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Suddenly I feel the colder air around me Suddenly I feel the world around me I feel all the parts of it that aren’t us

I tellconsiderate I look at him and say, "Are you sure? I want to If you’re worried aboutback, too, now One hand still holds my side, but the other settles in the small space between us "I don’t think we should," he says

I say, "Okay," even though it’s not, because I don’t understand

"It’s not you," he tells me "And it’s not that I don’t want to"

Exit drea"

He says it’s not me, but who else could it be? I’ve pushed it too far He must think less of me

"Let me worry about Justin," I say "This is you and me It’s different"

"But it’s not just you and me It’s also Xavier"

"Xavier?"

He points to his own body "Xavier"

"Oh"

"He’s never done it before And it just feels wrong…for him to do it for the first ti froht"

This seems more in line with the way the universe has treated uy in the perfect body But thenaithout hi with this

Closeness I got so caught up in sex that I forgot what I was really after, what I really wanted Even if we’re not going to have sex, I don’t have to give up on everything else

That’s what I wind up tellingonly in my mind, I return back to ainst knees, arms around backs, face to face

"Do you think he would mind this?" I ask

His body answers for him I can feel the tension fall away I can feel my welcome

"I set an alarm," I say "So we can sleep"

I roll over, and he presses his chest againstinto a pocket of tiether, our breathing slows Together, we feel unalone

Our bodies can fit in so many different ways

The current of sleep carries us at different wavelengths Sometimes I wake and he’s asleep Sometimes he must be the woken one And other times, our wakefulness coincides, and we have brief conversations as we re on

"Are you he or she?" I ask

"Yes," he replies