“Yes, quick, take it before someone else does!”

“A veritable race against the clock,” he murmured. “And … it’s all yours.”

“Is that it? Do I have a website now?”

“You have a domain name.” He grinned. “Setting up the website will take a while. I’m gonna message Finn and ask which one he used for his—he said it was really good.”

“Finn has a website?”

“Yeah,” Brougham said, eyes on his phone while he wrote to Finn. “It’s something like ‘Ryan Chad Truthers dot com,’ I think?”

Of course it was.

Brougham locked his phone. “Done. Hopefully he replies soon.”

I dragged my fingertips lightly over his shoulder blades. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to take a quick break while we wait.”

Brougham didn’t need to be told twice. In one movement he’d flipped the laptop shut and turned around to kiss me again. This time I pushed him backward on the bed before quickly moving the laptop to safety on the floor.

And these days, that taste, that smell, made me feel warm, and safe, and infinite. In fact, as it was turning out, upon reflection, maybe I wasn’t avoidant after all. Because despite my fears and doubts and confusion at the beginning, now whenever Brougham looked at me, or I looked at him, there was no part of me that felt smothered.

We had our couple bubble. He was my safe base. I was his.

I didn’t fear engulfment. When his life merged with mine? My life simply grew bigger.

So, maybe I didn’t always get things right, about myself, or about others. And maybe a part of learning my place in the world was about accepting that I wouldn’t always have the answers, and I wouldn’t always be the hero in every scenario, and maybe I wouldn’t win everything I attempted.

But I was pretty sure about a couple of things.

Whether I was changing lives through my advice itself, or just my willingness to listen, I’d made a difference with the locker.

And I could make a difference again. Maybe even a bigger one. Especially with Brougham’s help.

Speaking of Brougham? Of all the terrifying decisions I’d had to make this year, among all the missteps and bad calls and failed attempts—agreeing to help Alexander Brougham was the most perfectly right decision I’d ever made.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Every book I write is close to my heart, but Perfect on Paper is, I think, especially so. There were many important topics I hoped to explore while writing this book. Bi erasure and internalized biphobia are probably the most obvious ones, and I believe my stance here is quite clear if you’ve made it this far: bi people are part of the queer community, and their identity does not change depending on who, if anyone, they happen to have feelings for or date at any given moment.