“I’m sure a lot of gay men watch MMA,” I said.
“Oh, no doubt. Watch and participate, but it’s just not widely known… or accepted. There’s a lot of testosterone in this sport. However, you knew that already. Just keep doing what you’re doing. Keep training and we’ll wade through it all. I just wanted to let you know to expect the media to be in your life a lot more, at least for a little while.”
“Thanks for the heads up.”
“Yeah, see… that’s how it’s done.”
I laughed. “Bye, Barry.”
“See ya, kid.”
I looked at Aiden. “I’m hungry. Ready to go to my brother’s?”
He nodded. “Can’t wait to meet your niece and nephew.”
“You’ll love them.” Again, my cell started ringing. It was my brother. “Hey.”
“So you came out.”
“News sure travels fast.”
“Yeah, especially because of the media hounds camping outside my house for a story. I could have used a heads up, little bro.”
Apparently, I sucked at giving those. “I’m sorry. Yeah, I should have told you. It just happened. I’m not going to let that stop me from seeing you, though.”
“All right. Just know you’re going to have to fight your way through them.”
“I figured.”
I ended the call with my brother, and Aiden and I got dressed. When I got to his house, I noticed a few media trucks camped in front on the street. I sighed.
“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea,” Aiden worried.
“What do you mean?” I was hoping he wasn’t having second thoughts. It was too late for that.
“I hate that they’re bringing your brother into this.”
“That’s why I hate the media. But maybe if we give them what they want, they’ll leave them alone.”
Aiden nodded and when we climbed out of my rental, they were on us with flashing lights and questions. I took Aiden’s hand as I crossed the street to my brother’s home, then turned to address them.
“All right, I’ll answer just a few questions, then I would ask that you leave my brother’s home. He doesn’t know anything more than you,” I said.
“Did you brother know you were coming out?” one of them asked.
“No. He’s shocked.”
“How long have you two been together?” another asked.
“Didn’t you read the article posted?”
“Were you dating when you were with Kathy?” came another silly ass question.
“Yes. Kathy and I are still very good friends.”
“How do you think the public will feel having been deceived by you with your Kathy ruse,” a rude ass woman asked.
I looked at her. “I stopped worrying about what the public thinks about who I’m dating when I decided to come out. I got tired of hiding who I really was because I was concerned about what everyone else would think. This is me. I’m the badass motherfucking MMA Light Heavyweight Champion who’s gay and in a gay relationship with the love of my life. Take it or leave it. Now, goodnight.”
I turned with Aiden’s hand still in mine and we made our way into my brother’s home. He’d been standing by the door, waiting for us to finish our “interview”.
“Jesus, that’s a circus out there,” he said. We hugged and he hugged Aiden.
“I know. Fucking vultures,” I snapped.
“Hey, language, bro, little ones are around.”
I smiled. “Speaking of… where are the munchkins?”
My brother led us into the dining room where the rest of the family were. Hugs and kisses were passed out and a great meal was eaten over a loving family conversation. Eventually, all of the media people were gone and we were really able to enjoy our time. I watched as Aiden played with my niece and nephew, he really did love kids. I did too. I hoped to have some one day. I thought we’d make wonderful parents. As for my brother and I, we needed our heart to heart, so we made our way to the backyard with two beers.
“So, how are you feeling?” Rico asked me.
I took a swig of my beer and smiled. “I feel good.”
“You want to tell me why you didn’t trust me?”
Okay, he was getting right to the point. That was how we were in this family. I looked at him. “Because of how dad was. The things he would say made me too afraid to come out when I was younger. You seemed impressionable back then and I thought that you were still that way. I thought you wouldn’t accept the fact that I was gay.”
“Ahhhh, I see.” Rico nodded. “Yeah, I was a dumbass teenager back then. I looked up to dad a lot, but after marrying Macy and going off to college, I realized he was wrong about a lot of shit. I also realized he was a shitty father. I made sure I’d never be that way with my own kids. I never want my children to be afraid to confide me in the way we were with dad. I never want my kids to ever question whether or not I love them. They’ll just wake up and go to sleep knowing in their hearts that I do.”
I nodded and smiled. My brother was an amazing father and one I inspired to be like. “You’re a great dad, Rico.”
“Thanks. Macy’s brother is gay… he came out at Christmas, to no one’s surprise,” Rico said, laughing.
I laughed too. I’d only met Macy’s brother once, but he had more sugar in his tank than an ice cream truck. He was out long before he officially announced it.
Rico wiped the tears from his eyes from laughing so hard. “Ohhhhh, god…. It was hilarious. Anyway, Macy also helped me keep my mind open. So when I saw you parading around with Kathy, I knew something was off. For as long as I’d known you, you were never into girls. Macy was like, ‘he’s gay, baby’. Then you did the two interviews with Aiden and spoke so highly of him… I started putting two and two together. Aiden was out, you were in… in love, that is. I’m happy for you both, by the way.”
I was grinning now. “That means a lot to me.”
He nodded and we clicked our beers together. “And fuck dad if he can’t accept that, you hear me?”
I was shocked to hear Rico say those words, but it made me love my brother ever more. “I hear you.”
“Good. Now, let’s go back inside, these damn mosquitos are tearing me up,” Rico said, slapping his arm, killing one. “Gotcha, bitch!”
I laughed and followed him back inside. This truly was the best time of my life.
The week after Macio came out was like living a dream. Most of the time it felt like a beautiful one that I didn’t want to wake from, such as getting to know each other’s families. Then there were a few dark spots that felt a little nightmarish, like the hateful voicemail message Macio received from his father or being stalked by the media. As frustrating as those moments were, the good times outnumbered them by a landslide. Macio didn’t seem to be too upset about his dad’s message and no gauntlet of story hungry reporters were going to darken my days and keep me away from my love.
The chaos outside Ringside Magazine headquarters was more than my editor, Jerry, wanted to deal with daily, so he asked me to work from home until the circus died down. He figured they’d get tired of waiting for a guy who never showed up and would move on. Now, Jerry didn’t tell me I had to work from my home, so I worked from Macio’s.
Macio went off to train daily and Caesar and I worked poolside. It was the kind of life I always dreamed of – I was referring to sharing a life with the other half of my soul, not the luxurious surroundings part. So maybe I did take a midday swim with Caesar every now and then, but I gave as good as I got. I prepared healthy meals for my man every night and pampered his tired body with my hands and lips. The truth was, I would’ve lived in a tent to be with Macio if I could pick up a Wi-Fi signal so I could work. Hey, he wasn’t the only one who loved his career.
I was blown away by the amount of support we received on both the online story and the interview that went into print all around the world. It was hard for me to imagine, but there was most likely a copy of that magazine in nearly every docto
r and dentist office throughout the continental U.S. It was doubtful people knew that I interviewed Macio buck ass naked and there was a lot of heavy petting and kinky foreplay going on, but that was okay because people didn’t need to know everything. Macio had answered many interview questions for me that day, but two of his answers stood out the sharpest and would be words I’d hold onto for the rest of my days.
When was the first time you realized that it was okay to be gay? Honestly? It was when I met you for our first interview. You were this confident, sassy man who wasn’t afraid for the world to know that he was attracted to other men. I thought to myself that I might never be as brave as you, but I at least recognized that it wasn’t wrong for me to feel the way that I did.
What made you decide to come out? I could never be the man you needed me to be living in the shadows. I hurt you and subjected Kathy to a lot of negative press with my publicity stunt. There isn’t a title belt I could earn that would mean more to me than you do.
I was sure there were fighters who read the article and rolled their eyes or gagged on the sweetness of his words, but they were true and spoken from the heart. Let them underestimate his prowess in the ring since he came out as gay. It would be a lesson they never forgot, that much I was sure of. Surprisingly, there were no fighters who came out and publicly took a stand against him. I wasn’t sure if it was because word came down from the top that disrespecting him wouldn’t be tolerated or if the men just wanted to avoid a media shit storm like the one we were dealing with more than a week after the online article went live.
Fans of the sport, and people on the internet in general, however, didn’t show the same restraint as the ETC fighters did. The comments from the fans ranged from being disgusted by his “lifestyle choice” - which pissed me off because being gay wasn’t a choice – to supportive and even jealous. The jealous ones cracked me up the most. It turned out, Macio had a large fan base among gay men that he didn’t know about. Some of them thought we were “awwww, such a cute couple,” and others were like, “what’s he got that I don’t?” In the beginning, I often wondered what the hell Macio saw in me that made him want to turn his world upside down, and that was before he came out. My favorite commenter by far was the one who said I was “hot, but what the fuck was up with my loafers?” It was Macio’s favorite too.
“I love having you here, Aiden,” Macio said one night when we were making out in his hot tub. “Is there any possible way you could move here and still work for Ringside?” His question stunned me so much that I only stared at him for several long moments. “Forget it, baby. I know it’s too soon and it’s not fair to…”
“I’ll talk to Jerry tomorrow,” I told him excitedly. “Other reporters do it, so I don’t know why I can’t. Hell, I can do conference calls for meetings and it’s not that big of a deal if I have to travel to L.A. once in a while. It’s no different than any other kind of traveling I have to do.” I set my glass of wine down and straddled Macio’s lap, completely unsurprised to find how hard his dick was. My baby was a fighter and a lover. “Are you sure you’re ready for this, Macio?”
“Aiden, I’m only happy when you’re by my side. I would move to L.A. if I could, but Vegas is the mecca of ETC fighting. I’d have to ask Barry and his family to relocate or find a new trainer. I would do that if it was the only way to be by your side, but…”
“I’d never ask that. Either Jerry approves of the change or I’ll find another job,” I told him.
“It’s that simple for you?” he asked.
“Yes,” I nodded. “It’s precisely that simple for me.”
I talked to Jerry the following day, and as I suspected, he had no problem with me working from home – my new home in Vegas. I began making plans to move immediately. Step one was to break it to my family and friends and step two was to put my house on the market. My announcement shocked no one and listing my house turned out to be easier than I imagined. My neighborhood was an up and coming one for families with kids and the realtor thought I’d sell it quickly and for a hellacious profit.
Macio and I were in L.A. the following weekend, sorting through my things to see what I wanted to move to his house and what I wanted to sell or give to charity. As much as I had grown to love Macio’s house, I thought he could use the warmth that my furniture would bring.
It was a good fucking thing we were in L.A. and not Vegas when Macio found out what Rupert had done behind his back. We thought going public with our relationship would be the end of Rupert and his need to humiliate Macio, but we were terribly wrong.
“Holy fuck,” Seth said as soon as I answered his call late Saturday night. “Macio must be fucking furious.”
I looked over at my guy who was standing at the refrigerator naked as the day he was born, looking for something healthy to nosh on. “Nope. He’s definitely not furious. I’m curious as to why you’d think so.”
“Haven’t you seen the latest article on The Daily Spew?” he asked.
“Why the hell would I read that shit and why are you? They make Dirty Laundry Magazine look like child’s play,” I told Seth.
“Okay, you found out about my dirty little secret. I like to read gossip and shit, but man, I hate to be the one to break this news to you guys,” Seth said hesitantly.
“Wait a sec,” I told him. “Babe,” I called over my shoulder to Macio, “Seth stumbled across something on The Daily Spew that he thinks we should know about.” Macio came over with a scowl on his face and I hit the button to put Seth on speaker.
“What’s up, Seth?” Macio asked. He smiled when he saw the way his no nonsense voice affected me.
“Hey, Macio,” Seth said timidly. “Damn, I hate that you’re hearing this from me, but I guess it’s better coming from a friend.” He took a deep breath, then blew our world apart when he said, “Your former manager, Rupert, told The Daily Spew that you weren’t as squeaky clean as you’d like people to believe. He told them that, prior to meeting Aiden, he and your coach provided you with gay escorts after every fight. He even got a few of the escorts to share their story, but the magazine graciously used fake names to protect their privacy. It’s pretty steamy and damaging stuff,” Seth said softly.
Macio looked like he was going to be sick and my head went into spin mode so we could turn this around to our advantage somehow. In order to do that, I had to know what was being said, even if I really didn’t want to hear the play-by-play account of some of the escorts. I thanked Seth and hung up the phone.
“Don’t, baby,” Macio pleaded with me. “I don’t want you to read those things, Aiden. I’m not at all proud of who I was until I met you.”
“Then that’s what you tell people. First, you need to read if the things they said were true. If not, you could sue Rupert for defamation of character or something else.”
“Baby, he broke his Non-Disclosure Agreement, so his ass is mine, figuratively mind you,” he said when I scowled at him. “I’ll let Barry know right away. Damn, I need a new publicist in the worst way. I have to make that a priority,” Macio said.
“There are several PR agencies in L.A.,” I told him. “Maybe you need to find someone outside your normal circle going forward. You don’t really need them in your face 24/7, so having one based in Vegas isn’t really a necessity, you just need them to act in your best interest.”
“True.” Macio took a deep breath and pulled the website up on his tablet and we read it together.
“He liked it I when I called him Champ,” Christopher said. “It really revved him up and kept him fucking for hours.”
“He was a fucking machine,” Nicholas added. “I was sorry to hear he was off the market.”
The interviewer went out of his way to try and get Rupert to admit that Macio didn’t just have sex with the escorts in Vegas where it was legal, but also in other states where it wasn’t. It could’ve been his self-preservation in full swing, but the dirty bastard refused to admit anything of the sort. He was quoted as saying, “N
o, no. Escort services were only purchased through legally licensed companies and never outside of Vegas. No laws were ever broken.” When asked why he was outing his former client, Rupert said, “He’s out there pretending to be this upstanding guy who wants to help teens accept who they are and to give them hope for a bright future where they’ll be accepted. That’s not who Anamacio De Niro really is, though. He’s a user, a man who purchases the services of escorts and only walks tall and proud when he thinks he’s going to lose the tight ass he wants to plow.”
“Whoa,” I said out loud. First, I was angry on behalf of Macio because he really did want to give encouragement to teens who thought there was no hope for a happy life. He wanted to be a beacon for kids like himself and Rupert’s comments really made me angry. Then there was the comment about me, as if he still had no clue about how in love we were with one another. I said nothing about either of those things though, because I honestly didn’t think anything I had to say would make Macio feel any better. “Sooo, you want me to start calling you Champ?” I asked instead.
“Aiden,” Macio said, his voice was equal parts horror and humor.
“Babe, there’s nothing really that damaging in that stupid article. The whole world now knows that you’re a fucking machine and I’ll once again have to read comments about how you’re wasting your time with a guy like me, but I’m tough enough to take it.” I meant every word I said to him, too. “Macio, if you aren’t proud of the fact that you used escorts, then that’s what you tell people. If you feel like you owe people an apology for letting them down, then you can say that too. If you don’t want to say anything at all, then that’s the road you choose. Know this,” I reached for his hand and tugged him closer, “I’ll be by your side every step of the way. Do you hear me? This changes nothing between us. Except that I know to call you Champ now.” I just couldn’t resist adding that in.
“Aiden, I don’t even know what to say to you right now.” He stood up and paced in front of my coffee table. “How can you even love me? I’m a guy who kept you hidden, broke your heart, and now I’ve embarrassed you in front of your family and friends.”
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