“That sums it up, yeah,” she agreed sheepishly.
“If it makes you feel any better, I’m definitely in favor of this one.” I underlined GOOD SEX too.
“You can’t underline something that’s not a title, Connor.”
“Watch me.” I underlined it again.
She snorted. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Thanks for noticing. What else do you want in a mate?”
“Friendship, I guess. Fun, too. I have a tendency to take things too seriously. I get really panicky sometimes. The attacks can be brutal. Distraction is helpful.”
I added those things to the list.
FRIENDSHIP
FUN
DISTRACTIONS FROM ANXIETY
“How often do you have panic attacks?” I asked.
“It depends what’s going on. Sometimes I make it a few weeks or months before something happens, and I have a bunch of them in a few days. They were better when I was spending a lot of time with Emmy. I’m happy that she has Finn now, but being alone more hasn’t been good for my anxiety.”
That went on the list too.
COMPANIONSHIP
“What do you want me to do when you have a panic attack? Back off? Give you space? Hold you? Turn on a movie?” I checked.
“That’s a really thoughtful question, Connor.”
“I aim to please.”
She gave me a small smile. “Hugs help the most.”
“You’ve got it.”
LOTS OF HUGS
Zoe smoothed the top of her hair. Her face was redder than before.
“You’re thinking something,” I said, pointing to her with my pen. “What is it?”
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s obviously something, Gorgeous.”
She sighed. “I was just thinking that it would be nice not to sleep alone anymore. When I was with Josh, I always slept better when he was there. Sorry if that makes you uncomfortable.”
“It doesn’t make me uncomfortable. It just makes me want to kill him a little,” I said as I scribbled the latest addition.
SHARING A BED
“Oh, alittlemurder wouldn’t be so bad.”
“Exactly what I was thinking.”
