Page 134 of Out of the Storm

“Hey,” Gary said, trying to sound upbeat. “How was the . . . uhm . . .”

“Great.”

Well, that was interesting. Some of the tension left Gary’s shoulders as he craned his head to catch Jeff’s eye.

“Can you tell me about it?”

“Yeah, I wanted to.” Jeff circled around to sit in the chair next to him. “Last week, I spent the whole session telling Dr. Goldstein my family history, which was”—he shook his head—“terrible. But, this week, I, uh, reminded her what happened with Don.” Jeff took a pause, and Gary nodded. No wonder Jeff had been in such a weird mood the previous week. He hated talking about his parents. “And I, uh, I talked to her about you.”

Gary’s stomach seized.

“Oh?”

Gary realized he must not have been hiding his worry very well, probably because he had started to bounce his stupid leg again, when Jeff immediately tried to reassure him.

“Nothing bad, Gare.Of coursenothing bad. I could never say anything bad about you. Except maybe that your potato salad needs mayonnaise.”

Letting out a long breath, Gary huffed a soft laugh. “Excuse me,” he said. “I thought you liked it.”

“Eh . . .”

“What?!”

“I likedyou, Gare. I’d have eaten whatever you made for me.”

Gosh, that was sweet.

“Even the mush loaf?” Gary teased.

Jeff smiled. “I like your stupid mush loaf. I love that thing.”

Smiling back, Gary reached for Jeff’s hand. “Okay, okay, so what else happened?”

“Well, I told her what we were trying.” He cleared his throat. “Sexually.”

“Wait, not the specifics, right?”

Running his free hand over his face, Jeff let out a low laugh. “No, Gare, not... Jesus, I’m not in there talking about how much I like poking your prostate.”

Gary reeled back. “Yuck. Isn’t there a better way to say that?”

“What’s wrong with how I said it?”

“Nothing. Everything.” Gary pretended to make a face—scrunching up his nose and pursing his lips—and Jeff made the same one back to tease him. “Anyway. Continue.”

“I mean, she thought it was really smart. Checking in with each other and taking it slow and everything.”

Gary’s face brightened, his eyebrows shooting up. “Yeah?”

“Why’s that so surprising?”

“I thought she might tell you to break up with me.”

Jeff kissed the back of Gary’s hand. “If she had, I’d have fired her. I’d have fired her before she would have even finished the sentence.”

“Okay. Good.” Gary was completely satisfied for a moment, but then a thought popped into his head and his smile faltered a bit. “Have you been happy, then? With me? I know I still mess up sometimes. In the bedroom, I mean. I’m sorry for that.”

“Of course I’m happy. I know we’re... I know we’re not through this yet. Fuck, maybe we neverwill bethrough it, but, Gare Bear, I’ve never felt so safe with someone before. Even before Don. I’ve never been with anyone else who made me feel like this. I’ll never expect perfection. Don’t ever be sorry for bedroom stuff. Ever. Just... I hope you’re not bored.”

---