Page 13 of Locking Down Qetesh

"Would you be able to tell if I did?"

"Of course. I'm ace, not clueless," he said. "What about you?"

I froze. "What?"

He gave me a curious look. "Are you okay?"

I opened my mouth, but the words got stuck in my throat. I wasn't even sure precisely what I wanted to say to him. Did I want to brush him off again? Or tell him that it was complicated when it really wasn't?

Or did I want to tell him the truth? It didn't mean anything if I did, it was just that he was one of the first people I'd spoken to who might actually understand what was going on in my head. Or not the first, but the first I actually knew for sure would understand.

The starters arrived, cutting through my thoughts, but not alleviating the concerned expression on Jacob's face.

"I feel the same," I blurted out the moment the waitress left.

"About not being clueless?" he asked.

I took a deep breath. I could still change the topic of conversation, but maybe for the first time, I didn't want to. "About being ace," I said softly.

Surprise crossed his face, but it disappeared quickly. "That makes a lot of sense, actually."

"It does?" There was no hiding the panic in my voice.

"Don't worry, not to anyone who isn't paying attention," he said quickly. "It's just how you've been reacting to certain statements. And why you knew about my ring."

I took a deep breath. "Yeah. Well, people don't know."

"I figured you're not out." He picked up one of his battered prawns and dipped it in some sauce, reminding me that I was supposed to be eating my starter.

"I've never told anyone," I said. "It felt like it had to be this big secret."

"Thank you for telling me," he said, offering me a genuine smile. "Do you want to keep talking about it?"

I shook my head. "Maybe another time. If that's okay? But not now. Not here."

"Of course."

"Thank you." I smiled.

"So, how did you meet my sister?" he asked. "I'm curious now."

"Oh, that's a tale as old as time, at least for dryads. I'd just moved here, and I was looking for a new plant for my greenhouse. I searched for a nearby nursery and found your sister's. I only went in for one thing, but I spent hours there after we bonded over a calla lily."

He laughed. "That is very Ella."

"Now that I know her better, I know that's true," I said. "We kept talking about plants, I bought a few more, she looked after my plants while I went back to Egypt for a few weeks, and then she came to one of my Lock and Key parties and met Nadia. The rest, you've pretty much surmised."

He nodded. "She could have told me that she met her fiancée at a party run by a goddess. Or by Jinx."

"She probably just didn't think to mention it," I said. "She never told me your name either. You were just the mysterious brother."

"I should be glad she didn't refer to me as Captain Snowpants."

I raised an eyebrow. "You have to know how many questions that raises."

"When I was ten, I got these pyjamas with snowflakes on them for Christmas. We barely even celebrate, but I loved them and refused to take them off for a week."

I wrinkled my nose. "Not great."

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