Pansies

Alexis Hall

Alfie Bell is…fine. He's got a six-figure salary, a penthouse, the car he swore he'd buy when he was eighteen, and a bunch of fancy London friends. It's rough, though, going back home now everyone knows he's a pansy. He thought he'd escaped that old town, and the lie he lived there, years ago. It's the last place he's expecting to meet someone. But Fen's gorgeous, with his pink-tipped hair and hipster glasses and flower shop, full of the sort of courage Alfie's never had. It should be a one-night thing, but Alfie hasn't met anyone like Fen before. Except he has. At school, when Alfie was everything he was supposed to be, and Fen was the stubborn little gay boy who wouldn't keep his head down―and who, despite their growing connection, will never truly forgive him. Fen just wants to live his life. Alfie just wants to make things right. But how can he be anything other than another heartbreak waiting to happen, when all they've got in common is the nowhere town they both spent their lives fighting to escape?