Read Online Slow and Steady Rush by Laura Trentham - Free Book Online

said.
    “Gay?”
    “I’m not gay or bi. Where the hell did you get the idea I was? Did Sheila say something?”
    Logan crossed his arms and slouched back in the chair. “Sheila said Darcy outed you at practice.”
    “Why would Darcy think I’m gay? Last night …” Robbie shuffled a hand through his hair to rub at his nape. A headache due to the heat and the late night throbbed at the base of his skull.
    “You said nothing happened.” Logan’s voice turned hard, protective, as did his stance, elbows braced on knees.
    “Nothing did happen … but I thought … I mean, she seemed … never mind.” She had been attracted to him, hadn’t she? Had he completely misread her signals? “Has she got something against me?”
    Logan scratched at the stubble on his jaw. “I don’t know. She’s worried you’re being nice to Ada to get all her land.”
    The destructive rumors bordered on hateful. Maybe his first impression of her at the river was right. Maybe she was flighty and selfish. But last night she’d been funny and sweet. “Is she trying to get me run out of town?”
    “If Darcy said you were gay, she believed it.”
    Robbie grabbed his baseball cap and stood so forcefully the chair rocketed back into a whiteboard, scattering markers. “Where is she?”
    “Back home with Ada by now, I’d guess.”
    Without another word, he whistled for Avery and walked out. Pulling his brim low, he ignored the sideways glances and whispers. He’d served side by side with gay men. “Don’t ask, don’t tell” was a farce to appease the political machine. You couldn’t live with a man, face the danger they faced, and not know. Never bothered him.
    But his foothold in the town and with the football team was tenuous. Not everyone on the school board had wanted to hire an outsider. He still had to prove himself, and he wasn’t naïve. Rumors circulating about his sexual preference weren’t going to garner him fans in the generally conservative town.
    By the time he slid into his truck, he recognized his anger had grown too hot. Avery licked his hand. Robbie closed his eyes and caressed his dog’s soft ears while he breathed deep and counted. By the time he’d reached twenty, his boiling anger had reduced to a simmer.
    The bouts of panic and anger he’d struggled with since childhood came less and less frequently and had become easier to control. He drove toward Miss Ada’s with determination tensing his muscles. He’d fight to stay in Falcon.
    His truck tossed gravel onto her little convertible in its skidding stop. With Avery on his heels, he hopped out, circled the porch to the kitchen by habit, and yanked the screen door open. Avery bounded inside, and Robbie followed. The screen door hit hard, startling Darcy like a quail ready to take flight, her hands braced on the counter. Avery fed on Robbie’s agitation and barked at their cornered prey.
    A black cotton T-shirt dress hung loosely but exposed miles of leg. Damp hair waved over her shoulders, and bare feet shifted on the dark-planked floor. Her face was makeup free and pale. Her teeth pulled on both lips, drawing the only color into her face. In contrast to the tension clouding the room, something smelled wonderful and comforting. Sweet and rich.
    He skipped the pleasantries. “You announced to everyone I’m gay. Why?”
    “I did not.” She pushed up straighter against the counter.
    “None of those women got the idea I’m a homosexual from you?”
    Her face dropped to her shoulder before popping back up to his. “Well”—she drew the word out—“one of the women eavesdropped on a private conversation I was having with Kat. It was certainly not my intention to wrongly out you to the town. I really thought you were gay, but now I know you’re not.”
    He used his size to intimidate her, feeling like a jerk even though he couldn’t stop himself. She pressed farther back against the counter. Avery’s hackles rose, and the dog added a threatening