Page 136 of How Good It Was (Excess All Areas 3)

Epilogue: ALEX

Alex King pushed his blond curls back from his face as he watched Zoe Atkins glance at the attractive server. He wasn’t surprised. The server was fucking hot. Italian, by the accent and looks. Dark hair, olive skin. If he’d gotten even the slightest whiff that the guy was anything other than heterosexual, he might have tried to have a little fun with him.

Who was he kidding? He’d already flirted with the guy, just to test the waters, but sadly, there hadn’t been a flicker of interest. And his radar was highly tuned. Years of dancing in between others’ ill-defined definitions of who he was expected to be, what person he was supposed to be sexually attracted to, and those awful years when he’d suppressed his true self had formed a well-developed set of protection skills.

He knew the risks of approaching the wrong person and had the bruises to show for it.

And he knew the risks of falling for the wrong girl—one who wouldn’t understand that while his desires opened up the number of people he could possibly be attracted to, it in no way affected his ability to be faithful.

Hence the reason he was single in a room full of couples.

As amazing as it was that Willow had arranged a surprise party for them all to celebrate their first major album release, he was stuck keeping an eye on his mum while his dad downed whiskey at Willow’s expense.

He looked around the room at his fellow Sad Fridays band mates. Matt Palmer, the band’s songwriter, bass player, and also his cousin, stood with Matt’s girlfriend, Izabel, and her brother, Luke, the band’s drummer. Willow, Luke’s girlfriend, was chatting with Alex’s brother, Ben, and Ben’s best friend, Chaya. Alex scoffed at his own choice of words.

Best friends.

Ben and Chaya were something so much deeper than best friends.

There were days he felt like shaking Ben, who, for some reason, held back from just making Chaya his. And he could see Chaya beginning to drift. Any day now, he expected her to stop waiting for Ben. Especially if Ben didn’t get his head out of his own arse and confess what Alex suspected to be his real feelings.

Jase and his girlfriend, Cerys, sat with Zoe. Cerys was signing to ensure Zoe was included in the conversation. He’d learned a few phrases. After all, with Jase as his housemate, and Cerys and Zoe living a few doors down on the same street, they were often at each other’s houses. But his repertoire was limited to the basics. Hello. How are you? Want a drink? He’d also learned that facial expression was critical in demonstrating the tone of British Sign Language.

Cerys and Jase stood to go and talk to Nan and Alex’s parents, leaving Zoe alone. She checked her phone, then glanced back at the server.

Alex slid into the chair next to her and waited for Zoe to look at him. “Go talk to him.” He enunciated each word clearly and pointed subtly from her to the server. He’d learned that in a one-on-one conversation with her, through hearing aids and lip reading, she could catch about half of what he said. He hoped the hand gestures and short sentences did the rest.

If he couldn’t have any fun with the server, there was no point in Zoe missing out.

Zoe rolled her eyes. “And why would I want to do that?” Because she’d lost her hearing in her early twenties, she could speak clearly.

“You’re watching him.”

She leaned back in her chair, folded her arms, and shook her head. “Isn’t he more your style?”

Alex grinned. “Yes. But he’s straight.”

Her eyes narrowed as she looked at his lips, and a line of concentration appeared at the bridge of her nose.

“I’m not his type,” he said, hoping the words might be easier to understand.

“Ah.”

“Seriously. You should go introduce yourself. I’ve known you for months and you’ve not even been on a date in that time.”

“I’m assuming that was about my recent dating habits.” Zoe took a sip of wine.

“It was.”

“I don’t need a matchmaker, Alex.”

“I think you do.”

She shook her head. “The only benefit of going deaf was not having to listen to all the men I met on those goddamn awful dating apps drone on about how great they were. I don’t need a boyfriend.”

“Who said anything about a boyfriend? Hook ups. An amazing night of sex with a complete stranger. No strings attached.”

While she huffed at his answer, he could see the flash of something pretty fucking close to interest in her eyes.

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