My hand freezes in its place, and I turn to look at him. Surely, I heard him wrong.
He hurriedly adds, “It’s not you. It’s me.”
I guess I didn’t hear him wrong. I smile hesitantly and ask, “Are you joking? I can’t tell.” I’m not sensing any deception, so he must be telling the truth.
“No. Sorry, that was a bad line,” he says, running his hand through his hair, several pieces coming loose from his bun as he does. “I’m not joking. It really is me. I’m…I’m not interested in marrying any female, regardless of the honor…” He trails off, staring at me expectantly.
OH.
“You’re gay?”
He nods solemnly. My jaw instinctively drops, and I slam it shut as quickly as I can.
“Barrett, I had no idea. I wouldn’t have asked you to participate if I had known.”
“I know that. My family wanted me to pursue you.” He pauses and takes a deep breath. “They have no idea. I’m not actuallyout.”
“Does anyone else know?” I ask.
“Yes. August and Koa are the only ones who know right now.”
The significance of this moment doesn’t escape me. My heart warms that Barrett felt comfortable enough to share this news with me.
“Why tell me?”
He smiles and says, “They encouraged me to. They knew I wasn’t going to try to win you over. My plan was to fly under the radar and bore you to death on all our dates. But after your dates with them, they told me to tell you.”
“Wow,” I say, blinking. “Sorry, I wasn’t expecting this. Thank you for trusting me with your secret. It’s safe with me, I promise. I appreciate you telling me before we began any sort of a relationship.”
He steps forward and wraps me in a hug. I squeeze his massive torso before letting go and stepping away. “I actually have a secret of my own,” I admit.
He glances at me, eyes widening. “Well?”
“I didn’t want to come on this date with you.”
“What? Why not?”
I laugh. “I’m starting to get feelings for everyone. It’s already going to be hard enough. I didn’t want to add a fifth person to my list of potential husbands.”
“Well, this certainly worked out, didn’t it?”
I chuckle. “Yeah, I guess it did.”
I turn back to the hydrangea bush and pluck the bundle that I had been eyeing. “How does the royal kingdom treat gay people?” I ask, struggling to pluck it while holding the basket. He takes the basket from my hand, and I use my free hand to grab the plucked stem and toss it into the basket.
“It’s not discussed. There’s never been a publicly gay prince before. The royal kingdom is about as traditional as it gets, though. I mean, you come from two incredibly powerful magical lines, but you’re not powerful enough to rule on your own because you’re a female? You’re about to be able to choose your own husband for the first time in our history. We’re so behind. Imagine how the people would react to me wanting to marry another male.”
He’s right. “I’m sorry, Barrett,” I say quietly.
He shrugs. “I’ve accepted it. I hope that things will change, but if they don’t, what am I gonna do about it?”
He has a point there. “What about your family? Would they be accepting of it?” I ask.
He nods. “Yeah. My family’s great, and they’ll be fine with it when I finally tell them. I was going to, but then this courting process was announced, and they were so excited at the possibility of me marrying you. I couldn’t do it. I’m going to have to when I get back home, though.”
“Or not. You don’t have to do anything. If you want to tell them, you can. If not, don’t. Is there anything I can do to help you? From the High Queen’s perspective?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t think so. It’s notillegalfor me to be gay, so there’s nothing to change. At least, not anything you can do.”
