Page 75 of Love You Like That (Excess All Areas 4)

“I couldn’t catch everything he said, because his words are slurry, he was remarkably hard to lipread.”

“Well, I’m not repeating that shit.”

“I caught enough.” Zoe placed her arms around his hips. “And I don’t want to hear the rest. It’s awful you had to grow up around that homophobia. It’s a shame.”

“What is?”

“That he doesn’t see how special you are.”

He dipped to kiss her forehead, feeling a safety in her arms that he wasn’t used to. Was it possible that home, a safe place, wasn’t bricks and mortar, but just the arms of someone who loved you fully, who accepted you? As a pansexual person, he sometimes felt he didn’t fit in anywhere. Wasn’t straight enough to pass, not gay enough to fit in. Didn’t dress typically male but identified as one. “Let’s have a cuppa.”

“So, how did the two of you get together?” his mum asked once they had steaming mugs of tea.

“I bet Zoe I could hook her up with a guy.”

His mum’s eyes widened. “Oh my god. One of these days you are going to place a bet you shouldn’t. You bet her and then kept her for yourself?”

Zoe laughed. “I like to think it’s because he was doing such a terrible job of finding someone for me that he got desperate to win at any costs.”

Alex glanced at her. “No offence, Rocky, but you made it pretty difficult. She had all these rules. No preppy boys. No beards. Anyone in polo shirts or khaki pants. No guys who wore dress shoes without socks.”

Zoe pointed up and down his body. “And yet…you are none of those things. You could have found me someone like you.”

Alex cupped his mug of tea. “Perhaps it was some divine plan all along.”

“Sweet talker.”

He winked at her then turned back to his mum. “Where do you want this bookshelf?”

“Oh, just the second bedroom. I’ve put a little chair in there and thought I’d make a little library nook for when your dad is watching TV. Figured I could go in there and get a little peace instead of sitting in here.”

“That sounds perfect. Is it still in your car?” Alex gulped his tea, wincing as the heat burned his tongue.

“Yeah. A nice man in the IKEA car park helped me get it in.”

“Need a hand?” Zoe asked.

“I’ll shout if I need you.”

“Good luck with that,” she said, pointing to her hearing aids.

“Shit. Sorry. That was totally insensitive.”

“It happens. It was funny.”

He touched her cheek. “Yeah, but I need to try harder to not be an accidental dick.”

Two hours later, they stood in a large vacant building near Platt Fields Park.

“What do you think?” Alex said, looking at the functional but sad looking space. Litter collected in the corners. A window had been broken and there were signs that someone had been living in it.

Zoe walked on ahead of him. “It has good bones. Needs work.” She turned to face him. “But definitely has potential.”

Alex looked up at the exposed metal frames. “I like that it’s a long space. We can put music at one end.”

“That end,” Zoe said, pointing toward the east end of the building. “You’ll want to leave that little kitchen area, then build out sinks along this wall for play clean up. Big sinks. To wash kids and supplies. I wouldn’t want water near any of my instruments.”

“Your instruments?”

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