Page 29 of Forgiven

Dylan motioned towards the rest of the crowded coffee shop. “There’s what? Over a dozen women in here?”

Callum hadn’t counted, but there had to be at least that many. The coffee shop wasn’t big, but it was packed.

“Do you fancy every single one of them?”

“No.”

“Do you fancyanyof them?”

Callum took his time looking from one woman to the next. “No, not really.”

“But you’re into women, right?” Dylan asked.

“Yes.”

“Being a straight guy doesn’t mean you automatically have a sexual attraction to everyone with breasts. Being a gay guy doesn’t meanIwant to screw every guy I see.” His lips quirked up into a naughty smile. “Just a lot of them.” He leaned a little closer. “And being bi doesn’t mean you fancy everything that walks. Maybe you just haven’t met a guy that you felt an attraction for until now.”

Callum swallowed. “You think I’m bisexual?”

“Uh, yeah.”

Callum stared past Dylan out the window at the front of the shop to the busy street beyond.

“My first crush was on a boy at school,” Dylan said, seemingly out of the blue. “Jordan Harper.” He sighed, dreamily. “He was super cute. A little nerdy. Very scrawny. He wore glasses and had the most adorable smile. It made me weak in the knees every single time.”

“Did he know how you felt?”

Dylan shook his head. “Nah. It took me a while to figure out it was a crush, and by the time I was sure I was into him, I moved schools.”

Callum frowned. “I’m sorry.”

Dylan shrugged. “It was ages ago. It’s not like I got my heart broken or anything.”

“Did you move around a lot?”

Dylan sat straighter, tension making his body rigid. “No. It was just that once.”

Callum stared at him thoughtfully. He knew when he was being bullshitted, but he let it go. It was none of his business. If Dylan wanted to let him in, he would.

“Who was yours?” Dylan asked.

“My first crush?”

“Yeah. A real person, film and pop stars are not allowed.”

Callum laughed. “They’re real people too.”

“You know what I mean. Attainable people.” Dylan picked his mug up. “For what it’s worth, you have a lovely laugh. That’s not me hitting on you, I’m just pointing out a fact.”

Callum’s cheeks warmed. He distracted himself from the compliment—which had been nice to hear—by drinking his coffee. It was cool enough to gulp, which wasn’t a good thing. “Megan Smith,” he said eventually. “She was in sixth form when I was in year nine. She was really hot.”

“Look at you, liking older women. Now, I want you to think, really carefully—have youeverhad a crush on a guy before? Maybe it was just a passing moment where you thought a guy was handsome or cute.”

Callum pinched his eyebrows together as he mulled the question over. Had he? He raked through hazy memories with a fine-toothed comb.

“Maybe…” he said eventually.

“Care to share?”