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through something right now. We treat this like the loss of any loved one. Support him while he grieves. He needs to know he’s got a family here. And he does. No matter what else he said or how it sounded. He is part of this team, and we’re standing by him. And that’s the final word on the matter. Now get showered and get out of here. Keep your mouths shut to reporters. Respect. That’s what makes you a man.”
    And with that speech, Dale Shannon turned and walked out, leaving the stunned players to grumble to themselves. No one dared say anything out loud, but Levi could hear the whispers.
    Slayer leaned forward and nudged his knee. “This isn’t going to be as simple as all that.”
    “No.” Levi agreed. He still couldn’t stop the shakes. He had the strangest urge to go find where they’d carted Bo’s carcass to when he’d finally been tranqued. “His dad looks like a right bastard. Wonder how it happened?”
    “Don’t know. We’ll find out. Or maybe we won’t. You look at that picture of Bo at the Super Bowl, you can see it. We just thought…you know…Bo was the last person I thought would…how do you justify letting someone stick his dick up your ass? I don’t get that. I don’t think I support that, not even for ‘Cephus.”
    Levi rose from the bench and slammed his locker open, shoving his helmet inside. He dragged his red jersey over his head, followed by the pads. Just shoved them all in the locker and grabbed his keys. He had to get out of here. Out in the sun and the heat. And drive. It didn’t matter if he was filthy; he had to go.
    “Hey, 501, what’s the deal, where you going?” Slayer shouted after him as he clomped across the locker room, cleats grating on the floor.
    “Away from all this homophobic bullshit.” Levi turned to shout at his friend. Slayer’s eyes opened wide, his mouth half open to say something that never came.
    “The QB is a fag lover. Who would have suspected? I guess all those times you threw to Murphy was you hoping he’d be your boyfriend. Making him look good so he’d suck your dick. Or was it you doing the dick sucking?”
    Slayer grabbed him by both wrists and hauled him back, but Levi kept charging, headfirst after the son of a bitch.
    “501 ain’t no fag, you asshole.” Slayer came to his defense, but he wouldn’t let Levi go so he could take the mother fucker apart.
    “Sure looks like one from this side of the room. His boyfriend’s boyfriend is all blowed up. Now he’s got a chance to be Mr. Murphy.” It was the wide receiver who sat the bench all last season. One that should have been traded or cut outright. Nothing but a thug pulling down millions of dollars to sit on his ass.
    “At least Murphy knows how to handle a ball. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt you to take some lessons…on ball handling.” Levi snatched his arms out of Slayer’s hands and stalked out of the locker room, leaving stunned silence behind him. He didn’t care what they thought. He had to go now. Before he outed himself. “Oh God, Bo. What did you do?”
     
    “It smells like a whore house up in here, Leviticus.”
    Levi sat up in bed, kicking off the sheet that clung to his leg. He hurt all over, like he’d taken on the whole Green Bay defensive line and lost. The pale light coming in through the windows told him it was morning, rainy and cooler. Thank the fuck for that.
    “Morning, Judah. So what brings you out to the back forty?”
    He threw his legs over the edge of the bed and covered his nudity. His toes nudged the used condom on the floor beside his flip-flops. Well, that explained the aches at least. Wonder who the lucky bastard was.
    “Jack called to tell me that your car was still sitting in his parking lot. He’s had a bit of a problem with vandalism, so I retrieved it for you.” Jude placed a set of keys on Levi’s dresser and stood against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. “I guess she didn’t want to stick around for breakfast in