"Yeah," Nida answers, and he's smiling. It's so warm, so happy. Like when he was talking about Billy before, but more radiant.

And the fingers of his free hand come up briefly to brush his lips. All those remembered kisses. His heart has never felt so full as it is now. Clearly he's more smitten than he'd seemed even before.

"I ended up swinging by his place after... well, after our talk. And it just... He wasn't the only one a bit out of normal sorts. It was nice."