Summary

Noel returns to the bakery. Mae tells TJ that she has decided to keep the home above the bakery but expand the business to a new location. Fati suggests that the news might “actually force [TJ] to make a decision” (253) about staying or leaving. After the party, TJ and Noel have sex.

TJ remembers a trip to Seoul with his father, during which Jin often “touch[ed] my shoulder or [ran] his hand through my hair” (258). He remembers a quiet moment in which he and father took a nap together.

Ian goes to the bakery and wordlessly drives TJ to Galveston. He tells TJ that his fiancée has left him. In Galveston, Ian and TJ have sex. Ian admits that he couldn’t imagine “depriving” (263) himself of sexual encounters with men. TJ tells him that he is seeing someone else. He comforts...