Out!: The Shamwell Tales, Book 3 by JL Merrow

Author:JL Merrow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Gay;m/m;British;English;village;Shamwell;disability;charity;age gap;May-December;coming out;social conscience;tax
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Published: 2016-01-18T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

“Oi, you’re never gonna guess who I was talking to last night,” Lex said on getting into the office Thursday morning.

Patrick looked up from his paperwork. “Simon Cowell. He wants to turn you into the next Britney Spears.”

Lex stuck a finger up and swivelled it gently. “Nope. Your bloke’s daughter. She went along to theatre group last night, and we got talking.” Lex hopped onto Patrick’s desk and sat there, New Rock boots swinging. Not the sort of thing Patrick would be caught dead in, but they looked wicked cool on Lex. “And you’re not gonna believe what we was talking about.”

“Go on then, try me.”

“Well, see, Fen—she’s really sweet, ain’t she?—she’s not s’posed to know her dad’s queer, right? ’Cept she was telling me all about how there’s this bloke he likes. This younger bloke he likes.” Patrick tried not to let the jolt that had just run through him show as Lex paused to give him a significant look. “And she dun’t know whether to tell him she knows, that’s her dad I mean, ’cos she reckons he’s trying to keep it all a big secret, ’cos he thinks she’s like five years old or something.”

“You talked about all this at theatre group?” he managed. It was daft—he knew Mark liked him. Hearing it confirmed shouldn’t affect him like this. Not at all.

“Nah, we went to the caff for bean burgers after. She ain’t even veggie, but she din’t wanna eat meat in front of me—din’t I tell you she’s sweet? But anyway, point is, she’s not gonna have a strop about him being gay ’cos she already knows and she’s cool with it.”

“So did you tell her to tell him?”

Lex shrugged. “Din’t know what to say, did I? I mean, usually it’s the other way round, innit? Parents what know their kid’s gay and don’t know whether to say nothing. And then, they always say, like on the Internet and stuff, that the parents oughta wait for the kids to say something first. But I din’t know whether that’s a rule, like, it’s the kids who get to bring it up whatever, or if it’s the gay person who gets to. Plus, I dunno, you reckoned he was right in the closet, yeah? So what if he’s the one having the strop if she goes and says she’s all right with him being gay? So anyway, I thought it’d be safest if you said it.”

Patrick rolled his eyes. “Right, ’cos that couldn’t possibly go wrong.”

“What? Why would it go wrong?”

“You never heard of shooting the messenger? That’s even if he doesn’t jump to the conclusion I’m the one who’s outed him.” His eyes narrowed. “So what exactly did you tell her about me?”

Lex looked hurt. “Nuffing! Din’t even tell her I knew who she was talking about. It was all hyper-fetticals. No names mentioned on either side. I mean, when she first brung it up, I thought maybe it was ’cos she knew I knew you,

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