Chapter 8

By the end of the party, Blake felt comfortable sitting with his arm around Felix’s waist, and wished he could insist that Felix come to the reunion with him. He rubbed Felix’s shoulders as Felix told him more about himself—grew up with his dad and step-mom, had only one small tattoo on his shoulder but wanted more, had two previous girlfriends, five boyfriends, and one genderqueer partner who went by ‘zie’—and Blake felt sad that he would only get to spend what little free time he had that weekend with Felix.

Blake dragged himself out of bed the next morning after a nice dream where he and Felix went on an adventure he couldn’t quite remember. He checked his phone, but other than the few texts he and Felix had exchanged the night before confirming Blake’s escape plan, there was no word from him. Noting the time, Blake groaned and trudged into the shower