Free March (Calendar Girl #3) by Audrey Carlan

and he smiled.
    “It’s just, I was wondering, have you thought about coming out?” Tony’s smile turned into a frown. I held my hands out and stepped closer. “Just hear me out.”
    His shoulders slumped and he leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. Damn, those arms. Even gay they still made me drool. I shook my head and leaned on the opposite counter.
    “Look, your sister Angelina knows the truth.” Tony’s eyes widened and his jaw clenched. “I didn’t tell her! I swear. She figured it out last week when we shopped. Said she’d known since college.”
    Tony took in a breath and let it out, scraping his hand along his five o’clock shadow. Christ the man was handsome. “Jesus, so what did you say? Does Hector know?”
    “He was there.” I looked down at my bare feet. Hector had painted my toes a siren red along with my fingers. He did a great job. “Your sister basically wondered why you hadn’t come out.”
    “And what did you say?”
    “Me?” I held a hand to my heart and shook my head. “I didn’t say jack shit!” I could hear the tone in my voice getting louder, but I couldn’t help it. Irritation at the entire situation was like a fully loaded gun and the trigger was being squeezed. “Hector basically told her that you didn’t want to disappoint your family, and the business and the boxing league could be issues. But mostly you were worried about how your mother would take it.” Tony’s shoulders slumped. He turned and braced both hands on the counter. It was as if the weight of the entire Fasano name hung like a heavy albatross around his neck. 
    “You know, Mia, it’s so tiring. Always hiding, worrying about who might find out, what it would mean to Mama and the family. How the public might take it. I couldn’t bear the thought of hurting my family and Hector in the process just for my own selfish desires.”
    I walked the couple steps and placed both hands on his back. “It’s not selfish to want to be with the person you love, Tony.”
    “Isn’t it?”
    “No, it isn’t. It’s your basic human right. And Hector loves you. He wants nothing more than for you to be shouting it from the rooftops or at the very least allowing him to.” I chuckled and rested my forehead on his back. He turned around and gathered me into his arms. Yep, they were wonderful. Warm, strong, and secure. Just as I’d expected. Tony was quite possibly the best hugger around.
    “I don’t know what to do.” Tony whispered into the crown of my head.
    “Yes you do. You’ve always known. You just have to do it.”
    He shook his head. “The timing hasn’t been right.”
    I leaned back and looked into his eyes. His arms stayed loosely around my waist. “It’s never going to be a good time to hurt someone.” Tony winced, and I placed a hand over his heart. “But, once it’s done, it’s done forever. You don’t have to worry about it anymore. You move on. Everyone moves on.”
    “And the league?”
    “Angelina said that you weren’t that involved anymore anyway, and it’s no one’s business.” He tilted his head to the side, his eyes focused on mine. “Besides, as a huge sponsor, they wouldn’t risk losing you. Plus, look at you? You’re a giant among little people. And you’re fucking hot. Everyone—and I mean everyone —will want to see all this,” I waved a hand up and down his front, “slicked up and beating the shit out of another guy…gay or not.” I winked and grinned.
    Tony laughed then backed up. He swept a hand through his black hair. “And the business?”
    “Again, Angelina says she’s Marketing. She’ll hire some fancy publicist PR guru to work their magic for a shit ton of money. Thinks it’s something that will be big news for a short time, no more than a few months. Then it will blow over and business as usual. The food is too good and too affordable to go under for something like the President’s sexual orientation.”
    He sighed, went