Page 41 of Thrill

“I don’t even know if that’s what I want.”

“You do. Ever since Holly, you’ve wanted that.”

She had to bring that name up. “Yeah, and that went amazingly well, didn’t it?”

Lisa sat at the table and slid a glass over to Danny like a wild west bartender. He took a sip and winced.

“That isn’t Malibu and milk.”

“I put a nip of your dad’s whiskey in to give it bite. Don’t tell him,” she said. “What happened with Holly wasn’t your fault. I’ve told you before. She couldn’t handle the truth. I never liked her anyway.”

“Mum, you used to go for facials together. Anyway, we’ve been through all this a million times.”

She took hold of his hand. “My darling, we’ve had our bad times. Losing the business. You being left at the altar.”

Danny frowned. “It was three months before the wedding.”

“Even so,” she said. “Stupid girl. I was proud of you for telling her.”

Danny took another large swig. It tasted like shit but he needed fortification. “Yeah, I didn’t expect her to broadcast it to the world, did I? Danny Healy likes men.”

“And women. She’s old-fashioned. Imagine living in bloody Brighton and acting like something from the eighties.”

When Holly had announced his bisexuality at a family dinner, she had done so to hurt him. It had backfired spectacularly when his family had rallied round him. It still brought a tear to his eye when he thought about it.

“Darling, you’ve put your life on hold and helped us for years. Don’t think I’m not grateful and guilty in equal measures. It’s time for you to be a bit selfish. If this man puts a smile on your face, then he’s good enough for me.”

Danny found himself admitting more to his mother than he’d done to himself.

“There’s no point. He’s spelt it all out for me.”

“That’s what he says now,” she replied, taking a sip of her drink and grimacing. “That tastes like shit.”

“What do you mean? The bit about what he says now?”

“We’re not always honest with our feelings, love. If you play it right, I reckon he’ll change his mind.”

Perhaps he should bide his time and see what happened.

“Thanks, Mum. Hey, why don’t we go down the pub too? Anything’s better than this stuff.”

“Cheeky sod,” she said, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek. “You’re buying.”

The next morning, Danny woke to Ben’s snoring. He glared across at his brother, a huge mound in the spare bed that Danny usually used to lay his clothes out on.

His head was thumping. They had drunk enough at the pub to make his mother’s cocktails more palatable. When they’d got home, the party had carried on.

It had been fun.

He reached over for his phone. It had just gone nine. It felt like another warm day and he had no plans. Perfect Sunday conditions.

His heart jolted when he saw a message from an unknown number.

“Thank you for my first lesson, sex coach. I very much enjoyed myself!”

It had come in an hour ago. Of course, Tyler was up. He’d probably fully kitted out his bedroom, baked a cake and been for a jog.

He remembered what his mother had said the night before. Maybe he needed to have a bit more confidence in himself.