Page 48 of The Himbo and the Lord

“You couldn’t have known. No worries, mate.” Carter smiles kindly at him and I just... can’t hate the guy. There’s just no way. “So, what’s your life’s story, Noah?” Carter asks and steers the conversation along.

He sends Ru a pointed look even as he pays close attention to everything coming out of Noah’s mouth, and I decide that Carter’s gonna be the second friend I make in Oxford.

Ru and I are mostly silent throughout the meal, Noah’s and my spice competition forgotten, and we pay attention to our friends, laughing at the appropriate moments. Carter does his best to get us talking too, but all he manages to get out of me is that I’m here for my masters before I realize I have no clue whether saying anything about our time in Australia is something Ru would want.

And he stays silent and stoic the whole time. There’s no real way of knowing what’s going on in Ru’s head.

Fuck, he has to think I’m a stalker, right?

I can’t let him think that.

And since I don’t intend to make this our last meeting, I just go for it as soon as I’ve paid the bill—something only Carter protested about.

“Ru, can I please get your number?” I plead without shame even before we stand.

“I don’t?—”

“Just your number,” I interrupt, and don’t even care that it sounds like I’m begging, because I am. “I want a chance to apologize. For real this time.” I look him straight in the eyes while I make my case so he can see the truth in them. “Please just give me your number. Let me try to convince you to go out on a date with me.”

The way he winces and looks around as if everyone in the restaurant is listening in tells me all I need to know.

He’s not out, and that’s something I’ll have to live with.

Something I’m pretty sure Icanlive with.

“Come on, Ru. Just give the poor guy your number,” Carter pipes in, and though I don’t appreciate his tone, I am thankful for his words when Ru sighs like a man defeated.

Then he gives me his number.

And that’s the only thread of hope I needed.

CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE

Ru

“Well,he doesn’tseemlike an arsehole,” Carter says as we walk back towards his parents’ house, or rather his house now.

“No,” I answer slowly, thinking about it all. It’s true he didn’t, today, and he did genuinely seem to want to apologise. But him being here in the UK, in Oxford ... I can’t quite get my head round that. He said he was trying to find me. To apologise? That’s a long way to come, and it seems strange. No, it seems kind of wonderful, really.

He said he moved here to study statistics, or whatever. I was only half listening because I was in shock. I still am.

“Are you going to go on a date with him, then?” Carter asks as we reach his house.

I run my hands through my hair. “That’s a problem.”

“You don’t want to?” Carter frowns and I know what he’s thinking. It’s not that at all.

“It’s just my father, if he ever found out . . .”

“Ru, I get it, but you can’t live your life like this. You’re going to have to stand up to him at some point. I know his stance on his lineage.” He grimaces because he’s heard it enough from me. “But seriously, would he disown you if he knew the truth? If he does, then the line will definitely end with him. Is he willing to go to those lengths?”

He has a point, but still, I’m not sure I can take the risk. Maybe if I get him used to the idea, eventually.

He sees me hesitate and pulls me in for a hug.

“Just give it some thought, and if you need me, I’ll be here for a month.”

I squeeze him and whisper my thanks before releasing him. Then I remember why he’s here and feel bad that I haven’t supported him.

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