AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Uh.
“Your parents picked out women you should meet, to see if you’d want to marry one of them? And then—what, your families will go to war together?” Lee knew he was staring at Alex, but seriously, what the fuck. “Whatcenturyis this?”
Alex sat up against the headboard, sudden tiredness etched into his features. “Look, no one is being forced into anything, okay? It’s not that different from friends setting you up on a date with someone.”
“Except friends want you to have a good time, not improve the family gene pool or… I don’t even know. Complement your parents’ apple orchard with some cherry trees that belong to the family of the bride, I guess?” Christ, Lee had known that Alex’s father was a traditionalist based on the sheer amount of snobbery the bloke spouted into any microphone that would hold still for him, but this took tradition and sent it right back to the middle age.
Also, so much for Lee’s little theory that Alex might have been looking for a different kind of celebration.
“There’s nothing wrong with taking into account someone’s family background,” Alex said. “See whether you’ve grown up with the same values.”
Lee snorted. “Sure.” Since he was starting to feel mildly awkward looming by the side of the bed in just his boxers, he sat down at the foot of the mattress, diagonally across from Alex. “Except that’s the kind of thing you only say if your ancestors can be traced back to the sixteenth century.”
It took a second, then Alex looked contrite. “Sorry.”
“No worries. I’m not currently applying for any son-in-law positions with aristocratic families, so it doesn’t exactly matter.” And it didn’t, really—Lee had outgrown any self-consciousness about his family background. Yeah, there’d been a time when he had acted like Brandon was his dad in front of classmates. But then Brandon had left, and then Nan had died, and then Lee had been too bloody busy holding it all together to pretend for anyone other than the girls.
“Still.” Alex rubbed a hand down his face. “I guess I’m just trying to say, you know… Like, arranged marriages were normal not that long ago, right? It’s only recently that at least in Western countries, we decided to leave something as crucial as marriage to an emotion as irrational as love, and we disregard all other factors.”
Lee let the statement sit between them for a moment before he shook his head. “Is that your parents talking, or do you actually believe that crap?”
“Well, if you’re such an expert on love, why areyousingle?” Even though the question carried a challenge, Alex looked tired more than anything else—like his body was just now catching up with the events of the day, adrenaline ebbing away. Lee felt it, too.
“I moved back to the UK, and neither my ex nor I felt like long distance.”
“Doesn’t sound like she was the love of your life,” Alex said, tone still caught halfway between exhausted and challenging. Somehow, the combination slid past Lee’s usual filter and triggered him to correct Alex.
“He.”
Alex’s attention snapped to Lee’s face, the air growing still between them.
“Problem?” Lee asked slowly. He didn’t really think it would be, not after he’d seen how comfortable Alex was with Marco—but Marco wasn’t sharing a room, and presently a bed, with Alex.
“What? No. No!” Alex shook his head, the dim light darkening the hazel of his eyes to a dull brown. “Just reassessing some stuff. You’re … gay? Or bi?”
Lee kept his gaze on Alex and his chin tilted up. “Gay.”
“Okay.” Another pause, Alex’s frown easing slightly. “So, all right—you’re gay. Which explains why you’re single, I guess.”
“Youguess?” Lee huffed out a laugh. “I mean, sure, I spend a lot of time surrounded by fit, athletic men. Too bad they tend to be either teammates or opponents, and very likely straight. Not an ideal situation, all in all.”
Ah, shit. Lee needed to get his brain-to-mouth filter checked—it didn’t take much of a mental leap from Lee mentioning attractive teammates to the implication that Alex would be very much included in that category.
Awkward.
“Too bad theytend to be either teammates or opponents, and very likely straight. Not an ideal situation, all in all.”
Very likely straight.
It was an opening served on a silver platter if Alex had ever heard one. Except …God. He couldn’t. Hecouldn’t. First off, he’d never come out to anyone, hadn’t ever explored his attraction to guys beyond acknowledging it to himself and occasionally indulging in aesthetic appreciation of a fit male body—such as Lee’s. Secondly, if Alex dropped the information now… Well. He was essentially in Lee’s bed, and it would be hardly surprising if Lee took that the wrong way.
Eventually, maybe, Alex might want to tell Lee about himself. Not tonight, though.
He fished around for a playful smile, found it, and slapped it onto his face. “Okay, so, honesty hour: when you called me pretty boy—did you, in fact, mean it?”
It had been a joke, really just a joke, but Lee’s face tightened. He sat up a little straighter, and Alex nearly let his gaze drop to Lee’s bare chest.Eyes up here.
“Well.” Lee’s tone was painfully careful. “I mean… I didn’tnotmean it.”
