“This is awesome!” Drew cried, running down the freshly laid field. “Throw it again, Vince!”

Vince grinned, slapping the pigskin a couple of times in his hand before drawing his arm back and chucking it to Drew as he ran. His arm wasn’t as good as his team’s quarterback, but Drew was still pretty good at catching despite not having played tight end since school. Between them, they were having a good bit of fun passing the ball.

Galloway had allowed them to mess around on the new field before it was officially opened. They were still sorting out the seating and painting the changing rooms, but the grass was plenty fine to run around on.

Thinking about changing rooms reminded Vince of Lift, the new gym in town. He’d finally gotten around to getting himself a membership this week so he could start working out seriously again, and he had to say he’d never been to a gym quite like it. The main thing that was hard to miss were the gender-neutral changing rooms. There were individual stalls, so it was actually more private than regular changing facilities. But initially, Vince had felt very uncomfortable, worrying he was going to upset other people by being there. He knew how big he was.

But no one cared at all. In fact, also unlike other gyms he’d been to in the past, the place seemed to specifically cater for the elderly, the LGBT community, women and generally anyone else who might feel unwelcome in a regular gym. The facilities were still top notch, but it created an inclusive environment that Vince had to say he loved. He’d soon been chatting with a woman called Doris, who apparently ran a coffee shop in town, and her friend Cora. They both seemed eager to find him a girlfriend while he was in town – or a boyfriend.

“Hey,” Vince said as he threw the ball back to Drew. “This is going to sound a bit weird.”

“Shoot,” Drew replied.

“So, is it just me or…is Hidden Creek like this really gay-friendly neighborhood now?”

Drew scoffed, throwing the ball a little harder at Vince. “Bro, tell me about it. It’s like everyone’s a snowflake these days. You can’t say anything that might upset the rainbow brigade.”

Vince frowned and spun the ball in his hands. “I didn’t mean it like a bad thing. I guess I was just asking if it was, like, I don’t know, a thing?”

It was funny, but it had never really bothered him that other people were gay or lesbian or…what was that thing now that lots of people talked about? Trans. Vince couldn’t say he understand that at all, but he did think pretty strongly that folk should do whatever made them happy, so long as it didn’t make others unhappy.

Life was short. Why be miserable? His sisters and aunts always seemed to be gossiping about other women, and his brothers and uncles called everyone sissies and pussies.

Vince didn’t get that.

He felt like you should just let people live their lives. He was just curious that Hidden Creek seemed to be very LGBT friendly compared to when he lived here. Loads of businesses had rainbow flags and stickers outside and Vince had seen more same-sex couples holding hands walking around than in most big cities he’d visited. Even the churches seemed okay with it.

That made Vince happy. He knew his nonna would like them to think they were all sinners and all non-Catholics were going to hell, but she also firmly believed in ‘love thy neighbor’ and giving to charity. To him, church was a place of community and no one should be left out of that.

Drew made an impatient gesture for the ball, so Vince threw it again. “So, is it a thing? Has Hidden Creek become the ‘town to go’ for gay folk in these parts?”

“Naw.” Drew threw the ball straight back. “It’s fine. Nothing to worry about. Hey, isn’t that Coach Hoffman?”

Vince looked over, squinting in the evening sunshine to see it was indeed his old coach coming over the grass, waving as he walked. Damn, Hoffman had to be pushing seventy now, but he still beamed at Vince and clapped him on the back when he reached him.

“It’s The Lumberjack!” he cried, his voice croaky with age but still loud enough. “Vincent Russo, you son of a gun. How you been?” They may have talked a fair bit over the phone recently, but this was the first time they had met up since he’d been in town.

“Good, Hoff, good,” Vince said warmly as Drew jogged over to meet them. “How are the Penguins?”

“Oh, awful.” Hoffman chuckled. He tapped the ball in Vince’s hands. “We had our best season the year you were here. But those boys train hard, and sometimes we even win!”

Vince smiled. Hoffman was slightly stooped these days with a comfortable belly and snow-white hair, but he still had that twinkle of determination in his eyes.

“That’s because you never let me on the team.” Drew grinned, pretending to punch Hoffman’s arm.

Hoffman raised a bushy white eyebrow at him. “Perhaps if you’d studied a day in your life, you would have made it to college.” Vince knew he was teasing, but it was also kind of true. Drew had been one hell of a slacker, always copying off Vince’s notes every chance he had.

Drew scoffed, unaffected by the ribbing. “College is for sissies, man.”

“Hey,” Vince said to Hoffman, changing the subject. Drew had dragged on Vince enough for bothering to learn a thing or two while he’d been at school. Vince was a bit bored of it and didn’t feel like going over it when they’d all graduated a long time ago now. “If you want, I could come see the team during training while I’m here. See if there’s anything I could help with.” Vince let go of the football with one hand, holding it up hastily. “Not to overstep my place or anything.”

“Aw, shucks, son.” Hoffman shook his head. “My toes are too old to care about getting stepped on. You come see them anytime you like. Whip ‘em into shape,” he added with a laugh.

Vince grinned and prodded Drew’s arm with the tip of the football. “You could come with me. We could show them how to run some drills.” He was getting excited by the idea.

Drew shrugged, not as enthusiastic. “Yeah, I’d have to check my work schedule.” He worked shifts driving delivery vans for one of the big furniture outlet places just on the outskirts of town.

“So, you like your new place?” Hoffman asked Vince, looking around at the stadium with his hands on the small of his back. His voice was full of pride.

Vince chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m so happy you guys have got a new place to train. A team’s home is important for morale.” He snapped his fingers and winked at Hoffman. “I bet that’s it. Now you’re out of that old dump, you’ll start winning more games.”

“And pigs will fly,” Hoffman said with a hearty laugh that made him cough. “Ahh. It’s nice for the boys, though. They’ll get a kick out of playing here on Saturdays. I see those kids playing at the high school and wonder how many of them are going to be playing here in years to come. It’s a legacy.”

Vince nodded. “It is.” He didn’t really feel comfortable that they were naming the whole damn thing after him. He felt like he hadn’t earned that. But he loved how many people were going to get joy from this building for decades to come.

“Say, how’s that statue they’re making of you coming along?” Hoffman sounded genuinely interested. He smiled and shook his head. “Who knew when you ran onto my field that first time you’d be getting a statue ten years later.”

Drew smacked the ball from Vince’s hands and began chucking it back and forth in his own hands. “Yeah, how’s Kooky Koby? Still a freak?”

Vince frowned. “Koby’s not a freak.” He wasn’t sure why Drew was being such a jerk. He’d always been one for giving his buddies a hard time, but he was being kind of annoying this evening. Vince hoped it was just something else that had put him in a bad mood. “And the sculpture is still in pieces, but Koby’s technique is amazing. He builds up these layers of metal circles, like washers you’d use between a nut and bolt. Then he has, like, strips of metal that he twists and he sticks them together and it makes like, I dunno how to describe it? Like a honeycomb structure. He’s making a whole ‘me’ like that. Ah, I’m not saying it right. But I think you’ll like it, Hoff, when it’s all done.”

Hoffman nodded. “And you know the boy that’s making it? They told me he went here too, same time as you. But for his whole degree. I don’t think I know him.”

“Art kid.” Drew shrugged. “Why would you know him?”

“He’s a pretty famous artist, actually,” Vince said. For some reason, he felt the need to defend Koby. “He said he’s got works on display all over the country. I Googled it. One of his pieces is at NASA.”

“Jason Miller got into NASA,” Drew said. “He was a pilot before that. Now he’s an astronaut. Isn’t that awesome?”

Vince got the feeling Drew thought Jason Miller was way cooler than Koby Duvall. Vince didn’t see why they both couldn’t be cool, just in different ways.

He turned back to Hoffman. “I’m sure Koby will be at the opening ceremony. I’ll introduce you two there.”

At least, he hoped he could.

He kept going over that day at the art studio in his mind, wondering if he’d made a fool of himself in front of Koby. Vince tried to tell himself it wasn’t that weird his body had reacted with an erection. He’d been almost naked with someone touching him, and the embarrassment would have pumped up his adrenaline.

But he would hate for Koby to think Vince was…what? Hitting on him? Not because Vince was disgusted at the idea of being gay – he just wasn’t gay, that was all – but because Koby might have felt threatened. An erection could be a scary thing on a big guy, or so he’d discovered from talking with his cousin Maria and his sister Rosa.

It worried him that Koby hadn’t texted him yet. Vince supposed he was probably still working on the sculpture. But he’d feel better if he had some word from him – a reassurance that things were cool between them.

He stayed at the almost finished stadium a little longer, playing catch with Drew and chatting with Hoffman. But when he got back in his car, he decided he didn’t have to wait to hear from Koby. He already had Koby’s number.

Hey dude! It’s Vince, he typed out while he sat in his truck, not overthinking it. It was fun working on the art the other day. I hope it’s going well. Let me know when you need me in again. He hit send before he could add something dumb on the end.

He left his phone on the passenger seat as he drove home, almost forgetting he’d sent the text by the time he got back to his folks’ place. But when he picked his phone up to leave the vehicle, it was flashing. He smiled, opening up the new text.

It is going well, thanks. You were a great model. I had fun too. How about next Thurs? I should be ready for you again by then.

Vince typed back a quick, Sure thing! Then he headed into the house. And when his mom asked why he was grinning, he just shrugged.

“I think I’ve made a new friend,” he said, then left it at that.