and it made sense. “How would you feel about him dating someone?”
“I’d be over the moon.” George’s entire face lit up. “Orry really deserves a great girl in his life. Or guy, I’m not totally sure who he’s into. We’ve never talked about it.”
“His sexuality?”
“Yeah. Or mine. But I was always busy with skating and didn’t have time to really notice people, and then I isolated myself, and it stopped mattering.”
Levi blinked several times, surprised at how many personal things George was telling him today. And also kind of honored. “You don’t know your sexuality?”
George shrugged. “It never really mattered before now.”
“Why does it matter more now?”
Those pretty eyes briefly dropped to Levi’s lips again, and his heart kicked. “Because now I’m getting out into the world. Meeting people. Stuff that didn’t seem important before is suddenly important.”
“That makes sense.” Levi risked a brief squeeze to George’s knee. “You’re still young, George, you have time to figure yourself out.”
“When did you know?”
Levi put his plate on the carpet and scratched his chin, his other hand still stroking Ginger, pulling out long, rusty purrs. “Well, I consider myself bisexual. I’ve dated women but my only serious relationship was with a man. I guess I figured it out during puberty, when I was noticing both the hot cowboys in their tight jeans, and the hot cowgirls in their denim skirts. My first kiss was a girl, but my first under-the-clothes encounter was with a boy.” Off George’s wide-eyed surprise, he added, “But I was also a very social person from a young age, and my brother Xander had a knack for goading me into things. You’ve lived a very different life.”
George watched him with an indecipherable expression, when the guy was usually easy to read. As if stuck between surprise over everything Levi had confessed and...something else. Understanding, maybe?
“Have you ever been attracted to another person, George?” Levi asked.
“I’m not sure. I mean, back when I skated I noticed other boys in the locker room. I admired the girl skaters for their abilities but not the same way I admired some of the boys. Especially Andy Jaworski. He wasn’t as good as me in the long program but damn, he could do an amazing triple axel-double salchow combination.”
Levi turned that over, needing to proceed with caution, because George was giving him a lot of sensitive personal information, and he didn’t want to take advantage of that—of George having someone else to open up to besides his brother. “Did you ever want to kiss Andy?”
His cheeks and neck flushed red, and George looked at his lap, shaggy blond hair falling over his forehead. That was all the answer Levi needed. “Hey,” Levi said, giving that same knee a second brief squeeze. “You don’t have to be embarrassed about it, especially not around me. You haven’t had a chance to really explore who you are as an individual person, and I know revealing truths can be scary, but I am a safe place for you. I promise.”
After several long moments, George finally looked up, eyes so shiny Levi half expected the guy to burst into tears.
* * *
George hadn’t expected the surge of emotion that flooded him when Levi asked if he’d ever wanted to kiss Andy. Yes, George had wanted to kiss Andy more than once. Tall, lean, athletic, and cute, Andy had drawn George to him, even though they were competitors. He’d covertly observed Andy in the locker rooms more than once, curious about the other teen’s body. But he’d never acted on those impulses.
He’d been too scared of losing focus, losing his spot in competitions, losing his dream if he admitted he might be gay, even though it wasn’t exactly unheard of in figure skating. Hell, Johnny Weir was one of his personal heroes. He’d also been scared of what his parents might think. So, he’d locked those feelings up tight and buried them deep, not acknowledging them again until he started doing closed-captions for gay porn. The bodies, the mouths, the abs, the dicks...they’d briefly awoken long-suppressed feelings and thoughts. But acting on those thoughts had still been impossible, this time because of his anxiety, so he had once again ignored them. Pressed them back down and pretended they didn’t exist. Until now.
And sitting this close to Levi, a kind man with a gentle soul, who spoke to George’s heart, was a very bad idea.
Especially when his knee still felt warm from those two brief touches.
He held Levi’s gaze, his