Page 61 of Strawberry Kisses

“I miss you too. You’ll have to come stay again soon. You can bring Patrick. I think he and Simon would get on great.”

“Yeah,” I said, “I think they would too.” I could imagine the four of us in London, chilling out in a restaurant or a bar or a park together. It would be fun. “As long as we don’t have to listen to a repeat performance of last time.” Last time I’d had to listen to a live porno from the other side of the wall and had spent the entire night remembering what Taylor looked like chucking his guts up after his twenty-fifth birthday to convince my dick to go down.

Taylor chuckled. “I can’t make any promises. Simon’s too sexy. I mean, have you seen his ass?”

“I do try not to look at my best friend’s boyfriend’s butt. I’m not a complete perv.” A buzzer sounded, indicating my time was up and my students were starting to arrive. “Okay, babe, I’ve gotta go. But thanks. I needed this.”

“Always. I love you. Talk to him soon, or I’ll come visit you and nag you until you do.”

“Ugh, you’re so mean, but I love you too.” We rounded off the conversation and I took a couple of deep breaths to centre myself.

Taylor was right, but it still hadn’t been easy to hear. And now I needed to think about what to do next.

If I was going to do this, I was going to do it my way.

With style.

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