He had no ulterior motives when he first invited her out for ice cream, that much Chris remembered. He was sure of it. The wolf had grown fonder of the human back in captivity and he made a point of checking in on her once he was ready to leave the house - which was still hard, but what best incentive to go out for a short period than to see a friend? And ice cream?
He could pinpoint the moment it happened though, how the air was punched out of his lungs, his vision got blurry, the little ring in his ear as his heart skipped a beat. It all lasted one moment, and he looked up disoriented, rubbing his eyes with a “Hm?” but he wasn’t prepared to the sight in front of him.
It looked straight out of a romcom, his wolf eyes catching on every single freckle on her face, the curve of her lips as she talked, how her eyelashes fluttered when she blinked. Life was in slow motion for a moment and the wolf got flustered when he noticed, blushing deeply “I’m sorry, Maya, I- I think I zoned out. You- you were saying?”
Internally, however, Chris was freaking out. It took him 20 years of struggles to come out as gay- he was pretty sure he was gay! Wait, wasn’t he gay? What if he’s been straight all this time? Oh god. What the hell was going on?!