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“I’d never cheat on George. If I blocked you, it’s ‘cos I liked you.”
“If you had a boyfriend, why were you on the app in the first place?”
“We had an open relationship,” Joq said like that explained everything.
Chris’ lips parted. That’s why Joq had asked about that. “I can’t do that.”
“I don’t want you to,” Joq said reassuringly but also in a tone of voice that implied he didn’t understand how the hell this conversation ended up here. “And it’s not the point right now, probably won’t even matter in a few minutes because once you know what I did you’re going to end this.”
“I doubt it, what did you do?”
Joq looked back out at the ocean. Then he proceeded to calmly tell Chris about him and that footy player, about how George didn’t want to be out because he didn’t want to be known as the ‘gay footy player’, but he was happy to do open to soften the blow. Only, George never fucked around until a new rookie arrived on the team.
“Long story short,” Joq said, “he fucked Finn, fell in love and denied that.”
“Asshole,” Chris said.
Joq shrugged. “The heart wants what it wants I guess, but yeah, it sucked, if he just had of told me then we could’ve, I dunno, broken up amicably. Or, well, amicably enough. But he kept fucking lying, to himself, to me, so I just, I fucking snapped.”
Chris wasn’t judging Joq’s physical prowess or anything, but looking at those two footy players? He couldn’t imagine Joq’s snapping would do much damage.
“Well, you were hurt,” Chris said calmly even though he was jealous at the thought of Joq liking that guy that much. Not to mention fucking him. Guy was built, hot, looked like he could really give it to someone. To Joq.
“I don’t think hurt is a good enough reason to threaten a kid with extortion,” Joq replied.
Chris had to parse that out. Once he did, he frowned. “What was your leverage?”
Joq startled a laugh. He met Chris’ eyes. Chris watched him back steadily. Maybe Joq had an even better business mind than he’d realised.
“I had footage of them fucking around in the showers. I threatened to out George, and well, Finn too, but it was George who would’ve been damaged, I don’t think Finn cared about being out,” he said steadily enough, but he was twisting his empty glass in his hands as he went on, “I told him to break it off with George or I’d do it.”
Chris whistled.
“I wouldn’t have done it, but, fuck,” Joq said with more animation than Chris had ever heard, “I threatened a kid. Finn was twenty, a kid. And he just, he just broke. It was horrible. I’m fucking horrible.”
“Okay,” Chris said as coolly as he could because while he wasn’t too scandalised—he’d grown up the sole heir to one of the wealthiest families in the country and now the world, so he’d been prepared for the possibility of extortion or kidnapping from a young age. “Extortion is better,” his grandfather used to say calmly.
But maybe for a young footy player it’d be different.
“Okay,” he said again while Joq stared at him; he looked like he was about to walk out the door. “So, you lived with this guy for ten years, he fell in love with a hook-up, and you threatened to out your boyfriend if his boyfriend didn’t break it off?”
“Yeah, and you’re right, Finn was his boyfriend. God, I was so fucking stupid, and that’s the other part,” he shook his head bitterly, “they were together, practically the whole fucking season. And for years before that they were texting and calling and I was just so fucking angry.”
“You must’ve really loved him,” Chris said quietly after they’d both said nothing.
But Joq just laughed. “You know, the more I think about it, I don’t think I did. That little fucker is right.”
“About?”
“About us, me and George, he was never mine, I mean, look what happened? He hides me for twelve years and then fucking marries that kid within a month of properly getting together. Did you see the fucking pictures? A Vogue wedding, Jesus.”
It was hard to miss the pictures. But, “I don’t read Vogue,” Chris replied.
Joq laughed. Then he sobered. “Do you want me to go?”
“No? Of course not, why would I want you to go?”
“Did you hear what I just did?”
