Page 19 of Cross the Line

“You don’t need to answer that,” Charlie tells him.

“Why are you being weird? It’s not like—” Charlie elbows Andrew so hard in the stomach he wheezes, his eyes darting towards Alec and widening in realization. “Right. Don’t answer, Alec.”

“Why is everyone being weird?” Jason asks.

“I haven’t ever had sex,” Alec yells, bits of egg flying off the spatula and through the air when he spins. “And now all of you are going to shut up and eat your breakfast, and I don’t want to hear a single word about sex or ass or play dough. You got it?”

All three of the King brothers nod, looking thoroughly chastised. They might all be older and taller and bigger than Alec, but it’s clear who is in charge. It’s also clear that the topic of conversation has rattled Alec.

“I’m going for a run,” Alec mumbles, struggling to undo the bow on his apron.

“Let me,” Theo says, unsure why he’s the first one across the room to undo the bow. He skims his fingers over Alec’s lower back, noticing how soft his bare skin is while the words ‘I haven’t had sex’ sear themselves in Theo’s brain. Of all the things he expected to hear, learning Alexander King was a virgin was not on the list.

He should hurry and undo Alec’s apron but he doesn’t, fingering the worn cotton tie before Theo gives the bow a final tug and lets it fall open.

“Thanks,” Alec says, cheeks unnaturally pink when he turns to face Theo and pulls the apron off. “There’s uh, coffee in the pot and your omelet is on the stove. You’ve been here a million times so you know where the plates are.”

“Thank you, Alec.”

“Uh-huh, don’t worry about it.” Alec turns, slipping his socked feet into his sneakers before pulling on the hoodie thrown over the back of Charlie’s chair. It’s easily three sizes too big on him and obviously not his.

“You already ran nine miles this morning, Ally. Rest.”

Alec ignores him, all but darting out of the room. Judging by the looks on everyone else’s faces, they’re as confused as Theo. Well, except for Charlie, who just looks sad.

“Does anyone know what just happened?” Jason asks when the front door slams.

Andrew shrugs, taking the unwanted protein shake and sipping at it. “Maybe Alec was embarrassed.”

“Alec doesn’t get embarrassed,” Theo says.

“Or maybe none of you know Alec like you think you do.” Charlie’s tone might be easy, there's something sharp in it, too. He’s not wrong. Theo doesn’t know Alec, not like his brother does. If Andrew or Jason pick up on the double edge, they don’t say anything. At least not about that.

“What I want to know is, why did Charlie know Alec was a virgin and we didn’t?” Jason asks.

“Because Andrew doesn’t like talking about sex and you have a big mouth,” Charlie says.

Andrew nods. “That’s true.”

“Yeah, I would’ve told Theo,” Jason agrees, using his own fork to sneak a bite off Charlie’s plate.

“See,” Charlie hisses. “And stop stealing my pancakes or I’ll stab you with my fork.”

“No, you won't. You're a pacifist.”

“I’m anti-war and anti-capitalist, not anti-stopping my idiot brother from stealing my blueberry pancakes.”

“Just make more.”

“You make more.”

“I can’t cook.”

“Neither can I.”

“Then who taught Alec?” Theo wonders, unprepared for three people to turn and stare at him again.

“Abuela,” Charlie answers. “When Alec went vegetarian, she was afraid he might starve to death, so she started learning to cook more things without lard and meat for him, and I guess he wanted to learn. You know how hard it was for her the last few years with her weakness. She couldn’t cook anymore, so she’d tell Alec what to do and he did it for her. She even taught him her secret recipe for mole.”

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