Page 41 of The Making of Jonty Bloom
“Oh God. I should have known you were the sort of guy who could tell red from red. Sorry. It was the only bottle open and I didn’t want to risk opening another.”
“Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”
“I had no idea.” Jonty ran the last few metres down onto the sand and Devan followed.
The almost-deserted beach was beautiful, the sky cloudless, though a cold wind was whipping off the sea. He kept thinking about Jonty not knowing where his parents were. What had happened? Should he ask? Would he tell him?If all I’m interested in is a quick fuck, why do I want to know?
“How old are you?” Devan asked.
“How old do you think I am?”
“Twenty?”
“Twenty-five. “
Still young.
“What about you?” Jonty asked. I’m guessing…forty-five?”
Devan glared.
“Fifty-one, then? Not fifty-two!”
“Thirty-five.”
“Oops.”
“Good thing I know you’re joking. Do you have brothers and sisters?”
“A sister. Ihada sister. I haven’t seen her since I was eight. She…won’t remember me.”
What?Devan felt as if he were slowly being fed clues to Jonty’s background and he wasn’t liking the picture he was getting. “I have two brothers and two sisters.”
“Wow, that’s a big family. Are you the oldest?”
“I’m in the middle. My sisters are older, my brothers younger.”
“Are your parents okay about you being gay?”
“They are now. I told them when I was thirteen. They weren’t thrilled. My father was quicker to accept than my mother. My brother, Griff, told them he was bi when he was nineteen. I remember…”
I don’t want to remember.
“You don’t want to remember?”
Devan gave a short laugh. “Not really. My announcement was greeted with silence followed by me being sent to bed.”
“With no supper?”
“How did you guess?”
“You hadsad little boywritten all over you when you told me that. I’m really glad I made you the meal last night now. I might have sent you tumbling back into trauma.”
“I was more traumatized by the way my mother opened a bottle of champagne when Griff announced he was bi.”
“I assume because that meant there was still hope he’d find a wife and produce grandkids.”
“I feel sorry for those who are bi. They have a hard time convincing people they’re not having their cake and eating it.”
