I sat next to Sal on the plane. Nobody had booked the middle seat, so we had the row all to ourselves. Sal was staring out the window while I stretched my long legs into the aisle and tried to make up for my lack of sleep.

It was no use. My mind was running a mile a minute. All I wanted to do was call Mark and make sure he was okay, but my phone was on airplane mode and I wasn’t even sure I was allowed to check up on him anyway. I glanced over at Sal and watched the calm, serene set of his jaw in my periphery.

“Did you know?” I asked suddenly.

Sal glanced over at me. I’d wanted to ask him right after I’d been outed, but everything had been so crazy and hectic lately that I hadn’t really gotten the chance.

Sal raised his brows and for a second I was afraid he was going to make me elaborate, but then he smiled and nodded.

“Yeah. I did.”

I let out the breath I’d been holding. I’d expected as much.

“For how long?”

“Since we came back from winter break.”

“How?”

“Tiff told me. She’s friends with your boyfriend’s friend Anissa.”

I tilted my head back and groaned. Stupid grapevine. With that kind of hot gossip, it was a miracle that my secret had lasted more than a week. I felt foolish for ever trying to keep up this charade in the first place.

Sal laughed.

“Don’t feel bad. I was just as surprised as everyone else at first, but then I paid closer attention and saw how much you were struggling and put two and two together.”

“Thank you for being patient with me,” I said.

Sal waved it off as no big deal.

“You know you can talk to me about him if you want. The boyfriend. I’ve been insanely curious, but I thought it might be disrespectful to ask.”

I sighed.

“He’s not really my boyfriend anymore. He broke up with me for being a lying piece of shit.” 

He gave me a sympathetic look. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. You were going through a lot.”

I let loose a small half smile.

“Thanks.”

We were quiet for a moment. Then I leaned back in my chair, closed my eyes, and started telling him everything. The scruffy hair and earthy green eyes. The casual “rockstar on vacation” wardrobe. His perfect singing voice and the way his whole body relaxed into it whenever he was playing the guitar. His nerdy obsession with cozy mysteries and his passion for helping people. The way he was patient and kind to a fault, so much so that it really messed him up when the people he loved lied and took advantage of him. That I’d known that and I’d still done it anyway.

Before I knew it, the seatbelt light was flashing and the plane was getting ready to land. The words did not stop spilling from my mouth until we were solidly on the ground.

I looked over at Sal and his eyes were wide as if he’d just caught sight of an endangered species out in the wild. I felt the heat rising in my cheeks. That was definitely the most I’d ever spoken to him at once, and he was my closest friend on the team.

“Sorry,” I whispered. “I got carried away.”

Sal shook his head vehemently.

“No, man. Don’t be sorry. Thank you for sharing all that with me. It’s...it was...you and Mark are really lucky to have each other. I know it’s not really my place to say, but I think he’ll come around eventually. You obviously both really love each other, and you mentioned that he’s pretty big on second chances. Just hang on and let the pieces fall where they may.”

I laughed a little and shook my head.

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a really good captain?”

Sal cracked a wide-open grin.

“It’s been mentioned a few times.”

“Not enough,” I said. “Not nearly enough…I don’t know what I’m going to do next year without you.”

Sal shrugged. “Be captain probably.”

I turned away to hide my smile. I liked that idea a whole lot more than I should have for someone looking to get drafted.

We got off the plane and went straight to our hotel to relax for a bit before heading to the arena for warm-ups. Even though I was tired, my heart felt lighter than it had in weeks.

We ended up winning the game by a landslide.