Page 3 of Kissing the Wrong Mountain Man

"Excuse me?" His deep voice cuts through the air. "I'm not gay."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Shoot. I have a few friends in the rainbow family, so I should know better. "Do you prefer the termqueer?"

A confused smile plays on his lips. "I'm not gay, and I'm not queer," he explains slowly, like I'm really messing this up.

"Uh, okay." I scramble to think of something else. "Bi? Pan?"

He lets out a rusty chuckle. "I'm like a ruler."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm straight."

"You can't be straight."

One of his thick eyebrows arches. "I…can't?"

"No." I shake my head. "Sabra told me you're…" Ugh, what word should I use? "…into men."

"Sabra? You mean, Reece's fiancée?"

"Uh, yeah. Reece's fiancée. And also your best friend since elementary school."

Those thick eyebrows dip into a deep frown. "She's not my best—I'm friends with Reece. Sabra's great, but I've only met her a few times."

"Huh?" I'm so confused. "What is going on here?"

"You tell me. I leave my cabin to attend a social event for the first time in years, and a beautiful woman appears out of nowhere and kisses me."

Did—did he just call me beautiful?

Not important. Wrong thing to be focusing on. I have to get to the bottom of this. Who did I just kiss?

"So, you're not Magnus?"

"No."

"And you're not gay?"

"Also no."

"So why did you let me kiss you?"

"Uh, hello. Because you're beautiful." His eyes lock onto mine, softened by a playful sparkle. "Apparently so beautiful even gay guys will kiss you."

I collapse onto the nearest stool, baffled. "Who—who are you then?"

Not-Magnus snags the stool next to mine and answers with a smile, "I'm Brock Palladino. And it's a pleasure to meet you…"

2

Brock

I trail off, hoping the beautiful woman who just waltzed over and locked lips with me will take the hint and offer her name.

"Schapelle," she stammers then clears her throat. "Schapelle Moore."

I find myself smiling again. Twice in one day. Just set a new record. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you,Schapelle."

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