Page 27 of Fractured Grief
I’d almost kissed my physical therapist.
I’d almost kissed Indy. I’d almost kissed a man.
I’d felt a connection to him from our earlier conversation, and then seeing him lose his train of thought and zone out throughout the session was surprisingly endearing. He was usually no-nonsense and beyond professional.It was fun to see a different side to him. He cared and understood loss in a way I couldn’t articulate.
As his hands moved over my thigh, I was lost in the warmth that settled over me. It had been so long since I’d been touched intimately or wanted to be touched. The massage started out like all the others I’d been given throughout my recovery, until something shifted. Our connection ignited, and it began to feel different.More.
I would never want to do anything to make Indy uncomfortable, and by his faster-than-professional exit, I might have done just that.
Shit.
I hoped he knew I would never do anything to hurt him or affect his work. He loved his job, but now that I knew he had a daughter at home, I was guessing he needed it more than ever.
“Hello, Seb.” Lyric waved his hand in front of my face. I’d zoned out. “What happened?”
“Nothing,” I said tersely.
“Bullshit! I saw you two. And talk about sexual chemistry. I thought I was going to need to bring in a fire hose with the heat you two were generating!” Lyric fanned his face.
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at Lyric’s ridiculousness.
“Shut up,” I shifted to try to get up. Thankfully, Lyric paused being dramatic for a second and helped me. Once I was upright, he passed me my cane.
“Do you like him? Were you about to kiss? Something happened before, didn’t it? I knew it!” He paused to fist bump the air like he’d just won the lottery, andhe started doing a ludicrous little victory dance. A smile rose involuntarily to my face, but I couldn’t let him see that, or this would never end.
“Someone broke through that gruff and stuffy exterior! What you gonna do about it?” He bounced in place as he spoke a mile a minute. I shuffled into the kitchen to get a glass of water.
“You can’t just ignore me!”
“Yes, I can.”
He invaded my personal space. “Come on, admit it. Youlikehim,” Lyric poked my chest.
“Cut it out.” I batted his hand away and pushed him back. “He’s my physical t-therapist. Nothing happened.”
Lyric tapped his chin. “That’s not a no.”
When I didn’t say anything else, Lyric took that as my answer, and his smile overtook his face. “Seb and Indy, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g,” he sang the old playground song as he danced away from my swatting cane.
I pinched the bridge of my nose, willing him to stop as he continued like it was the best song in the world. “Would you st-top!”
“Admit it and I will.”
“But nothing happened.” I was getting frustrated, and my problematic speech was becoming more pronounced, giving me away. Lyric knew, yet he continued to provoke me.
“I’m not sure I believe you,” Lyric cackled, thriving on my discomfort.
“Okay, okay, yes, there’s s-s-something about him th-that interests me. Happy now?” I snapped.
Lyric froze in place, and his jaw dropped. “For real?” he whispered.
Rolling my eyes, I sighed. “You seriously j-just annoyed a confession out of me, and you’re s-surprised.Really?”
“I never thought you’d admit it. And you being interested in someone is huge! Wow. How do you feel? Are you okay?”
“I don’t know. Weird? It’s such a s-st-range feeling. Being attracted to someone. It’s never been at the forefront of my mind. Once I g-got you and the others to stop ribbing me, I didn’t think about it at all. That’s weird, isn’t it?”
“No, it’s not weird.” Lyric looked stoic, and his demeanor turned pensive. “You know, I’m sorry we gave you a hard time. We’re brothers. It’s always been my job to annoy you all. As soon as I hit puberty, I was interested in everyone and didn’t understand why everyone else wasn’t, especially you, my dashing, mountain of a brother. You could’ve had anyone. You were, like, the most popular guy in your grade and had no clue. I was a little jealous,” Lyric paused, twisting his hands in front of himself as he glanced away. “You know no one would judge you for not being interested in people or a relationship. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
