“I’ll go first,” Connor said. “I like… well, obviously, yourcompassion. Your incredible sweetness. You have a really pretty smile. I likethe sense that you don’t care what other people think, but you’re still good toeveryone you meet. I like your warmth. I hypothetically like snuggling up nextto you, I bet you give amazing cuddles.”
Max blushed all the way down to his collar at that.
“Uh… thank you?”
Itwasnice to hear nice things about himself, even ifConnor didn’t really know him.
“You don’t need to thank me for telling what I strongly suspect tobe the truth,” Connor said.
“Well… I like your kindness. Your willingness to help other peopleout. And I think you’re probably exactly what guys look for in other guys?”
Connor frowned at that. “How so?”
“You’re… handsome?” Max tried, unsure if that sounded like thecompliment it was meant to be. “And you always seem like you’ve got your looktogether. I dunno. Not gay, remember?”
“I’ll make some stuff up,” Connor said. “But I’m never forgettingthat you think I’m handsome.”
“No, wait,” Max said. “I think you’re smart, and I think you’veworked really hard pretty much all your life, and I like that you seem to havesome sense of style. I know you’re way out of my league, but I appreciate thatyou’re okay with pretending you’re not.”
Connor laughed at that. “Oh, honey, I’m not evenclosetobeing out of your league,” he murmured, focusing on typing in the answer to thequestion.
Max wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, but he intended to takeit as a compliment.
“I thought we might go for aSomething Bluetheme. Becauseof your hair, and because it’d be cute. It’s the kind of thing the judges wouldlove,” Connor said, changing the subject before Max had a chance to ask what hemeant.
“That part’s up to you,” Max said. “I’m not even gonna pretend Iknow anything about weddings.”
“As long as you show up,” Connor responded, still filling outquestions. They seemed shorter this time, like names and addresses, so Max washappy to let him.
“What’s your surname?” Connor asked halfway through.
“Evans,” he responded.
“I was kinda hoping it’d be, like… Power, or something.”
Max chuckled. “Sorry to disappoint you.”
“I’m pretty happy to marry someone with a nice, sensible name likeMax Evans.” Connor shrugged. “I’m gonna send this all to my address, if thatworks for you?”
“I think that’s the best idea,” Max said. “I don’t wanna get Zoe’shopes up, so I’d like to keep this quiet.”
“I understand,” Connor said. “Your secret’s safe with me.”
Max nodded, relieved that he and Connor were on the same pagehere. Besides, this was only an application. They hadn’t even gottenintothe competition yet, let alone won it.
“Well… that’s all the questions,” Connor said, sitting back. “Allthat’s left now is to send it off. Are you sure about this?”
Max took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.
He couldn’t get the image of Zoe with tears staining her face outof his head. If there was even a hope in hell that doing this could fix that…he had to give it a shot. He couldn’t have lived with himself if he’d passed upthe chance.
“I’m sure,” Max said. “But areyousure?”
Connor nodded eagerly. Max hadn’t ever seen him this excitedbefore, though that wasn’t saying much.
“I’m sure,” he said. “Winning this would mean I could have mycareer back. Mylifeback. I could move back to the big city, climb thecelebrity wedding ladder, maybe plan a royal wedding someday, even.”
Max raised an eyebrow. “Got a particular royal family in mind?”
