Page 27

It was just the rest that I didn’t want to admit. I knew I was going to though. I knew I had to tell someone what I’d been doing. As if it would… alleviate the guilt somehow.

“Oh.” He blinked again and looked down at the bunch of bananas in his hand. “You don’t?”

I snorted weakly. This already felt like two awkward dorks trying to navigate what should have been a deep and heartfelt conversation.

“Yeah, I think… um…” I put the limes in my basket and shrugged, rubbing my neck. “I think I like dudes too?”

“Oh, right. Okay.” Neville put down the bananas and stepped closer, eyeing me carefully. “And are you okay? Like, you’re not… freaking out or anything?”

“Nah.” Not over that part, at least. “It’s just… a new thing I’ve discovered about myself, I guess?”

“Hell yeah.” Nev grinned and held up his hand for a high five, then fidgeted in place for a few seconds before yanking me into a quick, hard hug.

I grunted at the impact, thrusting my basket out of the way so it didn’t nail him in the side. I had to mumble an apology when I almost swung it directly into a woman’s stomach as she passed us.

“That’s awesome, bro.” Neville let go of me, still grinning, then teasingly added, “Does this mean we can talk about hot guys together?”

I chuckled, a hint of warmth creeping into my face. “Uh, I guess.”

“How did you realise?” he asked curiously as we slowly started making our way farther down the fresh produce aisle.

The warmth in my cheeks turned into a rush of heat. Shit. This was the part I didn’t want to admit.

That I’d realised because of him. Dan fucking Ewen. My asshole neighbour. Thorn in my side. Slutty cowboy wrestler.

My nuts tingled a little when I pictured his ridiculous wrestler outfit. Seriously, the shorts barely covered his butt cheeks.

It was so stupid.

I hated how unbelievably hot I found it.

“Uh, I… I kind of… saw something,” I told Nev hesitantly, already wanting to wince. “Um… kind of like… a dude jerking off? And it made me—”

“Pop a huge boner?” Nev blurted excitedly, causing a young couple picking out lettuce to turn and stare at us. “I feel you, dude. So you like watching solo stuff? Bro, I can recommend some amazing guys who specialise in solo content. There’s this one guy, he’s a werewolf with the biggest dick you’ll ever see in your life, and he films himself gooning all day—”

“Nev,” I barked, my face on fire as I glanced around to make sure no one was listening.

They were. The woman from the lettuce couple was eyeing us with intrigue, kind of looking like she wanted to get the name of that gooning werewolf, while a huge dude who was clearly an orc under his human skin cast us a scandalised look as he selected a cabbage.

Luckily we were in the specialist grocery store that secretly catered to supernaturals, so Nev’s mention of a werewolf wasn’t making anyone look at us like we were crazy. That still didn’t mean it was cool to talk about masturbating werewolves in the fresh produce aisle.

“It wasn’t a video,” I hissed, grabbing Nev’s arm to tug him down the next aisle.

He stared at me in disbelief as I dragged him along. “What? So you saw a guy jerking off… in real life? And your response was a sexual awakening, not calling the cops because there was a creep beating his meat in public?” Nev eyed me like he was truly seeing me for the first time. “What are you into, dude?”

“Oh my god.” My voice was strangled, my face on fire. I stopped in front of the steaks and Neville turned to face me, his expression telling me he wasn’t sure whether to be intrigued or alarmed. “He wasn’t doing it in public. He was doing it in his own house.”

I didn’t think I was making this any better, because Neville’s expression started listing more towards horrified.

“You spied on a man masturbating in the privacy of his own home? Was he aware?”

Oh god. Fuck.

“I… uh… He…” I swallowed thickly. “No.”

“Oh my good god.” Nev exhaled dramatically and pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes closed. “Rafe, do I need to arrange an intervention?”

“No!” I blurted, my skin so hot it felt like I was going to melt into a puddle of goo in the middle of the grocery store. “I’m not a peeping Tom, dude! I wasn’t—It was an accident. I didn’t mean to see it.”