Isolation Play (Dev and Lee) Read Online Free PDF Page B

a bright smile. She’s in good shape for a mother, a little round around the middle, but her loose blouse hides it well except when she sits. She’s wearing jeans, but a nice, classy pair. Her age shows more in the charcoal of her stripes, subtle unless she’s standing next to Dev’s stark black pattern.
    “ Hi, Dev. And...Lee. I remember you.” The smile she shares with her fellow tiger turns to an awkward pause. Her ears stay up, but the striped tail pauses and kinks behind her.
    “ Short for Wiley,” I say, keeping my feminine voice.
    “ Fisher’s parking the car.” She brings out a little purse hanger and clips it to the side of the table, then hangs her purse from it.
    I tilt my head to study the purse hanger. “That’s smart. I should get one. I hate bumping into mine on the back of the chair.”
    Dev chuckles, but Gena doesn’t. “I didn’t expect...” She looks at me, then away.
    “ If I weren’t dressed up,” I say, “if Dev went out to dinner with a guy, now...”
    “ I saw the press conference,” she says, and now she looks at me. “I guess...that makes sense. If you don’t want anyone to know who he’s dating.”
    I start to tell her I’m not out at work, but after Dev’s big announcement, that sounds slightly ridiculous no matter how I phrase it, so I just stop. The waiter brings our cocktails just as Fisher gets to the table. He sits across from me, between Gena and Dev, and gives me a long look before his eyes drop to my chest. “Looks like you had a boob reduction,” he says.
    “ Honey.” Gena frowns at him.
    “ It’s a joke.” Fisher extends a paw. “Nice to see you again.”
    I clasp it. “A pleasure,” I say. “Thanks for supporting Dev.”
    He and my tiger exchange a look. “Well, sure,” he says. “Ain’t much else to do, once you come down to it.”
    We make small talk while looking at the menus. Dev and I let Fisher order a bunch of small plates for us, because it all sounds delicious: prosciutto-wrapped dates, marinated octopus, spicy raw chicken, flaky mushroom pastries. And when the waiter’s gone, Fisher leans back and surveys Dev. “So it’s out. You’re out.”
    “ Yeah.” Dev looks abashed. “Coach says he’s still going to start me. ‘Practice tomorrow, business as usual.’ But he’s gonna limit the media as much as he can.”
    “ It’s gonna be a circus,” Fisher says.
    I lean forward. “Are you going to be able to protect him? On the field, I mean.”
    Fisher huffs. “He’s gotta protect himself.”
    “ You can help.”
    “ No, he’s right,” Dev says. “I know they’re gonna be coming for me.”
    “ Well,” Fisher says, “she’s—I mean, he’s right too. You gotta take care of yourself, but if we stand up for ya, it’ll stop a lot quicker’n if we don’t.”
    “ You make it sound like he’s a criminal.” Gena tries to say it lightly, but her voice breaks on the last word.
    Fisher and Dev look at each other. I say, “Different is criminal enough. Guys are gonna think if they get beat by a faggot, it makes them a faggot too. At least, that’s what their teammates’ll say.”
    Gena flinches at the word ‘faggot,’ while Fisher nods, slowly. Dev’s looking at him, and I’m sure they’re both thinking of Tony Calhoun, the gay bear Fisher played with a decade or more ago. But I’m not supposed to know about that, so I keep my muzzle shut. Fisher turns from Dev to look at me. “About right,” he says.
    “ I wrote a paper in college,” I say with enough hubris that I’m clearly mocking myself.
    Dev snorts, and then Fisher laughs, too. Gena joins in a moment later, and the ice is broken. I feel confident enough, a few moments later, to ask Fisher about Corcoran. “I heard he’s a Republican, gives to a lot of Family Focus organizations.”
    He anticipates the question, answering even as Dev’s frown deepens. “I only met him a couple times, but he always does right by his players. Macer, you didn’t know