Page 22 of The Librarian’s Familiar

“He flirted with me, and I flirted back, and after two months of being celibate, I gave in. How did you meet guys?”

“If I did, it was via an app. Otherwise, I kept to myself. It was easier than worrying about being found out.”

“I’ve never had to worry about that, so that’s probably your first hurdle. Does your family know?”

August shook his head. “Mom keeps trying to set me up with other bears.”

Charlie wrinkled his nose. “Maybe you should start there, instead of trying to suss out who’s gay.”

“So you can just tell?”

“You can sense other paranormals, right? There’s a vibe. Eye contact that’s a little too long. Something subtler that pings your senses to pay attention and makes you question is he checking me out? Is his gaze staying on my face or dropping lower?” He let his gaze drift over August’s chest down to where his jeans cupped his crotch and stretched over his thick thighs, before looking back up at him. Some people learned by demonstration, and it gave him the chance to look.

August’s eyes had darkened, and his lips were parted. He swallowed. “And then?”

“Then I might smile and give him a similar appraisal if he’s ticking my boxes.”

“Ticking your boxes?”

“Yeah, you know…finding him attractive is the bare minimum. But it depends on what I’m looking for. I don’t need him to be able to hold a conversation and discuss the socio-economic causes of the French Revolution if I’m going out the back of the club for a blow job.”

“You’ve hooked up in clubs?”

Charlie considered him for a couple of heartbeats. He’d left the door wide open, dropped a hint that could be seen from space, and August had skated right past it. “Of course sometimes you can look, and he deflects because he’s not interested.”

He watched as realization dawned on August’s face. “Or he’s not used to those subtle signals.”

“Does he need to be hit over the head with a hockey stick?”

“That’s probably why he’s missing the subtle cues.” August tapped his head. “Too many hits.”

Charlie laughed. “You’ve probably had guys checking you out this entire time, wishing you were gay and wanting to get their hands on that ass.”

“You checked out my ass?”

“Of course I did. You bent over to tie your shoelaces and gave me a whole display.” Charlie didn’t add that he was the reason August had needed to tie his shoelaces.

“So I just need to be more aware.”

“And to be aware, you need to stop hiding and being afraid that someone is going to clock you.”

“You’ve clearly never lived in a world where you might get punched in the face for looking at a man too long.”

“I don’t think that’s going to happen here. I have seen several gay and lesbian couples. And I think there might be a throuple of foxes…but I’m really not sure about that one yet.” The nicest part about being in a paranormal town was that everyone was much more chill, possibly because they weren’t hiding half of who they were.

“Not here…but I always worried about word getting back. Over the summer break, it was sometimes easier to go somewhere else and be a no one.”

“I can’t pretend to know what it’s like to live in the public eye like that.” Or to live with the fear of being outed and kicked out. They had grown up in two different worlds with no overlap.

And while he could acknowledge that it had been hard for August, it also wasn’t his job to bridge the gap and help him find his feet.

“It came with the job.” He held Charlie’s gaze for a moment, then let it slowly drop.

Charlie’s pulse quickened, even though it was a clumsy and rushed look. It was cute that he was trying. “I see what you did there.”

The corner of August’s lips twitched into a small smile. “So we establish eye contact and interest. Which is pretty easy when I can hear your heartbeat and smell the change on your skin.”

Damn. For a moment, he’d forgotten that shifters had sharpened senses. Or maybe he hadn’t expected August to use them. “What happens next depends on where you are.” He spun around to face the computer, too aware of his pulse and the way his blood had left his brain gasping and his dick eager—which no doubt August was well aware of. “We’re in a public library.”