“Qhuinn stopped breathing, focusing everything he had on the male who had been his best friend and his never-been lover… and the ever-after that was never going to happen.Even after all the things that had gone on between them, and all the fuckups on his end, which were legendary, Blay still had his back.“I love you,” Qhuinn blurted into the silence.”

“Blay was the closest thing to an angel Qhuinn had ever come near.”

“In the silence that followed, Blay knew he had something he was supposed to say. Yeah...it was right on his tongue. It was... Shit. With Qhuinn looking at him like that, he couldn't remember his own name. Blaysox? Blacklock? Blabberfox? Who the fuck knew...”

“Saxton was indeed clear on things: Blay was still in love with Qhuinn— and probably always would be.“Why?” he said to his lover.“Because I want you for however long I have you.”

“Enough, Qhuinn thought. Enough with the excuses and the avoidance, and trying to be someone else, anyone else.Even if he got shanked, even if his precious little ego and his dumbass little heart got shattered into a million pieces, it was time to stop the bullshit. It was time to be a male.As Blay started to straighten like a message had been received, Qhuinn thought, That's right buddy: Our future has come”

“God...this was who he loved, he thought. And always would. It was the thrust of that stubborn jaw, and the dark, slashing eyebrows, and those piercings up his ear and in his full lower lip. It was that thick, glossy black hair and the golden skin and that heavily muscled body. It was the way he laughed and the fact that he never, ever cried. It was the scars on his inside no one knew about and the conviction that he would always be the first to run into a burning building or a bloody fight or a car wreck. It was all the things Qhuinn had been and was ever going to be.”

“Even if he got shanked, even if his precious little ego and his dumb-ass little heart got shattered into a million pieces, it was time to stop the bullshit.It was time to be a male.As Blay started to straighten, like a message had been received, Qhuinn thought, That's right Buddy. Our time has come.”