Page 83 of The Science of Attraction

Connor smirked. “A lot better than me, but I got a solid kick to the ringleader’s nuts, so it’s not all bad.”

Dear God.I shot Norma an apologetic look, but she waved it away and Paddy simply snorted in amusement. I had to give it to my nephew. He was playing the older man just right. I’d seriously underestimated his people skills.

“Wha’d ya d-do?” Paddy pressed, indicating his eye, and then pointing at Connor’s.

Jules’ concerned gaze shot to mine, and I was right there with him.

I won’t lie about what happened or why.

Connor squared on to Paddy and answered evenly, “I stood up for a kid being bullied and they didn’t like it.”

Paddy considered that for a moment, then asked, “Why being b-b-bullied?”

I almost smiled, because although slow and still halting at times, Paddy’s speech was definitely improving.

“Because he’s gay,” Connor said simply and with a somewhat defiant look in his eyes. “And because those idiots are arseholes.”

Goddammit. And here we go.I held my breath, my eyes locked on Paddy’s face, ready to stand up for my nephew as the entire valley seemed to fall silent at his words—all but the rushing of the river, and the high-pitchedkek-kek-kekof a falcon circling somewhere overhead.

Norma sat back on her heels, her gaze steady on her husband, but it was difficult to tell what was going through Paddy’s head. His eyes flicked to me, then back to Connor, and then he very carefully asked, “You... gay t-toooo?”

I could see Jules readying himself to step in, but Connor had this.

“No,” Connor replied, straightening his shoulders. “Just being a decent human being.”

I saw Norma smother a smile and I figured we’d pushed our luck as far as we could go. “I think that’s our cue to leave.” I clapped my nephew on the shoulder. “We have a lot to talk about.” I caught Jules’ eye and added, “I’ll call you when we’re done.” Then I steered Connor toward my cottage, feeling the heat of Paddy’s gaze on our backs the whole way.

Connor’s story was short and painful, and while my heart squeezed for him, I was also damn proud to call him my nephew. The cowardly group of four bullies had cornered him in the car park and taunted him, at the same time offering him a chance to escape the beating if he joined their campaign against James instead. That told me the fuckers knew damn well Connor wasn’t gay, which only further pissed me off.

Connor refused, of course, countering with an offer for them to suck his dick and then he might think about not reporting them. It was all I could do not to high-five my nephew until I remembered his black eye and bruising and almost cried instead. His inflammatory offer sparked a much more intense beating, and he was left bloodied and bruised on the pavement.

I was so incensed I could barely speak, but I eventually summoned enough self-control to ask about his schoolwork and how he was finding the change to studying from home. That, at least, seemed to be working. But as for the bullying? Intimidation had moved into unequivocal assault, which only reinforced that it was time for the police.

The idea naturally horrified Connor, but when we videoed Bron into the discussion, he surprisingly didn’t fight us too hard. He even gave the names of a couple of guys he’d seen leaving the car park who might’ve witnessed what happened. He held it together pretty well as we talked, but toward the end and in spite of all his bravado, Connor was shaking like a leaf. I pulled him into another hug, and he melted against me, with Bron looking on as if she wanted to crawl through the screen.

We ended the call with my sister heading off to phone the Dunedin police while I checked Connor over and catalogued his injuries. They included grazed hands, torn nails, a black eye, and a wealth of bruises. His ribs also appeared bruised rather than broken, which was a relief. I took a ton of photos and sent them through to Bron to forward to the police. She called back not long after.

The police officer wanted to set up a video call with Connor that afternoon in order to get his statement, although he warned Bron that Connor might also need to visit the Oakwood police station and possibly their medical centre as well. He’d let us know once he’d talked with Connor.

It was almost lunch by the time I was able to bring Jules up to speed. He said he’d meet us in the kitchen at lunch, and after reminding Connor once again to keep quiet about our relationship, I took a deep breath and herded my nephew out of the cottage and up the drive toward the big house.

CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE

Jules

Connor wasa great deal like his uncle, in attitude if not looks, and he managed to hold his own at the lunch table with a bunch of adult men who were all curious about the state of his face. Being the nosey straight-talking buggers that they were, there was no pussyfooting around.

“Man, that’s an impressive shiner,” were the first words out of Stuart’s mouth the minute they’d been introduced.

Tennyson took one look, bit back a smile, grabbed an ice pack from the freezer in the mudroom, and handed it to Connor. “Slap that on it.”

Connor did as he was told while Ten, Stuart, and Brent peppered him with questions as they piled fixings on their sandwiches and made one for Connor as well. In under ten minutes, they’d managed to get the whole story out of him while Liam watched on with a decidedly mother-hen manner that I kind of loved.

Halfway through the meal, Ten asked Connor to lift the ice pack so he could take another look. He probed gently at the impressive swelling and muttered, “Reminds me of the belter you got going toe to toe with that shearer, Jules, remember? You wore the bruises for a week. Zach was still a teenager. Not that any of us knew he was gay back then.”

It was like a hand grenade had been dropped in the middle of the room and I stared at Ten, wondering what the hell he thought he was doing.

“Ten,” I warned, but he merely raised a brow and reached for another sandwich.

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