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“Oh, I don’t know.” Shelly brushed pink hair out of her eyes and inserted a calculated pause. “Alex Beaufort, maybe? Since he turned you gay and all.”
Whatthe hell.
“One” —Lee gave her a pointed stare— “he did not turn me gay. Iamgay, he just happened to be my shortcut to realising it. Two, I never told you that.”
Shelly looked perfectly unbothered. “You told Kira.”
“In confidence.”
“Eh. It all stays in the family, right?” Shelly angled her head to assess him. “So. Is he the reason you’re getting all pretty?”
Lee might have partially raised both Shelly and Kira, but it didn’t grant him immunity from their teasing. “I can neither confirm nor deny that.”
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Shelly’s smile showcased sharp incisors. “And I commend your taste—he’s hot. Does he play for your team, though?”
“Obviously,” Lee deadpanned. “Given the whole, you know, representing England at the World Cup thing.”
“You know what I meant.”
Since Lee also knew how to pick his battles, he sighed as he kneeled down to lace his shoes. “Alex isn’t too particular about the choice of team.”
“So what you’re saying is that I could try my luck?”
“Don’t you dare.”
“Territorial, huh?” Shelly looked positively delighted. “That’s cute.”
“You do realise I’m seven years older, right?”
“Sure. But I’ve had three boyfriends, and you’ve had just the one.”
“Some of us are in the closet.”
“Fair.” Shelly rolled off the bed and slipped into her sandals. At the door, she turned to look at him, her expression a lot softer all of a sudden. “I’m glad you found someone you like.”
“It’s not…” Ah, hell—first Oliver, now Shelly. Lee wasfine. “We’re not anything, Alex and I. Nothing more than friends, I mean. Alex is an earl, right, and his family expects him to date certain people, certainwomen, along with a traditional marriage and all that.”
Shelly made a considering noise. “Do you want to marry him?”
“What?No.”
“So what’s stopping you from having a little fun? As long as he’s not dating some family-approved woman right now…?”
Lee rose into a stand. “He’s not.”
“Well, there you go, then.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“Why not?”
Lee was starting to feel like a broken record, what with telling the same old story first to Alex, then to Oliver, and now to Shelly.
“Because…” With a shake of his head, he trailed off.
“Because?” Shelly prompted after a couple of seconds.
“Because I likehim.” He swallowed and repeated, much more quietly, “I like him.”
