Page 118 of Wear It Like a Crown

Leo’s voice had been hard to read, fairly neutral and too quiet to give away much. Lifting his head from Leo’s shoulder, Joshua stared at his face, tinged in gold by the low-hanging evening sun. Leo met his gaze and held it.

“I know it’s, like, weird,” Joshua began carefully. “I mean, we haven’t been together very long, and it’s kind of soon, but…”

“But we’ve already gone through more than most other couples do in years,” Leo finished for him. “Affected each other’s lives more, too.” His eyes were warm.

Joshua exhaled around the radiant glow in his veins. “Yeah. That.”

“Eloquent, little prince.” Leo combined it with a squeeze of Joshua’s hip, thumb fitting into the dip next to the bony jut. He smiled, and while it started out bright, it quickly faded into something slowerand more thoughtful. “I’d love a key,” he said quietly. “I’d also love for you to be right here with me when I call my parents.”

Joshua shifted further into Leo’s side, throwing a leg over his thighs. “You want to do it now?”

In lieu of an answer, Leo twisted his torso to grapple for his jeans that lay discarded on the floor, tugging them closer to retrieve his phone. “Slay all the dragons in one day,” he told Joshua. The faint apprehension laced into the statement made Joshua snake an arm around his waist and hold on.

“You know it could wait another day.”

“I know. But I’d rather do it now, get it over with.” Leo breathed out a half-formed sigh, and for all that his fingers tightened on Joshua’s hip, his body was still fairly relaxed.

“What if they’re sorry?” Joshua asked, breaking the silence that had enveloped them for a few moments. “What if they apologise, say they’d like you back in their life? Do you think you could…?”

He didn’t complete the thought, but he didn’t have to; Leo’s eyes were pensive when they met Joshua’s. “I don’t know,” Leo said softly. “For one, that’s a big if, and unless the last ten years have changed them… I don’t know.” Then he scoffed, the corners of his mouth turning down. “They’d probably love to take me back once they learn I’m with you. Get them a direct in to the Crown. No thanks.”

Anything Joshua could think of were harsh words about people who didn’t deserve to be parents. He choked them back down and settled for kissing the corner of Leo’s mouth, then rested his head back on his shoulder.

Chest rising with a deep intake of air, Leo brought the phone up to scroll through his emails. He selected one from Nate that contained some contact information. After another deep breath Leo dialled the number, and they both tensed as soon as it started to ring. Leo had the phone tilted at an angle that allowed Joshua to listen to each ring, count them out—one, two, three, four.

“Austin Residence,” a female voice said, smoothly professional.

Leo was silent for a beat, going still against Joshua. Then he cleared his throat, the certainty he usually possessed stripped from him. “Hi, excuse me. I’d like to speak to either Marianne or Troy, please?”

“Whom may I announce?” the woman asked.

Leo turned his head to bury his nose in Joshua’s hair, his answer slightly muffled. “Their son.”

A noticeable pause followed. Then the woman apparently regained her composure and told him to wait a moment, please; she’d be right back. In the ensuing silence, Joshua lifted his head to kiss Leo’s mouth, the tip of his nose, his cheek, peppering the line of his jaw with little pecks until Leo’s tension eased slightly and he turned his head to catch Joshua’s lips with his own.

The woman’s voice startled them apart. “I am deeply sorry,” she said, and while her tone was still professional, Joshua was close enough that he caught a hint of discomfort she couldn’t quite hide. “I’m afraid your parents are unavailable, Sir.”

Jesus fuckingChrist. Biting down on the sharp exclamation, Joshua tried to wrap himself all around Leo, breathe him in and shield him from the cool evening air, from an unaccountably cruel world. His lungs were burning.

“Are they unavailable on a permanent basis?” Leo asked, a tiny hitch in his voice.

“Unfortunately so. Should there be a problem, their lawyer will be at your service.” The woman hesitated, then added quietly, “However, if it’s of any relevance, I just thought—I heard the young misses mention their lost brother on occasion. I’m sure they would be more… receptive.”

Leo shifted to fit perfectly into the circle of Joshua’s embrace, their legs slotting together, bodies aligned from head to hip to toe. For a second everything was quiet, the rustle of leaves and the distant static of a London evening fading away. Leo’s chest expanded on a slow, measured intake of air.

“Would you happen to have a current phone number for Charlotte?”

“Certainly,” the woman said, and Joshua tried to memorise the number she dictated. Once the call had disconnected, Leo dropped the phone and rolled them over, draped himself on top of Joshua and sagged into him, shaking a little. All Joshua could do was hold on and whisper low, soothing reassurances into his hair.

Slowly, the strain in Leo’s body subsided, making room for what appeared to be deep-seated exhaustion. His lips parted against Joshua’s jaw.

“Hey,” Joshua murmured, voice so low it blended in with the golden evening light. “D’you want me to cancel the match later? Tell the others to raid someone else’s fridge. Which—shit, that reminds me. The ice cream is probably sludge by now. I left it in the car.”

Leo puffed out a watery laugh and raised his head to study Joshua. There was a wet sheen to his eyes. “What a waste of good ice cream. What did you do that for?”

“I was trying to get to you right away,” Joshua told him. He lifted a hand to thumb at the corner of Leo’s mouth, smiling a little. “With that message you sent, I didn’t know if it was good or bad. Turned out to be pretty good, I guess. At least that particular bit.”

“Just so you know…” Leo’s expression was gentle, painfully open. “You’re doing kind of all right with that whole supportive boyfriend thing, Princey. Not complaining.”