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pulled her dress down over her panties and slipped her shoes off her feet. She groaned, rubbed her bare toes against the sheet protecting the mattress, and drew up her knees.
    I smiled. She reminded me of a kitten.
    I spread the blanket out and crawled in next to her, appropriating the pillow for my use. Her back bowed into my chest, so I snuggled in, glad of the warmth once the sexual high had disappeared. In under a minute, I was asleep.

Chapter 5

     
    T HE ALARM on my phone woke me the next morning. Although I felt like shit and I really needed another four hours of shut-eye, I always set my alarm for seven o’clock the morning after I slept in my car. I needed to get the van out before shoppers arrived to use the car park.
    I groaned loudly and shut the alarm off. Then I sat up and looked around for Lee.
    She was gone.
    I groaned again and had vague memories of her whispering to me that she was leaving and would be getting a taxi home. I remembered her kissing my cheek and saying something about taking my phone number.
    Phone number….
    I looked at my phone and saw there were seven messages for me. Three drunken texts from Thor complaining about his girlfriend, one from my mother reminding me about my father’s birthday, one from Jake telling me that Maxine was missing me, one from a workmate that could’ve waited until Monday, and one from an unknown number. I pulled up the unknown and blinked several times before my hungover eyes would focus.
    Hi Dave. This is Lee. Thanks for last night. Sorry I had to run. Call me?
    I smiled and added her contact details without thinking about it. Then I froze. What was I doing? G-A-Y? Girls Are Yucky? Are the bells ringing yet, Davo?
    I looked back at the phone and realized my fingers were trembling. I scrolled through my messages again and pulled up the one from Jake. I hesitated over responding. It was 7:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning. But Jake had a baby now. He would probably be awake.
    Hey Jake. You up?
    By the time I was behind the wheel of the van, he’d replied.
    Unfortunately yes. What’s up?
    Can I drop by?
    No probs. I’ll make us pancakes.
    And coffee. I slept at The Tav. I’ll be there in ten minutes.
    See you then.
     
     
    M AXINE WAS awake when I arrived. She was once again decked out in pink and lay in a bassinette in the middle of the kitchen, watching the ceiling light above her.
    “Where’s Patrick?” I asked as I stared down at the little scrap of humanity that had become the center of my friend’s universe.
    “Asleep,” grunted Jake. “We’re taking it in shifts, at the moment. Little Miss Maxine doesn’t like to sleep for more than two hours at a time.”
    I stared at her as she waved the arm that she’d managed to free from her blanket. “I thought Patrick said she was sleeping for five hours at a stretch?”
    Jake snorted. “That was last week. This week it’s, ‘Daddy, I’m hungry every two hours.’ You need to keep up with the program here, Davo. Don’t you know that women change their minds constantly?”
    No. Not really.
    As if he could sense my need to talk, Jake flipped a couple of pancakes onto a plate, shoved them under my nose, and said, “So what’s up?”
    There was already coffee in the pot, so I poured us both a cup, sat down, and considered where to start. I was so mixed up inside. I guessed I should start at the beginning, and asked, “How did you know you were gay, Jake? How old were you?”
    He stopped flipping his pancakes and thought about it for a minute. “I really don’t know, Davo. Magazines, I guess. There was so much shit in my life from raising my sisters, I didn’t really think about sex and girls and all. But I do remember jacking off in the toilet and thinking about guys. It was rather obvious to me I was gay.”
    “So you never wanted to be with a girl?”
    He had a considering look on his face. “I don’t think so. I remember my mum gave me a talking to when I was about thirteen. You know the one?