It wasn’t the first time Calum had heard whispers of Brix’s family being trouble, but an odd urge to defend Brix’s blood swept over him. “My granddad was awful too. Kept calling my sister a slut because her bedroom was untidy.”
Lee rolled her eyes. “Don’t give me that ‘boys will be boys’ shite. Brix’s uncle isn’t some dozy old man who doesn’t know how to talk to women. That’s the point. He didn’t see me as a woman. He called me a little poof.”
“What?”
“I’m trans, knobhead.”
Calum blinked. “Trans? As in?”
“Well duh . . . as in, I used to have a bigger dick than you.”
“Oh.” Calum stared at Lee, taking in her delicate elfin features and youthful skin, all marred by a defensive belligerence that told him she was waiting for him to say something totally fucking stupid. And she didn’t have to wait long. “Erm . . . how do you know how big my dick is?”
“Because you stand like you’re hung like a wasp.”
Calum blinked again. Had he been dropped into another world? “That’s not very nice.”
Lee shrugged. “Just beating you to the punch.”
“Why? What do you think I’m going to say?”
“Same as everyone else, probably. That I’m a fucking freak.”
“Did Brix say that?”
“No.”
“Well, I’m not going to say it either.”
“Why not?”
Calum shrugged. “Because it’s not true. Besides, fuck anyone else. You don’t think you’re a freak, do you?”
“As if. Like I said, I was saying it before you did. It’s all anyone ever called me back home.”
“Sounds like you’ve got a story to tell.” Calum drained his ale. “What are you drinking?”
“Same as you, and some vodka. I can’t talk about this crap sober.”
Fair enough. Calum bought three pints of Doom Bar, a handful of vodkas for Lee, and a whiskey for himself with his last twenty-pound note. “Find me somewhere we can talk.”
Lee clipped Rocky’s lead to her studded belt and relieved Calum’s tray of a few glasses. Then she led him around the bar to a quiet-ish corner he hadn’t seen. She dumped the drinks on a sticky table, then dropped into a tatty leather armchair, tucking her feet beneath her.
“Right.” Calum necked his whiskey and then pulled a stool to the table, before pinching one of Lee’s vodkas. “Shall we start this again? Without me putting my foot in my mouth?”
Lee grinned. “You didn’t. I just assumed you would. Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. Being bi isn’t quite the same, but I know what it’s like to have people make bullshit assumptions about you.”
“That’s what Brix said about being gay.”
“Is it?”
“Yeah. I don’t think his family particularly appreciated him coming out, not that he seems to care, lucky fucker.”
“I doubt it’s that simple.”
“It isn’t. I’m being an arsehole to make myself feel better. I do that.”
