Page 63 of Storm and Sea

The image should have been terrifying.

Yet memories of the creature calmed something inside Leo. It made him feel safe.

He forced the image away as he stood, and his head swam. Leo braced against the wall, taking a moment to compose himself. But he didn’t rest long before forcing his legs to move in the direction of the docks.

Even as Leo caught sight of his long-time friend, relief hit him like a fresh breeze on a hot day. Atreus looked the same as ever, and if there was anyone in Leo’s life he could confide in, it was his best friend.

He snuck behind Atreus, hoping to make him jump, when his friend’s gaze locked on something further up the hill. Leo followed his stare, seeing an unfamiliar figure working at the sorting tables.

“Friend of yours?”

“Not really. But he’s my problem in a manner of speaking —Leo!”

Leo laughed, getting the exact facial expression he knew Atreus would make.

“Took you long enough. Been standing here for ten minutes.”

“Sorry, I was distra—I wasn’t expecting— what are you doing here?”

Leo lifted the barrel of mackerel beside Atreus as they made their way up the hill.

“You shouldn’t be lifting that,” his friend scolded. Leo rolled his eyes even as his ribs ached.

“Ugh, you sound like that pretty boy doctor. I’m fine.”

Atreus didn’t look convinced as they climbed the narrow path, the sound of puttering engines and gulls squawking serving as background noise. Of course, Atreus had heard about the Vino Rosso, but Leo didn’t want to discuss that. He didn’t want to talk about how stupid he’d been to go out in that storm, how lucky he was to be alive.

He was about to poke more fun at Atreus’s suggestion to help him on the boat when the figure at the sorting table finally came into focus.

Leo dropped the heavy barrel with a harsh smack on the cobble path. “Who’s that?” he breathed.

The boy had a slim build and short, wavy hair the color of pine bark. He moved with a clumsiness that reminded Leo of a toddler learning to walk but in the body of an adult. His skin was fair and would likely burn in the sun. He should have looked silly with newspaper strips shoved up his nose, yet…

“He’s… really cute,” Leo said on an exhale before he even realized the words came out of his mouth.

“Cute?” Atreus asked with an arched brow.

Leo cleared his throat, forcing his gaze down.

Get ahold of yourself.

He blamed his head injury for letting the words slip. “You know, like a puppy or something. Anyway, who is he?”

When it was clear Atreus wasn’t going to give him an answer, Leo went ahead and introduced himself. Nyel’s voice matched him perfectly—light and airy. Leo had to hide the goosebumps that snaked down his arms when Nyel said his name.

They talked briefly, and Nyel seemed genuinely interested in attending the festival. But his friend, in typical Atreus fashion, was determined to be a wet blanket and tried to get out of it. Luckily, Marina’s arrival saved Leo from making even more of a fool of himself. The red-headed wonder took the two men, leaving him alone to finish the work on the docks.

He needed the breathing room.

Of course, today. Today, of all days, is when he’d show up.

Leo hadn’t reacted to another man like that in… well, a very long time. The last boy he’d crushed on had been Pacco PiaCheli. They were childhood friends, and when they got older, Leo had to sort through a tangled mess of feelings. And when Pacco kissed him for the first and last time, Leo recognized what he was. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind where his heart lay and what he wanted. And, news flash, girls weren’t on the list. His mother would be brokenhearted, and as for his father—Leo didn’t have to consider it. That reality didn’t exist for him; he had too many responsibilities. Too many beating hearts depending on him.

All they need is for their eldest son to come out as a sodomite.

That would likely be the final nail in the Tradi family’s coffin—the same coffin Leo was desperately trying to keep them out of. No, even if relationships were on the table, the world would never accept him. Real men liked women. A man who wanted to be with another man? There was no doubt in Leo’s mind that he’d be considered “less than,” and that was putting it lightly.

Pacco kissed him and was gone. The PiaCheli family left Baia Vita for the mainland in the hope of finding work. Leo never saw or heard from him again. And that was fine by him. He didn’t need the distraction. Didn’t need to add temptation on top of everything else he was dealing with. He refused to allow Nyel to become a problem for him. Even if Nyel returned his desires, even if he wasn’t the sole provider for his family, Baia Vita would never accept it.