Page 37 of Just Say Christmas
“Maybe I’ll meet somebody while I’m down here, who knows,” Luke said. Half of him wanted to find a way out of this, still, as if it were possible. The other half knew he had to push on through. “Since I broke up with my partner halfway through the season. Alone again, as they say.”
“Oh, no,” Nyree said. “Why didn’t you say? Well, we’ll see what we can do. Not sure who’d be your type. I don’t even know. That’s funny, isn’t it? You’re here now, anyway, and I’m a better matchmaker than Mum. It’s going to be a big wedding. Tell me who you like, and I’ll tellherwhat a good guy you are, and not to be put off by the scary appearance. How’s that?”
“Not so useful, maybe.” It was easier the second time. “It won’t be a she. It’ll be a he. I’m gay.”
20
Testing the Waters
MARKO
Marko could see Nyree absorbing the news the way she absorbed most things: from the soles of her feet on up. Nyree always seemed to exist in more dimensions than anybody else. Also, he was a lucky man. He was just going to think about that for a second, and then he’d think about Luke.
Luke Armstrong. Huh. He’d seen Luke play a game with two cracked ribs. He’d seen him dislocate a shoulder, get up under his own power, and walk to the sidelines in pain that would have had almost any other man writhing on the ground. Luke Armstrong was gay? That was going to surprise some people. Especially Luke’s father.Thatshould be interesting.
He wasn’t going to get too fussed about it, because Lukewastough. It wouldn’t be fun, but most of his teammates would probably back him up. It wasn’t the players that would be the problem, most likely. It would be the public. Positive, negative . . . just the general attention. A prop didn’t want attention. If he did, he wouldn’t be a prop.
“Oh, Wow,” Nyree said at Luke’s revelation, after which, she blinked her extravagant lashes and smiled. Joyously.
Suddenly, the kitchen was full of people. Kate in a dressing gown, and Emma in pink shorts and a little white shirt, looking extremely blonde and very pretty, followed by Will and Faith, who was wearing shortie PJs, a version of male navy and white pinstripes that somehow managed to look nothing at all like a man’s. Kate yawned, eyed Faith and Emma, and said, “Was I supposed to be looking good? Clearly yes. Geez, the pressure. Oh, well, I’m pregnant.” Which made Koti laugh and squeeze her shoulder.
Luke, meanwhile, shook hands with the newcomers, agreed that, yeh, hewashere, and otherwise looked solid, bearded, and stoical. Marko could read absolutely nothing from him. Which could mean he was nervous.
Nyree’s eyes were suspiciously bright. Wait, why? She’d been crying ever since she’d fallen pregnant, which had startled him at first, not to mention alarming him. Living with Nyree was a bit like living with a tropical cyclone, except more fun. Now, she hugged her stepbrother hard, then pulled back and said, “Thanks.”
“For what?” Luke’s expression had lightened a little, though.
“For telling me. For trusting me.That’swhy your blue’s different.”
“Pardon?” he said. “I’m not coming to the Blues.”
“No,” she said. “The color you are.”
He looked confused, and Marko said, “Seems we’re doing revelations today. She sees you in color, mate. She seeseverybodyin color. It’s a thing that happens, apparently. Of course, not to anybody but Nyree.”
“Wait,” Kate said. “I can’t keep up.” She was still fastening her dressing gown, her hair was still morning-mussed, and unless Marko was mistaken, she had some serious beard burn on her neck. Well, it had been one hell of a massage class. Whether Victoria had intended to or not, she’d delivered on that activity.
He shifted his gaze to Koti instead, since he didn’t need to be speculating about his mate’s wife. Hispregnantwife. And—whoa. Pretty Boy had something on his neck, too. Specifically, he had a love bite on there. Somebody’d done some more edging, and not the person you’d imagine.
Huh. Personally, he couldn’t possibly have waited another second, last night, to get into Nyree, and he couldn’t have done it any other way than he had. Call it “assertively.” Koti James had more patience than he did. There was a thought to give you pause.
Everybody out here, in fact, looked pretty relaxed. Everybody but Luke, that is. And possibly Caro, Tom, and Ella, who were sleeping late, he guessed. He spared a thought for Caro, too. This weekend probably hadn’t proven much fun for his sister.
The atmosphere in the kitchen, though, was almost as charged as the massage class. It was like he was nineteen again, his antennae all but quivering from the pheromones, the awareness of the sexual activity around him. Bloody awkward, and at the same time . . .
“Seriously?” Kate asked Nyree. “You see people in color? And what’s going on? I feel like I missed something.”
Nyree asked Luke, “Can I say?”
“It’s out there now,” he said, back to stoical again. Bracing himself.
She kept her arm around her brother and said, “Luke just came out. I mean,just.For the first time, at least the first time in New Zealand.” She asked him, “Is that right?”
“First time anywhere,” he said. “Other than to . . .” He cleared his throat. “Partners.”
There was a little silence, until Nyree broke it. “If anybody wants to be uncomfortable about that,” she said, as fiercely as Nyree was ever going to manage to say anything, “do it somewhere else. This is my party.” She asked Luke, before anybody could respond, “Do Mum and Grant know?”
“No,” he said, and now, he wasn’t just looking stoical. He was looking wooden. “I could wait until after the wedding’s over, if you’d rather. Could ruin it, otherwise.”
