Page 83 of We Were Never Lovers
Ben looked between them, his expression unchanged. “Yeah, like you live together.”
“Nah, like,” Sean reached up and clasped Jack’s shoulder, squeezing gently as he stroked his thumb up his neck. “Like, we’re together. A couple. A gay couple.”
“You guys are gay?” Ben asked, his voice going right up at the end. “Like, both of you?”
Jack snorted a laugh like he couldn’t help himself.
“Yeah, like both of us,” Sean said, annoyed and took his hand back. “How would we be together if only one of us was gay, dumbass?”
“Well, I dunno, it’s just a lot to take in. One of you bein’ gay would be a lot, but both of you?” Ben replied, eyes wide as he looked between them.
“Course it’s both of us if we’re together,” Sean said.
Ben whistled. “Shit, eh. Does anyone know?”
“You,” Sean said, “you know. We’re tellin’ ya right now.”
“Oh, wow,” Ben said. “That’s cool, eh?” But he still looked shocked.
“Is it?” Sean asked, a challenge in his voice. He knew Ben would be cool, but he needed to hear it, really hear it.
“Yeah, man, course,” Ben said. “Sorry, I’m just tryin’ to make sense of it. So like, you’ve always been gay?”
“Yeah, born this way or whatever,” Sean replied.
“Oh fuck,” Ben said like he was in another conversation. “Were you together when you had your accident? Since when were you together?”
“Since I moved in with my boyfriend,” Sean rolled his eyes.
“Before that,” Jack said looking at Sean. “Two years before you got hurt.”
“Since the locker room? You count that?” Sean asked.
“Well, yeah,” Jack nodded. “‘Cos then you texted and stuff. And we went on that date.”
“What date?” Sean would remember a date.
“At the beach,” Jack replied.
“Fish and chips at the beach is not a date. And if you’re counting it from when we kissed, then it should be our first kiss which was when we were seventeen,” Sean countered.
“Well, I would’ve been happy to count it from then, but you cracked the shits for eight years and didn’t tell me why, so,” he shrugged, genuinely put upon and God, Sean loved the shit out of him.
“You guys got together when we were seventeen?” Ben asked.
Sean squeezed Jack’s hand under the table. “Kinda.”
Jack smiled at him and leaned over, like he didn’t give a shit about Ben in front of them and Sean met him—it was a quick kiss and they were both smiling too much for it to go anywhere.
Ben cleared his throat.
“Like we don’t put up with you and Lara making out all the time,” Sean said.
“Hey, I ain’t got a problem with it, just don’t want you to forget I’m here.”
Sean snorted. “So, we cool?”
“Yeah, asshole, as if I’d give a shit, I just don’t get why you never told me before.”
