None of that was anything he was going to say right now.
Maybe after the wedding. Once everything was okay, and Max didn’thave to be stressed all the time.
“Hold still,” Connor said after a moment, grabbing a cleanpaintbrush from his craft supplies box. “I’ll try to get some of it off.”
Max closed his eyes and sank back into the couch obediently asConnor started to brush glitter off him.
“You’re gonna be finding blue glitter on you for the rest of yourlife,” Connor said. “Glitter is permanent.”
Max laughed again, a warm, relaxed chuckle that mad Connor’s heartclench.
He reached out to run his finger along Max’s cheekbone, tellinghimself it was to get a flake of glitter off.
Absolutely not just because he wanted to touch him.
Connor had been in love with men he couldn’t have before, but noneof them had been quite like Max. None of them had been as kind, or as sweet, oras perfect.
The urge to sayI love youwelled up in his throat, but hepushed it back. Now wasn’t the time. Max was still finding his feet, and thiswas the first time he’d even dipped his toes into the waters ofanyrelationship as an adult.
He deserved space to figure himself out and decide what he wanted.Connor’s neediness would just have to take a back seat for now.
“Being covered in glitter for life while I make flowers for my owngay wedding is probably a metaphor for something,” Max said.
“You wanna talk about that?” Connor asked, brushing a last fewflakes from his eyebrow. He knew that wasn’t all of it, but it was the best hecould do.
“Not yet,” Max said. “But… maybe soon?”
“I’ll be ready to listen when you’re ready to talk,” Connor said.“Anytime.”
“Thanks.” Max sighed, and it looked almost as though a literalweight had lifted off his chest.
Connor’s patience was paying off. Max was coming to terms with hisfeelings in his own time.
“Listen…” Connor began, not entirely sure how to phrase what hewanted to say next. “I was thinking, the wedding is next weekend, and we’reboth gonna be ridiculously busy over the week, so… we should take a day off. Dosomething fun. Uh… together, I mean.”
Max turned to look at him, his pretty blue eyes soft and sleepyafter a long day. “You mean like a date?”
Connor’s eyes widened.
Hedidmean like a date, but he hadn’t expected Max to callit that. He’d been trying to be casual. “I didn’t mean… I just think it’d benice to do something, as friends, that isn’t… about our fake wedding, is all.I’d like to know you outside of this.”
Max nodded slowly, the look on his face telling Connor loud andclear that he didn’t entirely believe him.
He was smarter than he wanted people to believe. Much smarter.
The fact that he couldn’t figure out his own feelings at the dropof a hat didn’t mean he couldn’t figure out everyone else’s. Connor was stillcoming to understand that.
“Well… meet me here tomorrow afternoon? I’ve got an idea, unlessthere’s something specific you want to do.”
Max smiled at him. “Tomorrow afternoon sounds good. I’ll bethere.”
“You and all your glitter,” Connor teased.
“Hey, it’s a look,” Max said. “I could pull it off.”
“You could,” Connor agreed, going back to what he’d been workingon.
He was in love with Max.
