Chapter 33

But he couldn’t tell Emma that, because…because okay, he was ninety-nine percent sure that Emma wouldn’t be nasty about it, but she might start treating him like a girl, or dropping hints, or worse, decide that Jude had a right to know before Anton was ready to tell him, and tell him for Anton.

So he said, “I can’t tell you.”

Emma tilted her head before hugging him again. “Whatever it is,” she said, “if you tell the boys to knock it off, they will. Especially Jude, you must know he’s a total softie if you’ve been dating him.”

Anton cracked a faint smile. Yeah, Jude would knock off the talking about dick. Until he found out Anton didn’t even have one.

“How long?” Emma whispered conspiratorially, and Anton chuckled wetly, starting to mop up his face.

“Like a week, not long at all,” he said. “One date, on Saturday.”

“We-ell, I suppose I can forgive you both for not telling me,” she said loftily, and he was graced with another hug. “You okay?”