This carried on for a few weeks, Mathew and I both felt bad but Troy didn’t want us to worry. I also started getting attention from these people too and they both didn’t like it. It didn’t help that I was living with him. Mathew would stay here to but not that often. That also wouldn’t get attention. The house offer fell through. We started looking for apartment to move into. 

We went to look at a few cars Mathew liked in person. Troy and I test drove them and tested how he would fit in them. Again reports came out of us at the dealership with them saying Troy was buying me a car. More stuff came out about me using him for his money, how Troy is dumb for throwing away a career by being with a guy. How he should have kept it secret even if he is gay. For the time Troy was home we didn’t go out as much so the attention could die down a bit. He thought we should continue living normally but he was getting a lot of heat. Mine was online mostly but he had to show up to play and do interviews.

For Tory’s birthday she flew out with their parents to spend it with him. Having all of us together made it look worse. Especially since Tory and I would go out to show her around. His parents mainly saw the tourist spots. 

Troy’s team was doing good this season so far. He’s been playing more too and doing a great job. We celebrated her birthday at the restaurant we had gone to earlier. Mathew wasn’t able to make it so it was just Troy’s sister,parents,him and I. Troy had a home game so we all went to see him play. This was their first time seeing him play here at their home stadium. Troy played an amazing game and finished the game with another winning streak. During the game they paned to us in the stadium. Mentioning their backup qb family is with us. They got some applause like normal. They turned the camera over towards me. You could hear enough boos that it made it up to us in one of the areas set for the player's family. The camera moved back to the field as the players were lining up again. One camera showed Troy saying something to someone looking angry. I don’t know who they were but it looked like they worked for the team or stadium.

After the game we stayed there waiting for Troy. Their teams reps told us to wait till people starting leaving and they will get us with Troy. His parents were talking to a couple of the other players' families. After the game a reporter on the field started interviewing Troy. 

“We are here with the Rookie qb! How does it feel to have such a good track record your first year? Coming off a winning game back to back?” She talked in that very direct loud voice tv reporters use. 

“I mean what can I say. I’ve done the best I can hopefully I can push the team toward making it to the Super Bowl.” They one more game after this to decide if they would make it or not.

“Eailer during the game you looked pretty mad. We saw you yelling after they panned to the boxes. What made you react that way?”

“It is what it is, you know what I mean? I thought it was bogus that people would act like that about someone they don’t know and hasn’t done anything bad.”

“Alexis, who is a friend of yours, correct?” She was trying to sneakily catch him to try and say we were dating. 

“Even if he wasn't someone I’m close with I wouldn’t be happy about it. How many people come to these games and have allegations against them? Have cases against them? Come here on private jets that don’t pay their employees,” she started looking a little worried about what he was going to say next. “Funding disgusting military companies. Are literally convicted felons but they boo him.” He liked his lips and looked around before continuing. “Personally I think it’s insane to still be bigoted in our days and age and not focused on the real people that cause you harm.” 

“Why do you think they booed him?” 

“We both know why they booed him?” Troy kept direct eye contact with her without breaking the silence. After a few seconds, “any other questions?”

“No.”

“Thank you.” Troy left to the locker rooms. 

Looking back maybe I shouldn’t have gone to the game because it only made things worse. The birthday dinner starting getting reported on, the clips of me getting booed and him reacted started going viral. His interview was also seen 1mil times in less than a day. We talked about it after but he was still upset even if I told him it didn’t bother me. Because the sports world is still so homophobic almost all the big podcasts or commentators said something homophobic or slightly homophobic. At best they just said it wasn’t their business and he played well. At worst calling for him not to be a player. That he’s a bad example for kids. He shouldn’t have reacted that way when no one can hear what he even said. Some more just homophobic things about gay people and me. 

And those were the popular ones, online it was a lot of hate on my profile. It started getting so bombarded with comments that they were closed by the platforms not by me. Again it only made the media talk about it more. It moved across every account I had. 

At his last game they lost. Troy didn’t even play and they blamed it on him. Or “us” because he was dating a dude somehow they lost. They tried bring us up at the press conference after the game but he avoided the question. They weren’t directly asking him “did you loose because of your relationship with Alexis?” Or “Did being gay affect your relationship with your team?” 

They asked him things like “how did your relationships outside the game affect your playing?” 

“I didn’t play.” Troy joked. Using his charm to get out of answering their questions. Where Mathew is always serious during his. Troy was very charismatic, joking with the reporters. 

“Was all the noise online contributing to any way you performed this season?” 

“No, I focus on my role in the game and don’t worry about what others have to say. I’m the one playing the game right? I’m not on couch watching from home.”

“Would you change the people you have let into your life recently after seeing the results of your team coming so close to winning?”

“What are you asking me?” Troy asked him directly. “I’ve had like four of you ask weird questions not even talking about the game.” He leaned forward. 

“We know that other things contribute to how a player performs. That’s why maybe you could change your opinion on people in your life because of your team not going to the Super Bowl.”

“You’re a grown man. Ask me what you really want to ask me.” Off camera you hear a person yell that, “that’s enough questions”. They take Troy off the podium. 

That night Troy called me asking if it was okay if he could make a statement. Over the last week and before there was this weird like turn around that was happening from the start to paint me as this creepy guy trying to seduce him by the right. It spread and got bigger to these sports commentators also saying it more and how he should just say we aren’t together and not friends. That I was pressuring him to have a relationship. They were hoping he would throw me under the bus so their new favorite quarterback can still be their hero in their eyes. I told him it was okay. He sent us both before he posted it to okay it.

That night Troy posted a written statement on his social media accounts. 

“I’ve tried to keep my private life outside of my public view. It’s become unbearable to not make a statement. The things being talked about constantly revolving around my assumed relationship has been a hindrance on my professional life and my personal life. My family members should not be getting bombarded with threats on their lives because its presumed I am dating someone. I’ve dealt with inappropriate things said about Alexis and I, on the field, during interviews and especially online. 

Firstly I want everyone to grow the fuck up. I’m a grown ass man. I’m 22 and I can decide who and who I don’t date. It’s not anyone’s business if I was to date someone of the same, opposite gender or anything anyone in the gender spectrum. That doesn’t give anyone the right to say anything about my love life. I’m a football player and I'm not on a dating show. Worry about if I can throw the football.

Due to the fact that no one can act like a decent human being, no I am not dating anyone. That includes Alexis. We’ve been best friends since we were kids. He’s dating one of my best friends and to insinuate that we are a couple is disrespectful to myself and to them. If you can not handle that someone who is attracted to the same gender is someone close to me. Then don’t come to my games, don’t watch my games, don’t talk about my games. If you call yourself a fan of mine you cannot continue to be a fan of mine and have these ideologies. 

This is the last time I will ever address any type of bigotry directed at me, Alexis or anyone else. I don’t condone any kind of bigotry whatsoever.”

He’s team wasn’t happy that he didn’t put up a statement through them. The teams pr team was also not happy about him doing this. Especially when he told people not to go or watch the games. They have been pressuring him to make a statement for awhile. They just wanted to be the ones in control of what was said. The only reason Troy hadn’t was because we’ve been keeping the relationship “private” and he didn’t want to draw attention to us. In the end they were happy that things were cleared up. 

The ones who were saying Troy shouldn’t be in the league because they thought he was gay said it was just a cover up to try to get people to stop talking about it. The ones that didn’t want him to be gay were all happy he wasn’t. It starting dying down a bit more two weeks after. 

Mathew and I went home for the holidays like we always have. Mathew especially now gets first class to have the leg room. The flight was normal no one approached anyone of us. Maybe it was because we wore masks on the plane to avoid getting sick with being in a space with little ventilation. Mathew dad picked us up and we stayed with them. We were only here for 4 days but we brought 6 luggage full of presents for everyone. 

The day of we packed Mathew’s truck with the presents. Mathew’s mom helped us wrap them the day before. I didn’t see my parents because we were wrapping the presents for a few hours before we went to sleep. We first went to my parents before heading to my Aunts house like we normally did. Lots of hugs, hellos and crying happened. This was arriving it’s always worse when leaving. 

We talked and hanged out for two hours before heading out. My sisters came with us and we waited for my parents to get there before heading in. Mathew carried three bags full of presents. My family members made jokes that he looked like Santa. He sat them down by the tree for midnight. I told my cousin not to post anything with Mathew in it. I told my mom to tell my older aunts and uncles not to as well. Especially not to go live that day. Everyone understood after everything that happened with Troy. 

A lot of them saw everything people would say even my older ones that stay on that damn book app. My cousin that were in sports couldn’t escape it. We talked about it a few times. They just checked in to see how I was doing. Most of my cousin went private too just to prevent anything from happening in the future. 

Mathew was wearing a red button down dress shirt with the last button on top undone with black dress pants. His muscles popping out from his shirt. He shaved his trimmed beard he has been going for a few months now. He had shorter hair than usual. The sides were shorter with a inch and a half on top. Spent the rest of the night enjoying our time with my family. My aunt took a family photo of us that she would print out for us. She took one of all my family with Mathew and one of just us too. She developed the, herself so it wouldn’t be an issue of someone else seeing them. 

Before we started opening the presents Mathew was talking with my cousins and uncle about basketball. 

“Who would have known that high school kid my nephew brought around would be some big shot player.” My uncle told him. “I’ll be honest I never though this would happen even when you told us you had scholarships to play.”

“Yeah I know.” Mathew grinned, “I didn’t plan on this happening either.”

“Are you going to continue with school?” 

“I plan to after this first year. I don’t know how many classes I’ll take right now.” 

“Enough of the serous stuff dad. We want to know what’s it like playing in the nba?” 

They all laugh.

“I mean it’s bigger obviously, fuller crowds and better players.”

“For a rookie your holding your own. You score in every game.” My cousin mentioned. 

“I try.” Mathew sipped his beer. I made my way closer to him because it was almost time. I spot and talked with one of my cousins in close with. She was in the same grade as Mathew and I. “Having the best cooks, physical therapists and traveling arrangements doesn’t hurt. Haha”

They all join him in laughing. 

One of my guy cousins leans in towards him. “What about the girls? You must get a lot of attention now.” I heard him ask him. I knew he was trying to mess with me. He had a grin on his face when I turned. He was just joking so I didn’t take it seriously.

“You’re going to get him in trouble.” My other cousin nodded at me looking at them. 

“Na I’m good. I got mine right babe?” Mathew winked at me. 

I sarcastically smirked at my cousin. “Why just girls? He gots a lot of attention from guys too.” 

“Yeah but I don’t care about guys.” 

“You were trying to make me sleep on the couch.” Mathew teased him. 

“I’m just saying maybe you could help a handsome successful young man like myself.”

“You need help getting a date?” I made fun of him.

“Hey saying we’re related has gotten me muiltipe.”

“You’re using me to get girls to date you? That’s sad.” Everyone laughed, 

“Beggars can’t be choosers.” 

“Yeah it’s pretty sad bro.”  Everyone laughed again. My uncle shook his head at him. 

Midnight came and Mathew gave me a big hug and kissed me lightly on the lips. We gave everyone a hug before opening presents. 

Mathew helped me as we gave everyone a present. They weren’t all big presents. Most of the kids got the more expensive ones. 

After that we went home because Mathew’s family would be up early to open theirs. It was more simple at his. We woke up and in our pajamas his mom got us. We went do with his grandma, a few uncles and aunts with their kids. We opened up the gifts and had breakfast. Afterwards most of the adults stayed in the kitchen and dinning area. We put on a movie in the living room for the younger kids. The younger ones were now in 3rd-5th grade. Like always Mathew fell asleep on me ten minutes into the movie. The kids messed with him till he woke up and rearranged himself on the couch using me as a pillow. He flipped the other way towards the couch so they would mess with his face and slide his arm behind my back.