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“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.