Page 4 of Home Grown Talent

“It’s not weird,” Owen said. “Of course I feel awkward about it.”

“About what?”

Owen threw up his hands in exasperation. “Finding him attractive!”

“Why would you feel awkward about that?” Lewis asked, seeming genuinely bewildered. “Mason’s gorgeous—not as gorgeous as Aaron, of course—” He broke off when Aaron scoffed at this, diving at him and planting a noisy kiss on his lips.

“Oh my God, can you leave each other alone for five minutes,” Owen begged, covering his eyes.

Eventually, Lewis came back up for air. “Sorry,” he said, laughing. “What was I saying? Oh yeah, you fancy Mason—so what? I don’t care. The reason I made the crack about love heart eyes wasn’t because of my history with him. It’s just… it’s not often I see you look at someone, you know, like that.”

“I didn’t look at him like anything,” Owen grumbled, but his face was hot.

Lewis shrugged. “Fine, have it your way,” he said. “All I’m saying is I didn’t think Mason Nash was your type.”

“He’s not my type.” That much was certainly true.

Lewis bumped him with his shoulder, hard. “Then why have you gone bright red?”

Groaning, Owen sighed. “Look, okay, I’m attracted to him. Strongly attracted, if you must know. But you’re right. He really isn’t my type.”

“Your type being what? Very earnest eco-warriors capable of boring a man to death in five seconds flat?”

“Michelle was not an eco-warrior.”

“She was boring, though. It’s okay, you can admit it now. So was Eddie. In fact, he was worse.”

Owen rolled his eyes. This was an old argument, but he was happy to be back on safer ground. “I happen to prefer partners who can hold an actual conversation and don’t spend their whole life primping and preening in front of a mirror.”

“In fairness, Mason doesn’t do that as much as you might think.” Lewis cocked his head. “He is obsessed with celebrity culture though. He’d go to the opening of a fucking envelope if he thought he’d get papped.”

“Lewis,” Aaron broke in patiently. “Do you think you should maybe leave Owen alone now? You’ve hounded him enough.”

“Fine,” Lewis said, holding up his hands. “I’ll say no more.” He frowned. “Except for one last thing—”

Aaron groaned, but Lewis turned determinedly to Owen. “For the record, I have zero problem with you going out with any of my exes. If you want to go on a date with any of them—or hell, have sex with them while hanging naked from a chandelier—just go for it.” He shrugged. “It’s no skin off my nose. I’ve got Aaron now.”

Flatly, Aaron said, “How romantic. I feel positively swept off my feet.”

Which prompted Lewis to dive at him again and Aaron to fall backward, shrieking with laughter.

As Owen eyed them, tussling, he turned over Lewis’s words. The truth was, Mason was the only one of Lewis’s exes that Owen had been attracted to this strongly. In a way that had him googling the guy and looking at his pictures online…

Ugh. Frankly, his own behaviour freaked him out. He still squirmed at the memory. But secretly? He knew why he’d done it. He knew what it was about Mason that had caught his eye. Because yeah, there was something Mason—and Michelle and a few other of Owen’s exes—shared. Something that Owen saw behind those eyes as Mason postured in his bratty-charming way.

Yeah, there was something about that spoiled poutiness that punched every single one of Owen’s buttons.

When Lewis finally sat up again, he said, “I’m not saying you should ask Mason out, by the way.”

“I wasn’t planning to,” Owen replied drily. “Fancying him is not the same as wanting a relationship with him.”

Lewis cocked a sceptical eyebrow. “Good, because Mason’s a terrible bet for a relationship, but he could be good fun if you just wanted to scratch an itch one night, sow a wild oat…”

“Even if I wanted something like that, which I don’t, it wouldn’t be with Mason Nash—Jesus, Lew, it’s not as though he’d be interested in me in a million years.”

“Why wouldn’t he be interested in you?” Lewis echoed disbelievingly. “You’re good company, funny, kind, reliable, and handsome—what’s not to like?” He grinned. “You’re basically me without all the horrible personality traits.”

Owen rolled his eyes. “Please,” he said. “No one would call me handsome next to you.”