Page 59 of Wear It Like a Crown

“Well, yeah.” Mo twisted a little closer, raised his head and bit Joshua’s chin, then moved back with a soft snicker. “Like, the thing is, you and I and Tristan know that. Question is, does Leo?”

After flicking Mo’s nose, Joshua rubbed his chin while he considered the question. Joshua had been pretty obvious, right? But Nate had probably thought the same, not factoring in Mo’s astonishingly thick skull. Maybe Leo was on a Mo level of oblivious? He didn’t seem the type at all, always so aware of everything, but you never knew.

“Maybe not,” Joshua admitted. “But I can’t exactly corner him when he’s avoiding me, can I? And I don’t want to do it over the phone. That’d be weird.”

“We’ll just have to create an opportunity for you, then.” Mo sounded positively gleeful, as though he was scheming already. Joshua wasn’t sure he approved; Mo’s plans had landed him in trouble more than once, more than twice. A particularly shining example was that time they’d ended up in a drunk tank even though they’d been completely sober. Johnson’s predecessor had bailed them out before the press had caught wind of it, and the lecture Joshua had had to endure in return had been a small price.

The press. Not thinking about that, no.

Burying a hand in Mo’s hair, Joshua used his other hand to tug on Mo’s arm until they were pressed together, one of Joshua’s legs slotted between Mo’s thighs. It was comfortable, and only when they’d both settled in did Joshua think to ask, “Should this be weird? I mean, with the way we—you know. And now talking about Leo and me?”

“Mate. Sometimes, I find it hard to believe you were ever trained in eloquence.” Mo lifted himself up to grin at Joshua. “And nah, don’t see why this should be weird. Up to us, isn’t it?”

Joshua grinned back. “Exactly. Just, some people don’t seem to getit. Us. Like, Leo keeps asking me, and I think—maybe he gets it now. What about Nate?”

Dropping back down to rest his head on Joshua’s chest, Mo reached for the afghan to cover them both up. Only then did he reply. “Yeah, pretty sure that he gets it. But it’s still like… Feel like I’m out of my depth with him, you know? Being friends when there’s always this thing where we could be more?”

“I’myour friend,” Joshua said, “and we did plenty more.” To illustrate, he cupped Mo’s bum and gave it a friendly squeeze. Mo reacted with an exaggerated moan that echoed strangely in the quiet night, making both of them snicker.

A month ago, they might have taken it from there, playing around until one of them moved in for a kiss, just to test the mood. A month ago, Mo hadn’t met Nate, and Joshua hadn’t met Leo.

“Except”—Mo slumped into Joshua’s side, tone wistful—“you were always my friend first, and anything else was just… you know. Whatever.”

“Hey,” Joshua protested, pinching Mo’s bicep. “Have a little respect for my ego, thanks.”

Mo snorted. “Not like you’re not a good lover, babe. Taught you some of those tricks myself, didn’t I? It just wasn’t ever key to our relationship, more like a very nice bonus.”

It was true. Somehow, their friendship had never been questioned, and only now did it occur to Joshua that they might have been extremely fortunate in how they’d always been on the same page. He pondered it for a moment before he asked, “Did you ever wonder how come… Why we never fell in love? With each other, I mean. If you look at us, all the ingredients should be there, but it just never happened.”

“Yeah, I wondered about that.” Mo’s tone was thoughtful. “Think we might have been a bad match, probably. We’re both pretty easy-going, yeah, and that makes us a great fit as friends, but maybe not so good romantically. Missing that spark of fascination, like.”

“The challenge?” Joshua asked, and yes, that made sense. He chuckled at the mere idea of them lobbing insults at each other in passionate anger. “We’d never fight,would we?”

“Nah, we wouldn’t. You and Leo, on the other hand…” Amusement shining through, Mo trailed off.

You and Leo.

Joshua found himself smiling. Shifting a little, he turned to study Mo’s face, its details shrouded in shadows. “What about you and Nate? Do you think you’ve got that spark?”

“He’s… complicated.” Mo paused. “I think there’s a lot more than meets the eye, and I think… With him, it could be…”

When a few seconds had passed without another word from Mo, Joshua finished for him. “You want todatehim. Make sweet love under the moonlight.”

“Smug doesn’t suit you,” Mo muttered.

“I’m not smug.” Joshua considered it. “Okay. Maybe a little. I mean, you’re the one who always called me a ridiculous romantic, like, with my dreams of something steady and exclusive. And now look at you.” He bit back the urge to coo at Mo—mainly because Mo’s knee was dangerously close to his groin, and Joshua valued his ability to reproduce. Even if he wasn’t quite certain about his options just yet.

“Fuck off.” Belying that, Mo inched closer, his exhalation escaping him in a sigh. Draping an arm around his waist, Joshua hummed a little. For a short while they remained like that, the night breathing around them. Somewhere not too far off, a car honked, offset by the stuttering engine of a boat on the Canal below.

Ordinary sounds. So easy to forget that in this very same city, hundreds of people were bound to be dealing with the consequences of Joshua’s interview—Leo, Nate and the rest of their team, George and his staff, reporters for newspapers and TV, bloggers, people discussing it online. Everyone who had an opinion would itch to put it out there, for London to see.

No. This wasn’t just London. This was global.

“Hey, Mo?” Staring up at the sky, Joshua tried to make out individual stars and couldn’t. Light pollution drenched everything in a gentle orange glow.

He remembered how, when he’d been thirteen and anxious about living at Eton, Emma had claimed that all boarding schools were like Hogwarts. He’d arrived expecting a big lake and an enormous dininghall with a ceiling littered with stars. Instead, he’d found himself in a school that was by no means in a remote Scottish location, had joined a house where pupils ate in a smaller common area rather than in the central dining complex where many other houses gathered, and the proximity of London had eliminated all chances of a splendid night-time sky. On the other hand, he’d got Tristan out of it.

“What?” Mo asked when Joshua had been silent for a moment.