A happy sigh welled up in mychest as I rested my head against Fox, escaping me the moment he kissed myhair.
I’d been worried I’d ruinthings between us by pouncing on Fox all over again, or worse—by not beingexperienced enough for him.
But I hadn’t. Fox wastreatingmelike a normalboy, too.
He was as excited aboutgetting to have a morning after as I was.
The thought that we weremade for each other fluttered through my mind like a lost butterfly, and I didn’t quite have theheart to bat it away before it settled somewhere.
It was a stupid thought, but… it was there, allthe same.
Our jagged edges seemed tofit perfectly against each other.
“Hey, what part of Englandare you from?” I asked, not wanting to give this moment up too soon. Besides, I’dbeen curious about where Fox was from since I’d first heard him speak. “It’snot, like, London, is it? And it’s not… Manchester?”
“Look at you and your vastgeographical knowledge! Most people couldn’t point to Manchester on a map. Someof the people living there couldn’t.”
I chuckled, pressing myforehead against the middle of Fox’s chest, over his breastbone. “That wasmean. I’m sure thepeople of Manchester are charming. Plus, Oasis is from there. I love them.”
“Really?” Fox asked, and Ididn’t need to look up to hear the raised eyebrow in his voice.
One thing Iwasn’tworried aboutwas my taste in music. I liked what I liked, even if Ididhave a softspot for acoustic versions ofWonderwallbeing played by skinny,fluffy-bearded boys wielding acoustic guitars.
This… might have been because Iwas really gay, and I liked looking at boys like that.
Not that I minded Fox’s sculptedstubble and perfect build, either.
“I’m sure they’d be thrilledto hear it,” he continued. “But no. No, I’m from a little place calledStoke-on-Trent. No one’s ever heard of it.”
“You could show me where itis. If you’re indicative of what the boys there look like.”
Fox chuckled. “I won’t pretendI didn’t have some fun with them when I was younger, but no. One of a kind.Sorry.”
“Should’ve known they brokethe mold when they made you,” I rested my head against Fox’s chest, letting myeyes fall closed. “The accent’s hot. I bet you hear that all the time.”
“Every now and then.” Foxshrugged. “Glad you like it. Personally, I think it’s hideous.”
“I think we all think ourown accents are awful. Mine is… it’s…”
“Quite charming,” Fox interrupted,shifting his hold on me to rub circles on my back. “Somewhere in New York,right?”
“Upstate, yeah,” Iconfirmed. He might have been deaf in one ear, but there was nothing wrong withthe other one.
“I have a friend from NewJersey.Hisaccent is… well. I find itvery charming now, but it took a little getting used to in the beginning.”
“Yeah, but I bet you canhear him calling out to you from a mile away.”
“Oh yes.” Fox smiled a fond,distant smile, as though he was thinking of his friend. It struck me again thatFox wassurroundedby people wholoved him.
I couldn’t imagine that,but I wanted to.
“Do you miss home?” Foxasked a moment later.
“Sometimes.” I shrugged. “Idunno. I do like it here. I like not freezing my balls off in the winter alot, but I miss hugescarves. And then I like that the people here are all bright and friendly and colorful,but I always flinch a little when they smile at me in an elevator.”
I hesitated, and thendecided that we werebothbeing vulnerable this morning, and I couldafford to share a little more.
“And I left all my friendsback home,” I said softly, like it was a secret. “They don’t even talk to meanymore. I mean. I wasn’t the most popular person in the world, but there werea few people I knew. High school friends, people I’d worked with. And now I don’thave anyone.”
