Page 108 of The Romantic Agenda

“There’s nothing wrong with that, Joy.”

“There is, though.” She tilts her head back to look at him. “I’ve been scared for a very long time. I know who I am and I accept myself, all of me. But all this time, deep down, I truly believed no one else would. If I took a chance on anyone else, it was pretty much guaranteed I’d get hurt, because I was different. I still am and always will be.”

“Hmm.”

“I don’t know what comes next. I don’t know if it’ll be good or bad. I don’t know if I’ll get to keep being as happy as I am right now. But I do know that every time I think about you, I want to see you. I want to talk to you. I want to hear your grumpyhmms and smooth out that little forehead wrinkle with a kiss.”

Fox kisses her temple. “Joy.”

“Wait, wait.” She sniffles, wiping her tears. “I never learned how to be in a relationship with someone because I didn’t want to. And I’mscaredbecause I want to try. I want to try so bad it almost hurts. I want to find out, and I want to find out with you.”

Fox smiles in a way that Joy has never seen before. It’s his best one yet—his biggest, his brightest, his supernova.

And it’s only forJoy.