“Do you remember this guy, Kleini, or whatever his name was?”
“Klongi.”
Knew it.
“He thought he was clever, okay? He told me to grab a net from the shed, and head into the forest and set a trap for a—”
Bo sat up straight and his handsome face pulled into a terrifying grimace.
“Han gjordevad? Den där jävla dårfan! What a fucking asshole,” he added when he realised he’d switched to Swedish, which only happened when Bo August Persson was Mad with a capital M.
“Yeah, I have no idea why I did it, but ah…”
“You were drunk, Nate. That Bavarian beer is strong, and you are just a tiny human.”
“I’m 6'5".”
“Tiny,” Bo confirmed.
“Anyway, I actually caught an Elvertritsch, that’s what the creature’s called, and—”
“You caught one?” he interrupted me, on the verge of laughing.
“I did, his name is Vee, and he’s a forest ranger. He took me back to his place and we sort of...”
“Hooked up?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I muttered.
Tears leaked out of Bo’s eyes and trickled into his dirty blond beard. “That is the dumbest and most on-character thing you’ve ever told me.” He soberedup a bit and waved a green hand. “But why do you look like that, then? Was it shit?”
I buried my face in my hands and groaned.
I can’t believe I’m discussing my sex life with my teammate in a German bakery.
“It was great, actually.” I took my hands away. “And then his colleague called, and he just shut down and pushed me away. I don’t even have his number or address or anything. He probably doesn’t want to see me again, anyway,” I rambled.
Bo reached out and took hold of my wrist.
“Nate, stop.” He waited for me to stop talking. “Breathe.”
This was such a Vee thing to say that I fucking burst into tears.
“You really like him, don’t you?” Bo said in a gentle voice.
“Yeah, I do.”
He squeezed my arm, then let go, and emptied his coffee cup.
“There’s something else,” I hedged. I’d spent way too much time thinking about it yesterday, and the wordswould burn a hole into my tongue if I didn’t get them out. “I always thought I was straight. I mean I messed around with some guys in college but that’s…normal, isn’t it? Just some dudes getting off together.”
“Yeah, that’s totally normal.” Bo pressed his lips together and nodded. Good-natured mischief sparkled in his eyes.
“But I think I like…people. I don’t care about gender. I just—I liked him. I wanted him.”
Still do.
He nudged me with his foot.
