“Dude, you parted them like the Red Sea. I’m impressed.” Forest whistled under his breath. “You do the whole salt pillar thing too?”
Connor ignored him for long enough Forest was beginning to wonder if he’d somehow offended him. Sighing, Con gripped the steering wheel tight enough to turn his knuckles white and then let go, sliding his hands down to rest in his lap.
“I’ve got to talk to you. Before we go out there. Before—shit—before everything.” Dire wasn’t a word Forest thought of often, but a tint of it was in Connor’s voice as he spoke. “We need to talk. Well, I need to talk and then see how you’re feeling. I hadn’t planned on everyone being here, so I’m sorry we’re not going to have the privacy I’d wanted.”
“And not like you can drive away. We’ve been seen.” Forest eyed the milling small crowd. “They could break out the pitchforks at any time. I guess that’s your family.”
“Not even half of them,” Con drawled. “That’s my mum. She’s going to take over your life. Whether you want her to or not. She scares the fuck out of Miki, and that’s no mean feat. He’s not someone easily shaken. The other two are my brothers, Kane and Riley. Kiki, you know.”
“And they’re here, why?” He cocked his head, taking a quick glance out of the window.
“Because you’re not going to stay here. The place is unstable, and I think someone’s trying to kill you.” Connor’s words shocked him, driving Forest into a stunned silence, and what followed did nothing to help his nerves. “And we need to talk about you and… me.”
“Yeah, I’m getting a bit confused—”
“You and me both,” Connor muttered.
“You’re straight—”
“I’m… exploring that.” The man shrugged, then turned to face him. “Forest, I need you to listen. Because what I’m going to tell you… what I’m going to ask you is going to be hard. Can you do that? Just hear me out?”
“Yeah, sure.” He nodded and tried to dismiss the fact Connor’s family hovered outside, their eyes glancing curiously toward the Hummer with every passing moment. “But you kissed me, right? I didn’t read that wrong.”
“No, you got that part right. Hell, probably the only part of this that’s right.” Con rubbed at his face for a moment, then reached for Forest’s hands.
Con’s hands were warm, warmer than his own, and practically engulfed Forest’s long fingers. Still, they felt good, and Forest bit his lip before saying, “Okay. Shoot. What’s up?”
“I’ve never dated a man. Hell, I’ve never even really accepted I’ve looked at men. These past couple of weeks—with what’s happened to you—it’s changed….” He exhaled, and his grip tightened. “I got scared when the wall fell in. Like I’ve never been scared before. All of a sudden, me being—loving another man—didn’t seem like such a big fucking deal. It didn’t scare me as much as me finding you dead. Because that’s what terrified me. That I’d find you under all of those bricks, and I wouldn’t have the chance to tell you—I wanted you. I want you. In my life. However I can get that. I don’t know.”
“But you’re straight.” Forest blinked, unable to process what Connor was telling him. “You—fuck. Dude, you said—Con….”
“I know what I said. And that’s why I wanted to talk to you. Because things haven’t really changed as much as I’ve got to man up and accept who I am. Who I want to love. Shit, it changes how the world sees me, but I’ve got to be honest and say, it shouldn’t change who I am.” Connor’s blue eyes were bright, shimmering in the pale, watery light. “I don’t know you as well as I should. Hell, you don’t know me as well as I’d like. But there’s something about you that sticks with me. You make me want to be brave enough to cross this line and say I want to love a man. The question here is, will you let me have that chance?”
“So you’re gay now? Shit, that sounds… I sound stupid.” He wasn’t going to let go of Connor’s hands, but Forest didn’t know what to think. In the middle of a shit storm, he’d somehow found someplace—someone—to shelter him. But the man needed as much sheltering as Forest did, and Connor was asking Forest to be the someone to walk with him through his storms. “But you’re asking me to… dude.”
“I’m not saying I’m anything other than… well, who I should have been before. Do I like women? Yeah, some of them do it for me. It’s just that I was too fucking much of a coward to admit, some guys—you, in particular—drive me crazy too,” Connor said ruefully. “All I’m asking here is for you to just to give me a chance… that’s it. While I explore who I am. Hell, while I explore you.”