply, just left them both sitting wondering what fresh hell awaited them.

“He said he wouldn’t kick us off the team,” Kevin whispered, holding what was left of his milkshake up to his eye. “I need to get some ice or something for this, it’s starting to throb.”

“Yeah. I’ll go see if I can scare up something.” Kyle bagged up their leftovers and climbed out of the SUV. “Do you want anything else while I’m inside?”

Kevin shook his head. “Just some ice. And leave me the keys.” Kevin followed him out of the back and closed the tailgate. Kyle handed off the keys and took off at a trot across the parking lot. He heard his name shouted a few times but since it wasn’t Kevin, he ignored it.

When he came back out with a cup of ice and some napkins, he found Kevin surrounded by a group of kids. One girl was shouting something while Kevin just leaned against the car looking stunned. Kyle recognized Heather’s lovely voice as he drew closer.

“You got me kicked off the squad!” She was clearly pissed.

Kyle pushed his way through the crowd that was gathering to stand beside his brother.

“Back off Heather,” he warned her, but she kept pushing closer, her face a mask of rage. “You got yourself kicked off, we had nothing to do with it.”

“If you two hadn’t gone complaining to Coach…”

“If you hadn’t set us up for whatever it is you’re trying to prove, you wouldn’t be in this mess,” Kyle pressed the cup into Kevin’s hand. Kevin seemed out of it. His jaw was clenched his eyes glassy.

Heather looked closer and laughed. “Looks like he’s had his ass kicked already tonight.  What did he do, piss off his boyfriend?”

“Fuck off Heather,” Kyle stepped in front of Kevin when she tried to shove him. “I mean it. Now is not the time.”

“Looks like Kylie-pooh is threatening me.” She smiled, moving a step closer trying to force Kyle to touch her.

“That’s what you’re hoping for isn’t it? One cry from you and we’re toast.” He got it now. “This is retaliation because you got cut from the squad for your bad behavior.”

The crowd parted before she could lift a manicured finger.

“Move out!” Lucas and Cody powered their way to the front of the group of Heather’s friends, followed by a few more of their teammates. They formed a line between Kyle and Heather. “Take it somewhere else Heather.” Lucas stood with his arms crossed over his chest. He was the biggest of them all, Cody and Sean flanked him. “Go on. Take it on back to where ever it is you came from.”

Kevin slumped against Kyle’s back, distracting him from what happened next. All he could think about was getting Kevin in the SUV and getting away from Heather before something stupid happened. When it was quiet, Lucas turned to help him move Kevin into the SUV.

“What’s going on Kyle?” He asked quietly. “We saw you leave, we’ve been looking for you all night.”

Kyle held the ice to Kevin’s face for him.

“Kev? You okay?” He ignored Lucas’s question. Kevin was his only concern right now.

“Yeah, I’m just dizzy, and tired. Can we go?” His brother replied as he glanced past Kyle to their friend leaning over his shoulder. “He kicked us out.”

“Come to my house,” Lucas whispered. He sounded angry but Kyle didn’t turn to see.

“He said if he caught us there, he’d call the cops about the underage drinking,” Kyle shrugged. He wasn’t about to get his friend’s family in trouble just because his father was a jerk.

“Then we’ll find you somewhere. You should have called,” Lucas sounded hurt followed up with another burst of angry. “He’s a fuck head. You know that right?”

“We know.” Kevin nodded. “Coach wants us at his house. He knows the whole story.”

Lucas groaned.

“He better not kick you off the team, Cody and me will quit too if he does that.”

“He said we were safe. And he
knows
-knows, you know,” Kyle pulled the seatbelt over Kevin’s shoulder and reached in to buckle it. “We need to get out of here before she gets enough people together to try again. Fuck. How can this night get any more fucked up?”

“I don’t know, but if it’s possible, Heather will find a way.” Lucas stepped back when Kyle closed the door. He followed him around to the other side and waited for Kyle to get inside before leaning in the window. “If you need us, just call. We’ll do what we can.”

“Just get us out of here. And keep an ear on what that bitch is plotting, okay? We didn’t touch her. I think she’s going for some kind of revenge.” Kyle put the car in reverse and waited for Lucas to step away.

“We got your back, Ky, yours and Kevin’s. We'll get you through this.” Lucas finally moved away and they drove away without further incident.

Chapter Eleven

“It’s only been about twenty minutes. You think Coach would get pissed if we showed up early?” Kevin said from the dark. He sounded tired. “I think I need someone to look at my eye.”

“I’ll go to the hospital,” Kyle pulled over so that he could turn around and go back the way they’d come.

“Coach first. He can check me. Maybe I’m just scared and over reacting.” Kevin sounded a little more like himself this time. “Just drive. I’m fine. I need sleep. That’s all.”

“It’s barely even nine.” Kyle didn’t know why he was arguing. Maybe
he
was overreacting too. “And you’re not overreacting. I mean, how are you supposed to act when something like this happens? I don’t know. I don’t feel like partying 'til I puke, that’s about all I can say. I’ve been fighting the urge to puke all night, anyway.” He pulled out into traffic and started toward the coach’s house, on the other side of the school.

“Yeah, I know the feeling.” Kevin turned on the radio and turned up the rock station. “I’m not sure I’m going to be able to keep that burger down.”

“Let me know if I need to pull over,” Kyle pulled off the main road into Coach’s neighborhood. “What street did he live on?”

“Don’t know. Third street on the right, is all I remember. Then a left, then fourth house on the right.” Kevin rattled off as Kyle drove. His directions put them in front of a house with two very familiar cars. “Looks like he has company.”

“Looks like Coach Myers is visiting.” Kyle parked on the street in front of the house and went around to help Kevin out. “Hope we’re not interrupting anything.”

The front door opened before they stepped onto the porch. The defensive head coach stood barefoot on the threshold. He looked confused.

“Come on in, boys.” His words belied his apparent confusion as he let Kyle and Kevin inside. “Pat said you’d be coming.”

Kyle looked around the small living room, remembering it from the last time they were over. It was nice, leather furniture, heavy wood tables. Modern art on the walls. Coach Myers looked very much at home here. He closed the door behind them and led them through the room to the kitchen where Coach Davis sat finishing the burger he’d picked up at the restaurant.

“Sorry to be early, Coach.” Kyle felt Kevin sway against him and put his arm around him to stop him from falling over. “I should probably take Kevin to the ER, but…”

“Nothing to worry about,” Davis said, moving fast to help Kevin into a seat. “Todd, if you would get your kit, please?” He looked to the other coach with a shrug. Kyle saw Coach Myers sigh and that’s when he knew.

“Thanks, Coach,” Kyle pulled up a seat beside his brother and took his hand. Coach Myers blinked, nodded and went to the back of the house.

“Now you know. What are you going to do with the information?” Coach Davis cupped Kevin’s chin and calmly angled his head to inspect the wounds.

“Same thing I would have done if you didn’t know worse about us,” Kyle responded uncomfortably wondering if they were being set up.

Coach nodded again.

“Why haven’t you called your mother?” The topic was dropped.

“She can’t do anything from Savannah, and just upsetting her right now is pointless,” Kyle said as Kevin squeezed his hand tight. “He’s hurting, but won’t tell you.”

“Did you take anything for inflammation?” Coach Myers set his first case down on the table beside them and started pulling out tools they knew very well. “Could he be concussed?”

“I don’t think so,” Davis replied. “His eyes look normal. Just the swelling and the cut lip. The rest is probably panic.”

“What happened, exactly?” Myers shined a light in Kevin’s eyes. “What state is this? Who’s the President of the United States?”

“Alabama, Obama, and Dad caught us…having sex,” Kevin averted his eyes and tried to escape the coach’s prying eyes.

“That would do it,” Myers closed his bag. “I don’t think there’s concussion. It looks fine to me. Just a shiner and a fat lip. You got off lucky.”

“Would have been worse if Kyle hadn’t stopped him,” Kevin’s voice trembled. “Look, we don’t want to cause trouble, we just have nowhere to go right now.”

“So what are we going to do?” Myers wasn’t talking to Kevin anymore. He and Davis were looking at each other over their heads.

“Put them in the guest room for now. I’m thinking they know how to keep their mouths shut,” Davis replied.

“Heather is making trouble. More trouble,” Kevin added to the conversation. “She started shit at the restaurant after you left Coach. Sorry for the language.”

Myers sighed and stomped over to the refrigerator. He took out a bottle of sports drink and came back with a bottle of Advil to go with it.

“Is there anything else we should know about before we walk into a shit storm on Monday morning?”

“Dad threatened Lucas and his parents.” Kyle didn’t want to say why.

“I warned him if some of the parents found out about the beer, there could be repercussions.” Davis didn’t so much as flounder for a reason. “What? Did you think
all
adults are idiots? We keep up with what you kids are into. We know who’s on drugs. Who’s running around doing shit they shouldn’t be. We know about Lucas and Cody.”

“I didn’t see
this
coming,” Myers said. “I guessed Kevin, but not Kyle. And
not
…”

“Wasn’t something we planned.” Kyle couldn’t look his coaches in the eye. “It’s new. I won’t apologize for loving him.”

“Not asking you too kid,” Myers said with a huff. “Okay let’s get you two moved in. We’ll figure out what to do for long term later.”

Kevin started to get up. Kyle pushed him back down.

“I got it. You just stay here and hold ice to your face.”

Kevin nodded and took the gel pack Davis handed him.

“I’ll help Kyle,” Myers shared a significant glance with his partner.

They worked together to drag his and Kevin’s gear from the back of the SUV.

“I appreciate this Coach,” Kyle said at the tailgate. “Sorry for intruding.”

Myers sighed. He did that a lot, but Kyle didn’t know him that well since they were on different sides of the field most of the time.

“You’re not intruding. And Kyle, for what it’s worth, we’ve both been there. Sometimes it just takes a while for a parent to come around.”

“He’s my brother. Not a boyfriend out of the blue. I highly doubt this is going to end in a big happy family reunion.” Kyle tried not wish this had never happened. But he did.

“And that’s something you should have considered before you started an inappropriate relationship.” Myers was quick to answer.

Kyle stopped, his bags weighed him down. Anger bubbled to the surface.

“Did you? When you and Coach—I mean Davis—fell in love? You’re hiding and afraid that one of us will out you. I get that. But here we are, both in a situation that’s making us uncomfortable. I’m not going to out you, so don’t lecture me because I love someone I’m not supposed to.”

He left Myers standing in the dark and trudged back into the house.

The room was at the far back of the one story house. Coach Davis led them down the hall past a bathroom and a weight room.

“The master suite is on the other side of the house,” he said without explanation. Kyle didn’t want any. Just knowing the two coaches were together…Well, it wasn’t his business who they slept with…but Kevin sure as hell didn’t want to be all up in their business either. “There are extra pillows and blankets in the closet. Towels and things in the bathroom. We have food in the fridge and pantry so help yourselves. Tomorrow, you’ll be here on your own.”

“We appreciate this, Coach. We’ll be as quiet as mice.” Kevin seemed to want to look at the floor as he apologized. Again.

Coach looked pained. As if there was so much he wanted to say.

“Tomorrow you need to call your mother. You need a plan to get you through until she comes home, or the end of the term. Not that you aren’t welcome here, but it’s better for the two of you to know what you’re up against here, so we can act on your behalf however we need to.”

“Yes, Coach,” Kyle said. He understood. “First thing in the morning.”

“The whole truth, Kyle. Not just some white-washed version meant to spare her the sordid details. Those details tend to have a way of coming out.” Coach became
Coach
again. “I’m going to let you two get settled. Kevin, if the eye starts to give you problems, vision, headache, anything that doesn’t seem normal, let one of us know and we’ll get you looked at.”

“I will Coach,” Kevin settled onto the bed beside his bags, his shoulders slumped. “Good night.”

Coach nodded, and again Kyle got the impression he wanted to say something, but he waved and walked away leaving them alone. Kyle closed the door and moved about the room putting their things out of the way.

“You’ll tell me if there’s a problem right?” Kyle kicked off his shoes and tucked them out of the way.

“Yeah,” Kevin spoke quietly and did the same, kicking his shoes into the same corner with Kyle’s. “I just want to crash.”

“That sounds like a plan.” Kyle rummaged through Kevin’s bag for his toothbrush and found the bottle of oil and a few condoms. He held up a condom. Somehow the idea of having sex in Coach’s house seemed—

“Oh, God, just being in the same house as Coach—either coach—Don’t think we have to worry about that for a while.” Kevin did a little hiccup laugh before stretching out on the bed.

“That’s what I was thinking.” He tucked the supplies back into Kevin’s bag. He could still feel Kevin inside him. The shower from earlier hadn't really done much to take away the enormity of what they’d done.

“You were thinking about it as in yes, or as in hell no.”

“Well, being in someone’s guestroom didn’t stop us last night,” Kyle pointed out as he dragged his shirt over his head and tossed it in the corner with their shoes.

“But that was Lucas’s house. Lucas who we’ve seen in every state of undress and disgusting circumstance imaginable. Puking in Mom’s rose bushes freshman year after eating too many hotdogs. Right down to crapping in the woods when we went camping. This is not the same. This is Coach Davis…and Coach Myers…And, oh my God, Ky…” Kevin said with a look of horror on his face.

“They’re probably thinking the same about us,” Kyle said sadly, as he turned off the overhead light.

“I’m pretty sure they’re thinking worse about us.” Kevin rolled onto his side facing away from Kyle.

Every instinct in Kyle’s body told him to leave the topic alone. That it had caused so much damage already. His brain screamed for him to end this. He ignored that voice and climbed into bed behind his brother and spooned to him.

“Don’t care. I just don’t.” He buried his face in Kevin’s neck and breathed in his brother’s scent. “I love you, Kev.”

Kevin turned to face him, his face a tragic mask. Kyle swiped the trails of tears away with his thumbs.

“This can’t be real. If anyone finds out, we’ll be destroyed. This isn’t about being gay in a bigoted sport, Kyle. You can’t love me. A little sex doesn’t make it love.”

Kyle’s heart thumped hard as it broke. Kevin was right. And it was killing him. A week ago he wouldn’t have thought his life would change so dramatically. Just one little week and he’d found the love of his life, only to discover there was no way he could keep him.

“I still love you. If that’s all we ever have…Then that’s enough for me.”

Kevin didn’t say anything. He dug his fingers into Kyle’s side as he poured out his grief into the pillow. Kyle held him while he trembled, waiting until Kevin had cried himself to sleep before he allowed himself the same privilege.