Horizons Series: Book Four
Lil Lampert’s forty-fifth birthday turns the effervescent architect into a brooding mess, and his partner, Grier Dilorio, takes him to Italy to help him regain his zest for life. The timing is bad—almost-fifteen-year-old Luca has just started high school, and his mother and stepfather are also traveling. Luca is left in the care of Chicago Bear, Clark Stevens, and his partner, Dr. Jody Williams.
Growing up with two dads and two gay uncles has given Luca a unique perspective on gender roles, but not all the answers. He’s had a secret crush on his straight best friend, Chip, for years. Suddenly, Luca finds himself attracted to Chyna, Chip’s twin sister. Now he’s wondering if this means he’s bisexual.
Born with a sexual development disorder, Chyna should have been raised as a male, but due to an epic parenting fail, is being raised as female. Hiding the truth becomes more difficult when Chyna hits puberty, and crushing over Luca adds another element to Chyna’s struggle to fit in.
Is Luca’s moral compass strong enough to guide him successfully through this period of discovery or will he succumb to peer pressure and shatter Chyna’s dreams for happiness?
Cover Artist: Anne Cain
CHAPTER 1
IT WAS the first week of September, and Illinois was in the grips of an unexpected heat wave. The humidity and stifling temperatures were adding to the frayed nerves that jangled coaches and players alike. Getting in one last practice before tomorrow’s home game would be a challenge under these conditions. When Luca showed up sporting a shiner and wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt instead of the more practical wife beater, he’d become everyone’s focal point.
During calisthenics, sweat poured down his back, plastering the jersey to his torso and adding another element to his misery. His eye throbbed in time with his heartbeat, and he itched like crazy. As soon as they had their first water break, he tore off the shirt and sighed with relief. Unfortunately, Coach Taggart zeroed in on the scratches up his arms and pulled him behind the bleachers to start the third degree. Luca had watched him use these same tactics on other players, but he hadn’t paid much attention; he’d never given Coach a reason to single him out. Today, however, was different.
“You’re lying,” Coach Taggart concluded after Luca’s halting explanation. “Tell me the truth, or I’ll investigate this on my own.”
“I got elbowed by accident, Coach.”
“I’m not buying into your story, Dilorio.”
Luca bit back his indignant reply before he made things worse. Coach’s heavy dose of cynicism upon hearing Luca’s feeble attempt to gloss over the black eye was completely foreign to him. All the adults in his life had always taken his word at face value. He supposed his face was a dead giveaway. He sucked at lying, turned beet red whenever he tried, and this coach was no fool.
“’Fess up, or I’m calling your dad.”
“He’s out of the country with my other dad.”
“Are you staying with your mom?”
“I would be, except she left for the Philippines with my grandparents, stepfather, and little sister. They’ll be gone for three weeks.”
“Then who in the hell is watching you?”
“I’m almost fifteen,” Luca reminded him. “I don’t need watching.”
“I didn’t mean that literally.”
“What did you mean?”
“I can’t imagine your parents would leave you for an entire month without adult supervision.”
“I’m staying with my uncles.”
“Could you be more specific?”
“Clark Stevens and Jody Williams.”
Taggart’s face lit up with interest. “Is that right?”
“Yeah.”
“Good to know. Now let’s get back to the problem at hand.”
“There’s no problem,” Luca insisted. His eyes kept darting to the parking lot, which was separated from the practice field by a chain-link fence.
Taggart followed his gaze and zeroed in on the lanky teen whose face was partially covered by a gray hoodie. “Isn’t that Chip Davidson?”
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t he sign up? I could have used him on the team.”
Luca shrugged. “Maybe you should ask him.”
“Isn’t he your best friend?”
“Since we were ten.”
“Seems mighty strange that a kid who played Pop Warner for so long would have second thoughts about playing high school ball. He’s been watching your blind side for years.”
“I know.”
“So what’s his story?”
“Not for me to say.”
Taggart snorted.
“Just saying,” Luca mumbled.
“How about telling me who was in the fight.”
“It wasn’t my fight so I can’t talk about it.”
“Then why are you banged up?”
“I was trying to stop it… and got caught in the middle.”
“Hasn’t anyone ever told you that it’s usually the Good Samaritan who gets clobbered?”
Luca remained silent, which frustrated his coach even more.
“Are you sure the older kids aren’t giving you a hard time?”
“They’re not.”
“Any bullshit remarks about gays?”
Luca rolled his eyes in frustration. He managed to get himself under control and replied in clipped sentences. “You might find this hard to believe, but my life doesn’t revolve around the tired old question of straight versus gay. Why does everyone always think I was attacked by some homophobe every time I show up with a scraped knee or a shiner? Kids fight about all kinds of shit, Coach. And just for the record, my friends are a lot more evolved than you think. We don’t give a crap who’s banging who, so long as you’re not blatant about it.”