“I was, uh, wondering if you’d forgotten.”
“Forgotten my first time giving head?” he asks. “Nope, not going to forget that.”
I manage a weak laugh, then press my lips together before the sound gets more awkward. “I guess it’s good that your memory is working.”
“You don’t seem convinced.”
I swallow hard. My heart is beating like crazy.
He might want to talk about things. He might ask if I’ve been with a man before. He might?—
“Put on your clothes,” Axel says. “Let’s go out and say hello to Luca.”
My shoulders ease. “Okay.”
Axel and I both dress.
I open the door to the kitchen.
“Good morning, Mr. Enzo,” Patricia says brightly.
I wait for her to give a knowing glance when Axel exits right after me, but instead she smiles.
“I won’t out you,” Patricia assures me. “I know it’s difficult for professional hockey players to be out. I have a brother who is gay.”
“You do?” I ask.
“Yes,” Patricia says. “Didn’t Mr. Axel tell you?”
“No, he didn’t.”
“He specifically asked for someone comfortable with gay men.”
“Gay men?” My gaze snaps to Axel.
His cheeks are a pink shade they are only when he is very, very sweaty.
He’s not sweaty now.
Something jolts in my chest. The kitchen suddenly feels very small.
Axel isn’t gay. I know that. Obviously. He’s slept with countless women. I’ve seen the evidence.
But we’ve done things in bed together that aren’t necessarily straight. Things that involved his mouth and my cock and enthusiastic participation on his part.
Hope bubbles inside me. It feels dangerous—a helium balloon in my chest, pressing against my ribs.
“We should get ready for work,” Axel says quickly.
He’s already moving toward the bedroom, and I’m left standing in the kitchen with Patricia.
My shoulders slump.Fuck.Did he see hope in my eyes? I blink multiple times.
Many of Axel’s friends are in same-sex relationships. It makes sense that he would want his child to be raised in a household that accepts that.
I’m also gay, of course, but he doesn’t know that.
Unless he does. My heartbeat quickens even more.
