“Hey,” I said and Stu’s attention fell on me. His eyes traced my body then focused intently on my face. I flushed, feeling like he could tell from my expression what I’d just been up to. He stared a long moment, his eyes dark and heated, but that could’ve just been because of what had transpired between us earlier.

“Andrea, it seems I’ve finally found a worthy opponent,” said Jamie, smiling from ear to ear. He always loved a challenge. “Stuart here is quite the natural.”

I looked at Stu. “You’ve never played before?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“In that case you’re doing incredibly well.”

His lips curved into a smile while Jamie’s attention returned to the board, pondering his next move.

I tugged on the end of my sleeve as Stu continued to study me. “You okay?” he asked.

I nodded, perhaps a little too fervently. “Of course, why wouldn’t I be?”

It took him a moment to answer. “You look . . . flushed.”

“It’s just the weather. I’m fine,” I said, waving him off.

“So, Stuart,” said Jamie, and I was relieved he decided to speak if only to divert Stu’s attention away from me, “do you mind if I ask about your time in prison? I have to admit I’m morbidly curious.”

Obviously, my relief was short-lived. This was typical Jamie. The man had been born without a filter.

“Maybe some other time,” said Stu, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

“Oh, don’t be shy. I’ve had a few run-ins with the law myself over the years. I knew all those unreturned library books would catch up with me eventually,” he joked.

“How about I make us all something to drink?” I said in an effort to change the subject. “Anybody thirsty?”

“I’ll take a juice,” said Alfie, not moving his eyes from his work.

“Sure, whatever you have is fine,” said Jamie with a smile.

“I’ll help you,” Stu offered, about to get up from his seat but I waved him off.

“You stay and continue your game. I’ll only be a minute.”

When I returned with four glasses of orange juice the men were in the middle of a conversation that had Stu saying to Jamie, “Come on, even you have to admit she’s sexy.”

I paused by the door, not entering yet because I wanted them to continue talking and suspected they’d stop if I came in, like a domestic version of the ‘waiter pause’.

Jamie’s eyes glinted with mischief as he answered pointedly, “Well, everything else aside, being that I fancy men, I’m not exactly her target audience.”

A small moment of awkward silence fell before Stu spoke. “Ah, right. Didn’t pick up on that.”

“Not your fault,” Jamie went on. “People can rarely tell. I’m more Rock Hudson gay than Liberace gay.”

Alfie scoffed, his paintbrush held in mid-air as he shot Jamie a look. “That’s a laugh. You’re Oscar Wilde gay and we all know it.

Jamie gave him a playful glance. “Well, at least I’m not Alan Turing gay.”

“Hey now, be nice,” Alfie frowned. “Our intelligence might be matched, but don’t curse me to poor Turing’s fate.”

“You’re right, that was mean,” Jamie allowed.

“So you’re both . . .” Stu cut in, his words falling short.

“Raving homosexuals?” Jamie provided. “Why yes, dear.”

I stifled a laugh at him calling Stu ‘dear’ and stepped over the threshold into the room. As suspected, all conversation hushed when I entered. I still wondered who Stu had been referring to as ‘sexy’ but it wasn’t like I had the nerve to ask. After handing out the refreshments I took a seat on Alfie’s bed, while Jamie and Stu returned their focus to the board game.

I looked around, realising that I never really spent much time in Alfie’s room if I wasn’t there to provide a critical eye for his art. It was a lot bigger than mine, but I let him have it because he worked from home. All I really needed was a bed and somewhere to store my clothes and I was happy. My attention fell on the stack of paintings in the corner, more specifically the one at the top. Alfie had painted me numerous times in the past, but this one I’d never seen before.

I sat with my legs crossed at the water’s edge at my parents’ holiday home in Lake Windermere. The painting was based on a picture they’d taken when I visited with them almost two years ago. My hair hung long down my back as I stared out at the water, my face in profile.

“Stuart was just admiring that one,” said Jamie, his voice breaking me from my thoughts.

“Oh,” I breathed, eyes going to Stu, “you were?”

He shrugged, actually looking embarrassed, but that couldn’t be right. “Yeah, it’s . . . nice.”

“Oh, come now,” Jamie tsked. “You said it was a little more than nice just a minute ago.”

I blushed as realisation hit me. Had Stu been calling me sexy? I’d been so twisted up over the idea of him faking his attraction just to get to Alfie, but what happened in my room earlier wasn’t fake. It had been too raw, too messy and spontaneous to not be real.

I sipped on my orange juice, trying not to blush. Every once in a while, I felt Stu’s eyes on me, but I didn’t look at him. I was too edgy, too needful. If I looked at him now I’d be liable to jump him in front of both my cousin and one of my closest friends. After a couple of minutes, I excused myself to go and finish correcting my papers. The men were far too ensconced in their activities to notice me leaving, and I breathed a sigh of relief to have some distance from Stu.

I felt so conflicted around him.

On the one hand, I was incredibly attracted to him, both physically and cerebrally. He was gorgeous to look at and, more often than not I liked how his mind worked. But on the other hand, his past was so incredibly different to mine, the circles he moved in unnerved me, and the fact that he entered my life with dishonest intentions was cause for concern. In fact, no, it was a whole lot more than just that, but my feelings of lust seemed to be mingling with my anger, making it incredibly difficult to figure out how I felt at all, really.

Over an hour passed and none of them had yet to emerge from Alfie’s bedroom. I knew how absorbing the board game could be, and imagined Jamie was relishing the challenge Stu presented. His natural talent for the game showed his tactical aptitude, which was yet more proof of my theory about different kinds of intelligence. Stu might struggle reading books and completing written assignments, but he was leaps and bounds ahead of the pack in other areas.