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Authors: Sean Kennedy
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It’s true, you could date a gay supermodel—”
Declan had to lean against the railing to support himself as he burst out laughing.
“Why would I want to do that?”
“Why wouldn’t you?”
“You go date a gay supermodel if you think they’re so great!”
“I couldn’t get near a gay supermodel!”
“Maybe you’re not trying hard enough.”
Okay, he got me. We both roared with laughter, and I felt the return of that good feeling I had lost once we hit the city. His pinky finger stretched out and stroked the back of my hand. I stood there and let him do it. I wondered briefly if it made me slightly pathetic to find it extremely sexy, but I decided to go with it. I let my other hand wander over, and I linked my pinky with his. We stood there in silence, but both grinning, watching the fishing boats take out to the sea. I could see why this was one of his favourite places, and I figured that he probably came here a lot by himself. And it would have been night, when he felt it was his and his alone. So I was touched, rather than offended, that he’d brought me here.
Someone had to say something sometime. “So you really think I’m an arty wanker?”
42 | SEAN KENNEDY
He shook his head and laughed softly. “Simon, I’m surprised you’re not wearing a beret.”
“That’s what I wear on second dates.”
“I thought you said berets were for Sundays?”
I couldn’t believe he remembered that. “Sundays and second dates.”
I felt his pinky leave mine, and I was shocked at how empty mine felt without his curled around it. This was getting too fast, too quick.
“I look forward to seeing it, then.”
Confirmation. But it was a confirmation I wanted to hear. Although I couldn’t resist a little dig. “Who said there would be a second date?”
He was mocking himself as much as me. “What, you could resist this?”
I was slightly worried that I couldn’t. But my brain didn’t want me to think about it too much for the moment. “When would you next be back in town?”
“Not for another fortnight.”
That was too far away. I was already feeling that flush of a new relationship, where you want to hole yourself up with that person, discovering everything about them both emotionally and physically, leaving your friends to send out search parties while you revel in your newfound bliss. “I guess there’s no possibility of you transferring to another team before then?”
“I wish.” There was a hint of bitterness in his voice. I remembered vaguely how he had been drafted out to the Devils as part of their first-year sweetener deal. He had done all the requisite PR, but everybody who followed footy on any level could tell he wasn’t happy about it.
“What, you don’t like Tassie?”
“I love Tassie. It’s a beautiful state. But it’s not my home.”
I tried to imagine leaving Melbourne, but I couldn’t. As Arnie had said before, who would want to? There were a multitude of reasons why it was the city with the largest pattern of migration in Australia, not the other way round. Sometimes you had to really search to find a person born and bred in Melbourne, because it seemed like every new person you met was a refugee from another state.
“You miss your family?”
“Yeah. Of course I do.”
“Do they know—” Coded speak once again.
“About me?” He paused, to toss his coffee cup into a nearby bin. It seemed he could have been a basketballer had his football career not taken off. He indicated my cup, silently asking me if I had finished with mine. I shook my head. “I think my mum does, but I’m not sure. Nothing’s ever been said, anyway. But that’s it. What about you?”
I thought of my family. And how they didn’t really talk about it, but seemed to accept it as best they could. “They know.”
TIGERS AND DEVILS | 43
“They okay about it?”
“In their own way. We’ll see what happens if I ever bring a guy over to meet them.”
“You haven’t ever done
Declan had to lean against the railing to support himself as he burst out laughing.
“Why would I want to do that?”
“Why wouldn’t you?”
“You go date a gay supermodel if you think they’re so great!”
“I couldn’t get near a gay supermodel!”
“Maybe you’re not trying hard enough.”
Okay, he got me. We both roared with laughter, and I felt the return of that good feeling I had lost once we hit the city. His pinky finger stretched out and stroked the back of my hand. I stood there and let him do it. I wondered briefly if it made me slightly pathetic to find it extremely sexy, but I decided to go with it. I let my other hand wander over, and I linked my pinky with his. We stood there in silence, but both grinning, watching the fishing boats take out to the sea. I could see why this was one of his favourite places, and I figured that he probably came here a lot by himself. And it would have been night, when he felt it was his and his alone. So I was touched, rather than offended, that he’d brought me here.
Someone had to say something sometime. “So you really think I’m an arty wanker?”
42 | SEAN KENNEDY
He shook his head and laughed softly. “Simon, I’m surprised you’re not wearing a beret.”
“That’s what I wear on second dates.”
“I thought you said berets were for Sundays?”
I couldn’t believe he remembered that. “Sundays and second dates.”
I felt his pinky leave mine, and I was shocked at how empty mine felt without his curled around it. This was getting too fast, too quick.
“I look forward to seeing it, then.”
Confirmation. But it was a confirmation I wanted to hear. Although I couldn’t resist a little dig. “Who said there would be a second date?”
He was mocking himself as much as me. “What, you could resist this?”
I was slightly worried that I couldn’t. But my brain didn’t want me to think about it too much for the moment. “When would you next be back in town?”
“Not for another fortnight.”
That was too far away. I was already feeling that flush of a new relationship, where you want to hole yourself up with that person, discovering everything about them both emotionally and physically, leaving your friends to send out search parties while you revel in your newfound bliss. “I guess there’s no possibility of you transferring to another team before then?”
“I wish.” There was a hint of bitterness in his voice. I remembered vaguely how he had been drafted out to the Devils as part of their first-year sweetener deal. He had done all the requisite PR, but everybody who followed footy on any level could tell he wasn’t happy about it.
“What, you don’t like Tassie?”
“I love Tassie. It’s a beautiful state. But it’s not my home.”
I tried to imagine leaving Melbourne, but I couldn’t. As Arnie had said before, who would want to? There were a multitude of reasons why it was the city with the largest pattern of migration in Australia, not the other way round. Sometimes you had to really search to find a person born and bred in Melbourne, because it seemed like every new person you met was a refugee from another state.
“You miss your family?”
“Yeah. Of course I do.”
“Do they know—” Coded speak once again.
“About me?” He paused, to toss his coffee cup into a nearby bin. It seemed he could have been a basketballer had his football career not taken off. He indicated my cup, silently asking me if I had finished with mine. I shook my head. “I think my mum does, but I’m not sure. Nothing’s ever been said, anyway. But that’s it. What about you?”
I thought of my family. And how they didn’t really talk about it, but seemed to accept it as best they could. “They know.”
TIGERS AND DEVILS | 43
“They okay about it?”
“In their own way. We’ll see what happens if I ever bring a guy over to meet them.”
“You haven’t ever done
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