He knows he should have expected it, but the question still catches Anthony off-guard. The fact of the matter is that he hasn’t very often been asked something like that; his usual liaisons hardly lead to such gentle intimacy as this. He has little practice with it, and even less talent.

Anthony lightly traces the edge of Gabriel’s jaw and smiles a little. “I rather think I did,” he says. making it sound a little like a quip. Who wouldn’t miss this, after all?