Gage let out a soft breath. “Yeah, in a way. I mean, it didn’t tell me who they were or anything, but it was nice to know where I came from. And sometimes, when I got bored, I’d make up stories in my head about how my bio parents met. Like…like my dad was on a journey to find himself and went to Beijing, where he met my mom. She was a student. Her parents were forbidden lovers—like Romeo and Juliet, except no one died, and they had a baby instead. And then my parents met and had one glorious night before my dad had to go back to Rome. He never knew about me, and my mom decided that the really kind man from a small town in the US would be the best dad for me.”
Fallon grinned as his touch drew down the side of Gage’s neck. “You should write books.”
Laughing, Gage shook his head. “I’ve thought about it, but my brain won’t ever let me sit for that long. It took me three months to write out my first campaign. I think I’d probably be writing my first book for the rest of my life.”
“You have a way with words though,” Fallon said softly. “I’d like to hear more of your stories sometime.”
Gage’s ears reddened. “They’re not that good. Trust me, I get a lot of complaints about my campaigns.”
“People are probably lying because you intimidate them. You should embrace your talent,” Fallon countered. “Don’t let people convince you to make yourself small because they’re full of envy.”
Licking his lips, Gage pushed up on his elbow and stared down at him, making Fallon’s heart race. “I hope you do the same.”
“I try.” It was the truth. He just left out the part where he didn’t try that hard. Where he kept failing at it, and it was easier to give up.
Gage hummed softly and leaned forward, resting his head against the side of Fallon’s neck. The pressure of it was perfect.No, it was more than perfect. It was making him feel things. It was making himwantthings.
Fallon wasn’t the most sexually experienced man on the planet, but he’d had plenty of casual sex before Charlie had come around. For a while, in fact, he thought casual was the only kind of sex he’d ever get to have. No one seemed to want to stick around longer than a night.
And those thatdiddidn’t want to stick around longer than two.
So maybe this wouldn’t be the worst idea, starting a little something with Gage. Maybe they could do it—scratch an itch—and get it out of their system.
Then they could be friends.
Or something like it.
But Fallon had never been brave enough to make the first move. He’d done it once—and only once. It hadn’t gone well, and he would never make that mistake again.
He’d rather die alone than have someone look at him with disgust because his body was the way it was.
“You okay?”
Fallon blinked. “Yes?”
“You haven’t said anything for, like, five minutes,” Gage murmured.
Fallon bit the inside of his cheek to temper his embarrassment. “Sorry. I got lost in my head. I was thinking about…” He hesitated. Normally, he just said whatever was on his mind, especially if he was comfortable. But he had to remind himself he didn’t know Gage all that well just because the man fit in his life in ways most strangers never could.
And never would.
“About what?” Gage urged.
“Having sex.”
Gage jolted. “I—oh.”
Fallon’s heart sank to his feet. There was something about Gage’s tone that told him he’d fucked up. He went too far. That all this cuddling was meant to be that. Platonic. The rest was unwanted. “Sorry. S-sorry, I?—”
“Fallon,” Gage said, holding on when Fallon tried to scramble off the couch. “Wait.Wait. Please.”
Fallon froze, his breath heaving in his chest. He hated feeling embarrassed. He fucking hated when he got it all wrong.
“Relax, and please don’t apologize. It’s not you.”
He snorted. “Right. It’s never me.”
Gage softened, and after a single moment of hesitation, he reached up and pushed his fingers into Fallon’s hair. The scrape of blunt nails across his scalp was so soothing, he went boneless. If he were a cat, he would have started purring.
