In the end, Harley caved and agreed to do the morning TV talk show in Charlotte. I felt sorry about pressing him so hard. If we were going to do it, I wanted it to be a mutual decision. I thought we’d decided not to do it, until Harley said, “Let me talk to Chase. I want to hear what it was like.”

Chase insisted that we have a cookout to talk about it. I asked, “Why can’t we meet at a coffee shop and talk for about five minutes?”

Chase said, “Because I’ve got stories to tell, and I can tell them in private at home. I don’t need to worry about anyone else listening.”

I sighed and said, “I bet you do have stories.”

I dug into the no-bake chocolate pie Chase made for our cookout dessert at his place while he started into his story. He looked directly at Harley and said, “You know that show. It’s goofy as hell, but that Carl Swinton guy, he’s a silver fox. Seriously, he looks twice as good up close. Those makeup people know their stuff.”

Harley asked, “What about his co-host? She’s so giggly. It drives me crazy. I can’t watch that show for more than ten minutes because of her. Those giggles grate on me.”

Chase asked, “Julie? We became buds right away. She’s a sweetheart. Anything romantic will melt her heart. Hold Eric’s hand while you’re on the show. She loves the warm, fuzzy stuff like that. Aaron and I kissed on the show. The audience ate it up.”

Aaron said, “We didn’t plan the kiss. It freaked me out a little when it happened. I was startled, but Chase is right, the audience seemed to love it.”

Harley said, “I don’t know if I can do a kiss on TV like that. I’m not that shy, but a kiss is a kiss.”

“Well, don’t do that then.” Chase added, “I’m saying to make it obvious that you like Eric. Act sort of like a male-female couple. That’s how they’ll understand how important Eric is to you. Don’t make it look porny, but make it look like love. You can take your fingers and rub the back of his hand while you’re sitting on the couch. The cameraman will notice it and zoom in for the viewers at home.”

I sighed. “Only you would make a chat on the couch in a morning talk show look porny.”

Aaron threw his head back and laughed out loud. Chase frowned. He asked, “What are you laughing about? I’m not that bad, am I?”

Aaron tried to talk between snickers. He said, “I love you so much, but yeah, sometimes you are that bad. Sometimes I have to help reel it in.”

I grinned when Aaron leaned close to Chase, and they kissed. I loved how it looked like their gentle needling of each other made them like each other that much more.

The night before our TV appearance, Harley called his mom and came out to her. I disappeared into the bedroom again, and I braced myself for sounds of distress from the living room. Instead, I heard laughter. At first, it was gentle and soft. By the time Harley hung up the phone, he was laughing loudly. He was still snorting when I joined him in the living room.

“It sounds like that went well. Are your parents okay?”

Harley shrugged. “I think they’re okay, but they’re probably still in shock, too. I’ll have to wait a few days to see if this holds. Maybe they’ll think something else once the news sinks in.”

I settled onto the couch next to him and scooted up close. Harley wrapped his arm around my chest. I asked, “What was all the laughing? Were they delirious or something?”

“Oh, no, not that at all. My mom handed the phone to Sam, and I got to talk to him. I think I’ve got the best brother in the world. He’ll probably be the perfect princess for some lucky guy someday.”

I asked, “Princess?”

“Well, not all gay guys are as macho as me.”

It was my turn to laugh. I said, “I’ll remember you made that comment about your brother the next time you scream like a little girl when you see a spider. When you saw the daddy longlegs the other day, it wasn’t a macho moment. I didn’t know that you could squeal like that.”

“Okay, you’ve got me there. Keep the spiders far far away. I hate them. I know it’s not good for the environment and all, but I grabbed the can of Raid when I saw spiders inside the house when I was growing up.”

Harley grumbled about the makeup in advance of the show, but I helped him calm down before we joined Julie Simmons on the set. She said, “When I call you out, relax, be yourselves, and come and sit on the couch here across from me. I’m not some gotcha journalist. We want to show the people at home how real you are. That’s all we have in mind. I know you’re both wonderful guys. If you relax, the people at home will know that, too.”

Harley asked, “Can we see the questions ahead of time?”

Julie said, “No, because we want it to be spontaneous. If you see questions in advance, then you’ll start rehearsing your responses, and it will all look staged.”

While we waited backstage once the show began, Harley asked, “What if we don’t want to answer a question? I’ll tell her that. I don’t want to be rude, but I won’t let her be too nosy. I’ll tell her that it’s our own private business.”

I rubbed Harley’s forearm. “Relax, and we’ll roll with it. We watched Chase and Aaron. Do you remember that? Pretend you’re hanging out with the guys after a game shooting the breeze.”

“That’s kind of hard with makeup on my face and a spotlight in my eyes. If I scratch when the makeup itches, will I leave a weird smear on my face?”

I kissed the side of Harley’s neck. “Relax.”

He grumbled, “We’re not kissing on TV. I love you, but I’m not doing that for horny viewers at home.”

I whispered in Harley’s ear, “Sweetheart, if they want to get horned up by us, all they need to do is stop the game video at a crotch shot. I’m sure that it’s happened before. You fill that uniform out well even without a cup. Then there’s how your jersey stretched across your chest.”

Harley growled, “Still, no kisses.”

Most of the interview unfolded perfectly. As we started talking to Julie, I saw Harley visibly relax. She brought up the perfect topic. “I heard that you are working with the Jasper No-Kill Animal Shelter. They do such phenomenal work for animals that need our help, and you give both time and money. Tell us more about that, Harley.”

He talked about his family’s dog Tex, and he spoke about adopting Rudy. Julie had to interrupt Harley to go to a commercial.

During the break, Julie said, “That’s so sweet about the dogs. We should have asked you to bring Rudy. The viewers love to see something like that.”

Harley said, “He’s over at Mo and Jack’s place. They agreed to watch him for the day.”

Julie asked, “Mo Sadler? We tried to get him on the show, but he turned us down. Tell him we said hi, and they are welcome to appear if they want to. The people at home enjoy seeing athletes. You’re all so handsome.” She reached out and squeezed Harley’s bicep. I thought he might freak out, but he only looked down and smiled.

When the show came back after the commercial, Julie asked me about our plans during the off-season. She said, “I think for most of us, athletes like you disappear once October gets here. Do you have somewhere that you all go? Like a beach in Cancun?”

I grinned and told her about the grind of working out and planning for the next season. It was evident that line didn’t excite her. Harley picked up on Julie’s boredom, and he steered the conversation.

Harley said, “I think we’ll take Rudy to the ocean. I don’t think he’s ever seen it. Maybe he’ll chase balls into the waves.”

Julie asked, “Is that the Outer Banks?”

I said, “Sure. We’ll take a trip there this winter.”

One of the last questions took us by surprise. I don’t remember the exact wording, but Carl Swinton interrupted Julie and said that he had a question for us. It amounted to asking me how deeply I loved Harley. He said, “I guess what I’m asking is if there will be a wedding in the future.”

In the vaguest way possible, we’d talked with each other about getting married in the future when Javier proposed at the bar, but we didn’t go beyond that. I think Harley and I looked like two deer caught in headlights when Carl asked the question. Finally, I said, “I love Harley. We’re not rushing anything. We’re letting our relationship unfold naturally.”

When the next commercial break arrived, Julie turned on Carl. She asked him, “Why do you always come up with such ridiculous questions? It’s no wonder we get turned down by some of the best potential guests here in Charlotte.”

Harley looked at me with shock on his face. He held a hand to my ear and whispered, “I thought we botched that question. I didn’t know Julie doesn’t like Carl.”

Julie said, “We don’t have a long tape delay, but since the show isn’t live, I’ll have the producers erased that final question. I apologize for Carl’s stupidity. He hasn’t had enough coffee yet this morning, and I should have asked him what question he planned to ask. The two of you were great. I loved the dog angle.”