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Phoenix Wright had made a lot of mistakes in his life. Though Dahlia Hawthorne had generally been the biggest and most glaring example that came to mind, there were definitely other, smaller mistakes that he could come up with if pressed—like that time at the movie theater where he’d let Maya borrow his wallet because she said she “just wanted a tiny popcorn, really, Nick,” or that time where he’d spilled half a bottle of mustard on Franziska von Karma’s nice winter coat and she’d whipped him so hard he was pretty sure he could still feel it, or that time he’d thought Charley the plant was Mia’s boyfriend and had uncomfortably requested that Mia not let Charley live in the office because he lived in the office (and had subsequently gotten chewed out by Mia for not telling her he didn’t have an apartment).
None of these mistakes, big or small, held a candle to this.
“I-I,” stammered Edgeworth, staggering back and nearly knocking his suitcase over. Horrified by his own idiocy, Phoenix stood there with his mouth half-open, unable to think of anything at all to say that would salvage this situation. “If—the—SEE YOU IN COURT WRIGHT,” shouted Edgeworth at the top of his lungs, and made a mad dash for his plane in the most dignified way possible—which ended up just being a comical speedwalk while he dragged his wheeled suitcase haphazardly behind him.
Phoenix proceeded to stand in the airport for a very long time. How long? He had no idea. Ten seconds, ten minutes, ten hours—honestly, it was anyone’s guess. Why did I just do that, came the first conscious and coherent thought, followed closely by I should not be allowed outside the house ever again, and I will make sure Maya locks me in my office as soon as possible—
Oh god, Maya. Maya could not know about this. He was sure she’d be sympathetic after he’d fully explained the situation, but that didn’t erase the fact that it wouldn’t take very long for the merciless teasing to start up. With shaking hands, Phoenix pulled out his phone, dialing the number of the one person who might be able to make him feel at least a little bit better.
“Hello?”
“Larry, it’s Nick,” said Phoenix weakly. “Can you pick me up?”
“You did what?”
Phoenix, who had buried his face in his hands the moment he’d sat down in the passenger seat of Larry’s jalopy, let out a miserable groan.
“Nick, no judgement here,” said Larry earnestly. “Edgy’s a hot dude! Or, I don’t know, he seems like one. I guess you know, though, huh?”
Actually, thought Phoenix, calling Larry of all people to pick him up from the airport after he’d done something like this was probably the worst mistake he’d ever made in his life. Maybe today was just the day he finally earned his spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for “Biggest Human Mistake.” Raising his head reluctantly from his hands, Phoenix said heavily, “Larry, I didn’t say a word when you prom-posed to the wrong girl and somehow managed to get both of them mad at you. Can you keep your mouth shut about this one?”
“I’m not being judgy!” Larry countered indignantly. “I’m saying that I support you!”
“That’s worse!”
“Now who’s being judgy?” said Larry smugly, starting the car. “And anyway, I bet Edgy wanted to do the same thing. He’s just too chickenshit to go through with something like that, so—”
“No, Larry, he has manners,” said Phoenix.
“If you’re that freaked out about it, why don’t you say it’s a European thing?”
“BECAUSE HE GREW UP IN GERMANY!”
“Dude, you’ve got a screw loose. Edgy grew up in SoCal with us, remember?”
Maybe Phoenix shouldn’t have called anyone. Maybe Phoenix should have just stayed in stasis in the LA airport for the rest of his natural life, standing there and staring into space like the imbecile he was. Or maybe Phoenix should have said something to Edgeworth after systemically torching their tentative peace in the stupidest impulse decision known to mankind instead of just standing there and staring into space like the imbecile he was. Or maybe—
“Nick,” said Larry, surprisingly gentle, “this doesn’t seem like the standard bad-decision freakout. You wanna talk about it a little?”
Phoenix looked slowly over towards his friend, a strange, comforted feeling unfurling inside him as he remembered exactly why he had called Larry. After a few more seconds of silence, he said, “He—was leaving. And I—it felt like it was the last time I was ever gonna see him again, you know? And I’ve spent the last year thinking that he was dead, that that was it, that we were—that I was never going to have the chance to tell him all that important stuff. And I just—couldn’t. I couldn’t have him leave my life without telling him—”
The words stuck in his throat. He swallowed hard and couldn’t continue.
Larry nodded, eyes still on the road. “So did you tell him?”
“I—” Tears stung Phoenix’s eyes. One more failure on his part. “No. No, I just—no.”
“But you—”
“Yeah.”
“And now he’s—”
“Probably never going to talk to me again.”
Larry rolled his eyes a little, smirking in a way Phoenix didn’t entirely understand. “Y’know, Nick,” he said, “I know you think I’m dumb, but this takes the cake.”
“What do you mean?”
Larry snickered and didn’t say anything else.
“Larry,” said Phoenix thinly, “if you’ve got something you’re not telling me—”
“If you haven’t figured it out, man, that’s on you,” said Larry, and refused point-blank to say anything else for the rest of the car ride.
Maya, of course, picked up on it almost instantaneously. It was probably some combo of mystic intuition and little-sibling radar, but as soon as he entered the office, her wobbly smile in response to something Pearl was saying vanished instantly. Just as he had finished hanging up his suit jacket, Phoenix was knocked sideways as Maya hugged him fiercely. “Nick, Nick, you look awful!” she was saying, as though he had been the one kidnapped and held prisoner for three trial days. “What happened? Did you and Edgeworth have a fight? Did—”
“I kissed him,” said Phoenix.
That was not what Phoenix had meant to say. Phoenix had meant to say “Honestly, it’s just been a rough few days,” or “I don’t know if I’m ready to talk about it just yet,” or something else that would have sufficiently appeased Maya enough for her to drop the subject. Phoenix had not meant to tell anyone besides Larry the truth—which was that he, Phoenix Wright, had kissed Miles Edgeworth goodbye in the middle of a goddamn airport after three of the most stressful, harrowing days of his entire life.
Maya pulled back very fast, staring at him with wide eyes. For a terrifying moment, Phoenix felt sure that he was about to be subjected to some of the Kurain homophobia that Mia had brought up in casual conversation—but then her face lit up with this big, brilliant smile, and she shouted, “I KNEW IT! GUMSHOE OWES ME FIFTY BUCKS!”
“Wh—that’s—you know Gumshoe doesn’t have that kind of money,” said Phoenix, because somehow that was what he was focusing on instead of Maya reacting…honestly, exactly how he’d expected her to react, now that he was thinking about it. Belatedly, he added, “And—wait, you were betting on this?”
“I became a lawyer to see him again, Maya,” said Maya in a dramatic, breathy voice. “He’s the reason I’m the man I am today, Maya. Don’t ever say his name, Maya, I miss him every second and I don’t need you reminding me of—”
“Maya, just don’t,” said Phoenix a little more sharply than he’d intended to. Maya’s eyes widened with alarm, and he realized too late that she’d again picked up on the subtext. “Look, I’m just—”
“Nick, I—” Maya stopped herself, crossing her arms with a deeply worried expression on her face. “How did he take it?”
Awkwardly, Phoenix said, “He…ran away.”
“He ran away,” Maya repeated.
“Yeah, I—we just stood there staring at each other for five minutes, and then he yelled something about seeing me in court, and then he ran away with his suitcase. I mean, I guess it was more speedwalking than running, you know Edgeworth—”
“He ran away,” said Maya. Then, “That’s it. I’m calling him.”
“DO NOT DO THAT. NO.”
“M-Mystic Maya?” came a shaking voice from the couch.
Phoenix’s stomach dropped. In tandem, he and Maya turned to face a teary-eyed Pearl. “Pearls,” he said. “Listen—”
“Wh-what’s going on?” said Pearl. “Wh-why would Mr. Nick kiss Mr. Eh-ji-werth? My m-mother always said—”
“Pearly, no,” said Maya suddenly, a strange, steely tone in her voice that Phoenix had never heard her direct at Pearl before. “Your mother was wrong, okay?”
“No, my, my mother—” Pearl was shaking her head fiercely, a light in her eyes that mirrored Maya’s in a frightening way. “My mother said that that was wrong, that men wh-who kiss other men are wrong and they should know better, th-that they’re unnatural and unsafe—”
Phoenix felt sick.
“Pearly, stop that,” said Maya—but now that Phoenix was looking a little closer, the steely tone did a great job of hiding the tears in her eyes. “Stop it. Don’t say things like that, okay? That’s the kind of wrong stuff that people need to be ashamed of, not—it’s not wrong to—”
Suddenly, bits and pieces of information were forming a clear picture in Phoenix’s brain. The blush that had risen in Maya’s cheeks a year or so ago around Penny Nichols, and then again around Regina Berry. The way Maya was cagey and awkward whenever Pearl waxed poetry about “Mystic Maya and her special someone.” Phoenix had always thought that it was just because Maya was embarrassed by Pearl, or maybe because Maya had had a crush on him for a little while in the beginning of their partnership, but—
“Pearls,” he said, and placed a hand on the small of Maya’s back, forgetting about his own Edgeworth-related stupidity in his determination to smooth things out. “You always say that nothing’s more important than true love, right?”
Seeing Phoenix touching Maya seemed to calm Pearl down at least a little. “My mother says you can change, Mr. Nick,” she said plaintively. “You don’t have to—”
“You can’t change true love,” said Phoenix simply.
“But—but you need a mother and a father for a happy home,” said Pearl, her voice breaking. “It’s—it’s why you and Mystic Maya need to be together, Mr. Nick, don’t you see? Y-you need a mother and a father for a happy home, and I—” She was starting to really cry. “And I—”
Something in Maya’s face changed. “Pearly,” she said tearfully, moving away from Phoenix to wrap Pearl up in her arms. “It’s okay. Come here. It’s okay. Shh-shh-shh—”
This, Phoenix thought, was definitely something that needed to be resolved between Feys before he stepped in. Mia clearly hadn’t been kidding about the kind of homophobia that ran rampant in Kurain. Carefully, he tugged out his phone, checking for messages—
—and he had one missed call from Edgeworth.
No voicemail, Phoenix noted idly, falling back against the wall as his heart began to beat almost too fast to be contained within his chest. No voicemail, but a missed call. Which meant that Edgeworth had wanted to talk to him even after that absolute fucking disaster of a kiss in the airport. What the hell could Edgeworth possibly want to talk to him about? And for that matter, since when was Edgeworth the kind of person who could manage heartfelt conversations? And when he started thinking about that—
“Nick, you look like you’re gonna pass out,” said Maya, wobbly-voiced and weakly grinning. Pearl was cuddled into her, still shaking a little but looking more forlorn than furious. “Did he text you or something?”
“He—” Phoenix waved a shaking hand. “The—”
Abruptly, Pearl raised her head, a strangely familiar sparkle in her eyes. “Are you going to kiss Mr. Eh-ji-werth again and live happily ever after with him?” she asked. “Mr. Eh-ji-werth said before he left that he’s quite well-off. Does he own a mansion?” She gasped, clapping her hands together. “Mr. Nick, I think I got it all wrong! Mr. Eh-ji-werth is the prince and you’re the princess!”
Maya snickered. “Yeah, Nick! Are you Mr. Edgeworth’s Pink Princess?”
“Okay, first of all,” said Phoenix, who had been very glad that they’d finally had this very necessary family conversation right up until this point, “if anyone is the Pink Princess, it’s the guy who turns up to every trial in a magenta suit. Second—”
“There is no shame in being a princess, Mr. Nick,” said Pearl very seriously. “Mystic Maya says that anyone can love who they want to love.”
“Yes, Pearly,” Maya agreed sagely. “That definitely applies to Princess Nick over here.”
Phoenix’s phone buzzed; he jumped a little. Checking it again, he saw a text from Gumshoe.
Pal, we need to talk.
“Uhhh so glad to see you all okay gotta go right now!” said Phoenix very fast, already moving to grab his suit jacket from the coat rack. If anyone knew what was up with Edgeworth, it was going to be Dick Gumshoe—and if Gumshoe was texting him after a case had closed, it was almost definitely something to do with Edgeworth.
“GIVE HIM A BIG SMOOCH FROM US, LOVER BOY!” Maya yelled gleefully as he opened the door to leave.
“It’s Gumshoe I’m meeting, not—”
The slap from Pearl knocked him into the door. “MR. NICK!” she said furiously. “How dare you treat Mr. Eh-ji-werth so abominably! Meeting another man behind his back—”
“Oh, this has suddenly become so much more fun,” said Maya happily. “You tell him, Pearly.”
Gumshoe was waiting in the parking garage, a strange tension in the way he held himself. He relaxed a little upon seeing Phoenix, even going so far as to crack a strained smile—but it was clear something was still weighing on him, and it became even clearer when he spoke. “Mr. Edgeworth didn’t get on the plane,” he said without preamble.
“What?” Phoenix’s heart dropped. “Wh—I mean, how did you find this out?”
Gumshoe shifted awkwardly. Then he said, “When that—note—got found, I panicked. Sent up all the red flags, called all the departments, demanded that the Prosecutors’ Office be held accountable for what happened to Mr. Edgeworth. Which was the only reason Mr. Edgeworth got into contact with me, I think—‘cause I was causing too much trouble with the higher-ups for him to come back when he was ready. He had me withdraw all my formal complaints and everything.”
Phoenix, however, thought about the way Edgeworth had spoken to Gumshoe at the party—awkward and stilted, but still genuinely appreciative in an Edgeworth kind of way—and thought that Gumshoe might be missing the mark a tiny bit. Of course, most of this was stemming from Edgeworth being literally the most impossible guy ever to read. Which was what had led to—
DO NOT THINK ABOUT THAT KISS, Phoenix told his brain. This didn’t help all that much. “S-so,” he said, loudly clearing his throat, “what does this have to do with—”
“Well, I figured I didn’t want something like that to happen again,” said Gumshoe earnestly. “So I used my connections—with Mr. Edgeworth’s permission, of course—and now I get a little alert from the department every time he boards a plane. Helps me worry a little less about him.”
“That’s…sweet,” said Phoenix, smiling slightly.
Gumshoe smiled too; he looked a little sad. “Awful stuff, what happened to him,” he said. “Awful stuff. Someone’s gotta look out for the guy, and Ms. von Karma’s a little too hard with her whip. Y’know?”
“He’s lucky he has you,” said Phoenix.
Gumshoe gave Phoenix a look very similar to the one that Larry had given him a few hours ago. Then, with some exasperation, he said, “Pal, I’m saying he’s lucky he has you.”
“Wh-what?” said Phoenix.
“Someone spotted a sporty red car outside a Starbucks two blocks from here,” said Gumshoe. “Hasn’t moved in hours. Listen, you know him better than anyone—whatever’s got him stuck on the ground, you’ll know how to fix it.”
“I-I don’t know if I can—”
Gumshoe hesitated. After a moment, he said, “I’m tellin’ you this in confidence, pal, so don’t go repeating it.”
Phoenix mimed zipping his lips, regretted it, and said like a serious adult, “Understood.”
“Mr. Edgeworth asked about you every time he called,” said Gumshoe. “Didn’t go a single phone call without asking by the by, how is Wright doing? And he didn’t care about your cases, either—he shut me down every time I tried to tell him about that. He wouldn’t admit it, but the only info he’d listen to about you was whether or not you were doing okay.”
“…oh,” said Phoenix softly, and thought back again to the airport. Edgeworth’s eyes darting down to his mouth for just a millisecond—he’d been sure he’d made it up, used one fleeting, ridiculous moment to justify the one thing he’d wanted to do so badly for the last year and a half. But if he hadn’t—if he hadn’t—
“Whatever’s got him stuck on the ground,” said Gumshoe, locking his eyes with Phoenix’s, “you’ll know how to fix it.”
Phoenix checked the inside of the Starbucks like five times before it occurred to him that Edgeworth would never willingly set foot in a place that made iced tea (he had complained about it to Phoenix when he was nine, he was that much of an adorable snob), at which point he finally, finally realized where Edgeworth was. A cursory glance towards the red sportscar parked outside the Starbucks showed him that not only was Edgeworth in the car, but Edgeworth had seen him checking the Starbucks five times—and while he hadn’t realized that Phoenix had noticed him, he had started the car in what appeared to be a preemptive attempt to bolt if Phoenix did notice him.
Phoenix then got the best idea he’d gotten all day. “OH WOW LOOKS LIKE THIS IS EDGEWORTH’S CAR,” he said very loudly, making sure to not look directly at Edgeworth in the driver’s seat. “GOSH, I CAN’T FIND HIM, BUT MAYBE IF I SIT DOWN ON THE HOOD OF HIS CAR HE WILL SEE ME WHEN HE GETS BACK FROM WHEREVER HE IS. SOUNDS GREAT.”
He then flung himself bodily onto the hood of Edgeworth’s car and dented it.
“PHOENIX WRIGHT, YOU ARE PAYING FOR THAT,” shouted Edgeworth from inside the car, abruptly realized that he’d given away his position, and panicked, his foot involuntarily hitting the gas for half a second. Though Edgeworth stopped the car just as abruptly as he’d started it, the jerky movement sent Phoenix rolling off the hood and tumbling to land hard on the concrete.
So far, thought Phoenix, this day was turning out to be a complete and unmitigated failure. He decided not to get up off the ground. Maybe, if he was really lucky, Edgeworth would just put him out of his misery and run him over with the car or something.
He got out his phone and started playing Candy Crush.
“Phoenix, you are lying in the road,” said Edgeworth, hauling Phoenix to his feet and dusting him off with an irritated stare. As though it wasn’t his fault that Phoenix had fallen off the car in the first place. “What on earth has gotten into you?”
Oh god oh god oh god. Looking directly at Miles Edgeworth and knowing what it felt like to kiss him and knowing you would never get to kiss him again? Not a feeling Phoenix would recommend to anyone. Attraction, adoration, appreciation, and an abject sense of misery all mixed and mingled to the point where Phoenix couldn’t think of a single word to say.
“I love you.”
He could apparently think of three, though.
Miles’s eyes went very wide, and color rose to his cheeks the same way that it had after he had pulled away from their kiss. Weakly, he said, “I—didn’t dare to hope. Not after—” He waved a shaky hand. “After.”
“Didn’t dare to hope?” Phoenix repeated. “Hold on, you were hoping that—”
With the same kind of clumsy, impulsive desperation as Phoenix, Miles grabbed the lapels of Phoenix’s jacket, yanking him forward into a similarly awkward, similarly breathtaking kiss. He pulled away after half a second, resting his forehead against Phoenix’s—and then moved forward, kissing him again with a kind of hesitant tenderness that seemed very much at odds with the prickly, sarcastic prosecutor Phoenix was used to. “I-it’s just that your timing is terrible,” said Miles shakily when he’d pulled away. “I’m flying back to Germany, and I don’t know when I’ll return, and—”
“Semantics,” said Phoenix.
Miles cocked an eyebrow. “I wasn’t aware you knew how to use big words, Wright.”
“God, can you not be an asshole for half a second? Trick question, I know the answer’s no.”
They both laughed, then—or maybe it was closer to a kind of stunned exhalation, Phoenix wasn’t sure. He raised shaking hands to Miles’s face, and Miles turned his head towards Phoenix’s touch. “It’s just that I thought you were dead,” said Phoenix. “I—I thought you were dead, Miles.”
“I know,” said Miles very softly.
“And—I couldn’t let you leave again without—”
“Yes, I-I gathered that.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes. You aren’t exactly subtle in your intentions; I know you care very deeply for me. I just,” Miles colored, “wasn’t certain that your affection for me involved sexual attraction. Mine does. I have done my best not to mention it or make it an issue, so as not to make you uncomfortable o-or make you think—” He swallowed. It took him another moment to speak. “Or make you think less of me.”
“Make me think less of—Miles, I think less of you when you fake your own death, okay? I’d never think less of you for sharing feelings like that with me, even if I wasn’t in love with you.” Phoenix pressed his hands against Miles’s chest and felt the fluttery intake of breath in return. “Why didn’t you get on the plane?”
“Because,” Miles swallowed, “because I didn’t know—that I was—that I am in love with you. That that’s why I came back here to begin with. And—”
“—oh,” said Phoenix, the last of his admittedly limited self-control finally crumbling to bits, and pulled Miles Edgeworth into a kiss that they were both ready for.
“Larry figured it out before you did?” shrieked Maya, falling off the couch in a giggle fit. “LARRY?”
“So romantic,” Pearl sighed, cuddling into Phoenix’s side. “Separated by distance, yet your love remains strong and true! Did he get on the plane after you kissed him, Mr. Nick?”
“…not yet,” said Phoenix, choosing his words carefully. “He missed his original plane, but there’s a flight to Germany headed out pretty soon. He’ll be taking that one, I think.”
“But you gave him a big smooch goodbye, right?”
As if on cue, Phoenix’s phone buzzed again. Angling his screen away from Maya and Pearl (which was pretty difficult, given that they were both climbing all over him to try and see it), he read the two texts that Miles had sent him.
Wrapping up soon? I booked a very nice room at a hotel much more high-end than the Gatewater.
I can send you the address if you’d still like to stop by.
With a small grin, Phoenix texted Miles back.
two beds?
One.
Phoenix’s grin widened.
“AHA!” yelled Maya from over his shoulder. “Pearly, he is texting Edgeworth! And they’re gonna go stay at a hotel together, and there’s only one bed—”
“Stop giving me grief, he’s my boyfriend,” said Phoenix irritably and without thinking—then winced. “Goddamn it, we’re keeping it on the down-low—”
“!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” shrieked Pearl, flinging herself directly into Phoenix’s arms. “MR. NICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
“HOLY SHIT, NICK, YOU DID IT!!!”” yelled Maya, punching the air.
Grinning despite himself, Phoenix texted Miles back. I’ll be there. Love you.
The little typing bubble popped up on Phoenix’s screen, bubbling for five minutes before Miles’s reply finally sent: I love you too.
“Oh my god, he’s so repressed,” said Maya, draping her arms around Phoenix’s shoulders. “How did you land a guy that repressed? It’s probably going to be years before you two get married—”
“Maya, that’s how relationships work,” said Phoenix. “You don’t just get married two hours after kissing for the first time—”
“Yes, but Mr. Nick, you’ve known Mr. Eh-ji-werth for almost two decades,” whispered Pearl reverently. “You know him better than anyone! I think you two should get married—”
“Yeah, Nick, lock that sucker down!”
“He Is Moving Back To Germany,” said Phoenix very loudly. This did absolutely nothing.
Phoenix brought this up to Miles—much later, obviously, when they were both settled in each other’s arms under the softest sheets known to mankind and Miles was absently petting Phoenix’s hair. “The girls think we should get married,” he said, a laugh in his voice.
“Mm. Did you tell them I’m moving back to Germany, or should I?”
Phoenix’s laugh bubbled over and he pressed a kiss to Miles’s neck. “I like you without your cravat.”
“It is a jabot, Wright—”
“You can’t call me Wright after we’ve just had sex. I’m pretty sure this is a Phoenix situation from here on out.”
“…hmm,” said Miles. He didn’t sound too displeased with the concept. After a few more peaceful moments, he said, “I would…not be opposed to that.”
“What, calling me Phoenix?” said Phoenix evasively.
Miles rolled his eyes a little, smiling almost fondly. “You know what I’m talking about.”
Phoenix did. “But that’s…way far away, right?” he said. “You’re heading back to Germany, and I’m staying here, and—I mean, god, I don’t know when we’ll have the opportunity to see each other again with you so far away. Is that—is this—even a thing that can happen?”
Miles was quiet for a little while longer, his fingers idly playing with a strand of Phoenix’s hair. Then, very softly, he said, “I know…an impossible man. One who never gives up, even when the odds are stacked entirely against him. One who believes wholeheartedly that trust, love, and compassion can work miracles—and one who has proven, time and time again, that his beliefs are not unfounded.”
Phoenix’s heart fluttered, his breath catching. “Miles—”
“That man…inspires me to be better,” said Miles, his eyes very firmly fixed on Not Phoenix. “Makes me believe that even the impossible can be accomplished if you want it badly enough. And if I can believe in the impossible, I…” He trailed off, a small smile beginning. “I’m sure a tentative long-distance relationship isn’t wholly out of the realm of possibility. At least, I hope it isn’t.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes,” said Miles, and finally, finally, turned his head, capturing Phoenix’s mouth with his. “I love you, Phoenix Wright. I don’t suppose you realize how utterly implausible that is?”
“What, someone like you loving a dumbass like me?”
“No, you idiot,” said Miles, whacking Phoenix lightly on the back of the head before kissing him again. (The combined actions confused Phoenix more than a little bit, but not unpleasantly.) “You. Melting the ice-cold heart of the Demon Prosecutor. I’d never have guessed it possible.”
“God, you’re such a fucking drama queen.” Phoenix kissed him again. “It’s pretty hot, if you ask me.”
“I didn’t.”
“You should. I’m always—” Phoenix waited a beat, grinning. “Wright.”
Miles let out a startled laugh—one that almost sounded irritated in nature—and then kissed Phoenix again, and again, and again, until the kisses were too laughter-filled to continue on and all they could do was hold each other.
(Not that Phoenix had any complaints about that.)