“There’s lots of ways to make people happy.”
“I started this after I broke up with the only long-term boyfriendI’ve ever had,” Connor said. “We were in college, and I was in love, and he…wasn’t, apparently. I asked him to marry me and he laughed.”
“Ouch,” Max said, wincing. “How old were you?”
“Nineteen,” Connor said. “And you know, five years later, it stillkinda stings. I spent a long time trying to work out what was wrong with me. Wecouldn’t even have actually gotten married at the time, so it was stupid.”
“There’s nothing wrong with you, and you’re not stupid,” Max said.
“I did eventually work that out.”
Max nodded, sticking the flower he was working on firmly in thefoam. “I figured, but… sometimes it helps to hear it from someone else.”
Connor swallowed, fiddling with the perfectly straight bow he wasfinishing up. “Yeah. Yeah, it does,” he said.
He hadn’t intended to drag out past traumas for Max to see, but hetrusted Max. Max was a sweetheart down to his bones.
That was probably why Connor liked him so much. He was safe.
At least, that was why he’d liked him in the beginning. Now… he’dseen a lot more of what Max was like, and he was falling for all of it. For hiskindness. His dedication. His smile.
“I don’t get how some asshole rejecting you turned you into awedding planner, though,” Max said.
Connor laughed. “I appreciate you taking my side in this.Honestly, this is embarrassing, but I figured the only way I was ever going tohave a wedding was to plan someone else’s, so… I did. And it turned out that Iwas good at it. And I got a referral to another couple, and then another, andit just… turned into a business. My parents were mad when I dropped out ofcollege to do this full-time. Maybe they were right about it not being a securefuture. They’re still not speaking to me.”
“That’s not fair,” Max said. “You deserve better.”
“Thanks.” Connor sighed. He didn’t want to seem upset, or to bringthe mood down, but he was glad he could rely on Max to listen.
Despite all his own problems, Max had always been willing tolisten to him. That was rare, and worth hanging onto.
He shifted a little closer to Max, resting his head on the otherman’s shoulder.
“We’re gonna win this,” Max said after a moment, pushing anotherflower into the floral foam and then grabbing a new tube of glitter. Therewasn’t much in each one, but it’d been the cheapest way to buy the amount ofglitter they needed.
So far, they were coming in well under budget. Connor was proud ofhimself.
“Yeah,” Connor agreed. He wasn’t sure if he believed that rightnow, but he thought they were in with a good chance.
“Why is this so hard to open?” Max asked, struggling with the capon the glitter.
Connor moved to reach for it, about to offer to open it for himwhen Max finally got the lid off with a loud pop.
A shower of blue glitter rained down over him, flakes landing inhis hair, all over his face, and in his lap.
Connor bit down on the inside of his cheek, desperate not tolaugh. The shocked look on Max’s face was comedy gold, even if hehadn’tbeen covered in glitter at the same time.
“I… didn’t mean to do that,” Max said, holding up what was left ofthe glitter in the tube he’d just opened.
Connor giggled, slapping his hand over his mouth to muffle thesound. Max turned to look at him, eyes wide, and for a moment Connor worriedthat he was hurt by being laughed at.
Then, he burst into laughter as well, setting the tube of glitterdown, his shoulders shaking as he joined Connor in a fit of giggles.
Max sat back, still covered in glitter, and laughed up at theceiling, tiny, hiccupping laughs making his whole body shake.
Connor realized then that he hadn’t already been in love with Max,because he could feel himself falling right now. Max was so beautiful when hewas laughing,reallylaughing, and Connor wanted to see him do it amillion more times.
It hurt his heart that he hadn’t really seen Max happy before now,but he wanted tomakehim happy. He wanted to be a part of Max’shappiness.
