Stef traces my chest. “Aside from you?”
“Doing me is always a fun choice. Though I said anything, not anyone.” I kiss the top of his head. “But aside from me. Pretend you’ve never met me. What would you want to do? What about that PhD you told me about?”
“My father hates the idea.”
“What do you want?” I ask pointedly. Stef’s obviously spent too much of his life confined by other people’s expectations. A problem I haven’t faced too much until recently. And I’m grateful for my parents letting me live as normal a life as I could manage. Till now.
Stef shifts to look at me, pensive. “I want to do the PhD. I want to help return stolen Greek artifacts, like I told you before. But… I’ll probably need family support to do that.” Stef sighs. “I don’t have any income. Just a monthly allowance, still.”
“Like… financial support for the PhD?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, you could get scholarships. Right?”
He shifts again, tugging his legs under him, and gives me a level look. As if I clearly have no clue. Which, admittedly, I don’t know about graduate school or PhD programs or scholarships. “Like those are easy to get.”
I grin at him. “C’mon. You’re smart. And passionate on the topic. So, go get some scholarships, then.”
Stef snorts. “You make it sound so easy.”
“Sure. In some ways, it is. You apply for funding and scholarships and grants. It’ll feel good to make your own way. It’s your life to live in the end.”
“You’re lucky your parents were on your side,” Stef says wistfully. And he’s right.
“Very lucky. Now. What about this pack of brothers you mentioned? You never said how your visit with Giorgos was.” I’m intrigued to know more about him and his family.
“Yeah, good. We get along.”
“You said you grew up in Hampstead?”
He nods. “We played on the heath when we were small. Our parents took us out. The three of us, till the youngest showed up a while later. My oldest friends are still in London.”
“What are your brothers’ names?” I ask curiously. Stef hasn’t said too much about his family.
“Giorgios, then Kostas, then me, and then Spiros, the youngest.” Stef looks at me. “I was the youngest for a long time, then Spiros was a bit of a surprise. He’s still at home. He’s fifteen.”
“The oldest?”
“Giorgos is thirty. He’s the closest to my parents and has his MBA. Kostas is the rebel, and he went to study acting, and now he’s in LA and getting into film. Then there’s me. And Spiros is great at sports. I can see him getting a scholarship at an American university for soccer, as they call it.”
“See? If Kostas made his own path, so can you,” I encourage. If Stef’s family gave his brother Kostas the freedom to pursue his dreams, so can Stef. There’s space. He just has to see it. “Channel that big black sheep energy.”
Stef makes an unhappy sound. “I’m not like him. Or like you. It’s different for me.”
“Blaze a trail, gorgeous. You can do it.” I frown slightly at him and wish I could make him see he’s got this in the bag if he puts his mind to it. “What’s the worst thing that can happen?”
“I’ll… think about it.”
“Do it instead. There. We nearly solved one problem. Next problem?” I ask, as if we’re lining up and knocking down problems like nobody’s business. “Such as being gay or bi and practically telling no one about that?”
Stef squirms.
“Would they disinherit you or something?”
“I don’t know. Probably not?” He shrugs, looking uncomfortable. “I just… feel like I would disappoint them. They always talk about wanting grandchildren.”
“Us gays have families too, you know. If we want them.”
