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“That’s rich, mate,” Lewis told him, cackling. “Coming from you, that is. I hear a title isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, eh?”
He didn’t mean anything by it, just Lewis being Lewis and saying whatever came to mind, smacking a kiss to Alex’s cheek before he danced away. Since Lee was paying attention, he caught the brief flash of misery before Alex pasted another smile onto his face, a little less radiant now, not quite touching his eyes.
Lee still wished he could hide him away from the world—just for a little while, until things had settled down. He couldn’t, though, so he settled for bumping their shoulders together. Alex’s smile grew a little more real as he leaned slightly into Lee.
It was enough. For now, it was enough.
“Sweetheart, you wereamazing.”
Lee turned at the declaration, and Alex did too. The woman heading for them was beaming, her smile just like Lee’s, her auburn hair cut short. Lee’s mum Lisa then, with Kira, the older of his two younger sisters, right behind. Both women hugged Lee while Alex stepped back to give them space.
“You did okay,” Kira told Lee, aiming for a flat tone even as she blinked a couple of tears out of her eyes. “For a total loser, I mean.”
Lee caught her in another hug and messed up her hair with both hands, ignoring her shrieks of protest. “Love you too, midget,” he said when he released her, voice thick with affection.
Alex was about to slip away and leave them to their family reunion when Kira glanced over and right at him, a sly expression settling on her face. “Hi. Alex, right?”
“Yes.” He offered his hand and wondered what Lee had told her. Likely quite a bit given that she was the first person he’d come out to. “Kira, is it? And” —he smiled at Lee’s mum— “Ms Taylor. Thank you both for coming out to watch the game.”
“Lisa, please.” Lee’s mum squeezed his hand in a light grip. “What a pleasure to see you boys doing so well. Especially you.” The last part was directed at Lee, and he ducked his head with a sheepish look that couldn’t quite hide the happy twist to his mouth.
“Mum.”
“I’m your mother, Lee. It’s my job to be proud of you to an embarrassing degree.” Lisa’s attempt at humour didn’t fully land, a mildly awkward slant to her shoulders, and neither Lee nor Kira offered more than dutiful grins in response.
Time for Alex to make himself scarce. He needed to find Jeff anyway.
After dishing out some pleasantries, he left Lee, Lisa, and Kira by the side of the hotel terrace and grabbed Jeff, who was holding court next to the food buffet. “I was telling a story to a captive audience,” Jeff protested even as he followed willingly. “I was just getting to the bit where I freed the squirrel from the mailbox.”
Alex had heard the story before, so he knew all about the unfortunate squirrel that must have mistaken Jeff’s mailbox for a bird feeder and snuck in with the mail delivery, only to realise there was no food and a closed latch that prevented escape. Fortunately, Jeff had retrieved the mail the same day and got jumped on by a confused squirrel that sensed danger afoot and landed on his arm, dug its tiny claws in, and then made its great escape.
“I’ve got a story for you too,” Alex told him, unrepentant. “Meant for an audience of one.”
“Your father left a written confession before he fled the country?” Jeff trailed Alex into the park-like hotel garden, well-tended cobblestone paths snaking between trees and hedges.
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“You’re joining a convent and have taken a vow of celibacy?”
“Certainly not.”
“Prince Joshua is getting a divorce to marry you instead?”
“What?”
“What?”
“What evenisyour brain?” Alex didn’t wait for a reply, just tugged Jeff over to a bench that faced a softly illuminated fountain, no one else around and the murmur of water a welcome backdrop to mask their voices. “No. Although you accidentally got, like, five per cent right. In a roundabout way.”
At the faint taste of gossip, Jeff came alive like a hound smelling blood, sitting up eagerly. “Which part?”
Okay, no time like the present.
Alex took a deep breath. “The part where a gay marriage is a very,veryvague possibility for me. At some point in the extremely distant future.” Well, that wasn’t quite how he’d meant to make his grand announcement. He thought about amending the statement, then didn’t and simply waited for Jeff to work through what looked like exceedingly complex mental calculations.
“So what you’re saying,” Jeff said slowly, several seconds later, “is that Lee’s magic dick turned you gay?”
There were about fifty things wrong with that statement—and yet it was perfectly Jeff and exactly what Alex had needed to hear.
