thepalmtoptiger:

I was rereading the scene when one of the Vixens is flirting with Neil and I have to change my mind on Neil being completely obvious to people flirting with him or being attracted to him.

For most of the interaction he’s vaguely annoyed/uncomfortable and thinking about Andrew. But when it comes to heads, he completely shoots her down. He knows exactly what was going on and his only surprise is that Nicky expected him to be more gentle about it.

The thing with Andrew is that he’s more subtle with his actions. While Neil occasionally sees the significance of Andrew’s actions, he doesn’t automatically assume that they’re romantic but rather a growing sign of trust. He spends most of the first two books thinking that Andrew and Kevin are involved which is why he doesn’t view any of Andrew’s actions as romantic.

It isn’t until Renee shoots down the idea that Andrew and Kevin are romantically involved that Neil even begins to reassess both of their feelings and interactions. Which is why by TKM, Neil is at least able to recognize the physical attraction and level of trust between them, but it’s his lack of sense of permanency that makes him purposely ignore the romantic aspect of both their feelings. It really isn’t until Baltimore that he actually has to acknowledge that what’s going on between them is more than just physical.

So yeah, Neil can tell when people have the hots for him.