Isolation Play (Dev and Lee) by Kyell Gold Page A

card. I turn it over in my paws. I shouldn’t call him, if only because calling him would give him my phone number. That aside, I also don’t feel like making up a whole fake history of me dating Dev. But thinking about him reminds me of Dev’s press conference, which reminds me of Dev’s courage and my losing the opportunity to come out at my office. I think of Kinnel waiting for Lee White to call him, hoping desperately for his exclusive. I wonder if he’s talked to Corcoran about Dev.
    If I’m going to talk to someone, though, it should be Salim. I tried to call him last night and got voice mail. Lunchtime, I know he’ll be at his desk.
    So I signal to the waiter that I’ll be right back. I take my phone to one of the phone alcoves in the hallway to the restrooms. I can still see my table and the rest of the dining room from here. Across the hall from me, framed pictures of the championship Dragons teams from earlier years stare back at me.
    Two rings, and then I hear Salim’s slightly accented voice. I say hi, and he lowers his voice. “Lee,” he says. “Are you okay?”
    “ I’m fine,” I say. “Tried to call you last night.”
    “ It was my night with Jeremy,” he says.
    “ Can you talk now? Go to a meeting room, or something?”
    “ I wish I could. I have a meeting in nine minutes.”
    “ Tonight?”
    “ Dinner with Fasha’s parents.”
    “ I don’t know how you juggle a family, a boyfriend, and in-laws.”
    “ By neglecting other good friends. I’m sorry. Maybe this weekend.”
    I shift my phone. “I’ll be traveling, watching games. Next week?”
    He clucks. “Perhaps. You are okay, though?”
    “ I’m fine. Work is interesting.”
    “ Related to your tiger? I look forward to hearing about it.”
    “ I’ll save the story,” I promise.
    When he’s gone to his meeting, I hold the phone in one paw, Kinnel’s card in the other. I still have five or ten minutes until my food’s ready. What can it hurt?
    He picks up on the second ring. “Hello?”
    I put on my Lauren Bacollie voice, with a little less sex than I use for Dev, and identify myself. “I just wanted to get back to you.”
    “ That’s mighty kind of you.” I can almost see his ears perk up. “Did you see that interview Miski did with TSN?”
    Of course I did. “I think so.”
    “ In the interview on TSN, he says that for a year and a half in the league, he hasn’t been able to talk about his relationship.”
    Across from me, a tough tiger in a 1960s Dragons uniform glares out of the picture. I wonder if maybe he was gay. “Of course not.”
    His voice is soft. “I’m guessin’ he didn’t mean you.”
    I realize that he wants to be the one who broke the news to me, so he can get my reaction and be the one to comfort me, too. I put a lot of feeling into my “Oh.”
    “ So you didn’t know he had a boyfriend for a year and a half?”
    “ Clearly not.”
    Here comes the comfort. “Hey, look. Maybe it wasn’t his secret to tell. Maybe his boyfriend wasn’t ready to come out.”
    I struggle for words. “That’s gonna be tough, right? I mean, if his boyfriend wants to stay—hidden.”
    “ Damn, you’re sweet. So worried about him.” He exhales across the phone. “Like you know, a couple can’t live too long together if they got secrets.”
    I need to get off the subject of me and Dev. “Was it your secret or Cimarine’s?”
    That gets a surprised cough out of him. “You remember her name. Well, I reckon it was kind of both, and kind of neither.”
    “ That’s not a real answer.”
    “ Miss White,” he says, “I think we should be tradin’ secrets over dinner, or at least coffee.”
    I lean back against the wall, and grin. “Next time I’m in Chevali.”
    “ Deal. Hey, Otterman did a thing on Miski, you see it?”
    My ears perk. “No.”
    “ Top Ten Signs Your Neighborhood Is Becoming Fashionable Again. Number Six: Devlin Miski just moved in next door.”
    Despite myself, I laugh. “What