Such a good fucking question. “I dunno. That’s why I come to you. You’re the expert.”
“A lot of our social norms are built around monogamy and relationships made up of two people. We go into those with a lot of the rules mutually understood. Trying something different requires a lot more communication and negotiation.”
“I told Jess to let him take care of her while I’m here.”
“Was that how you really felt?”
He rolled it around in his head. “Yes.”
“Is there a but attached to that?”
“No. Just that same tension inside me that we talked about last time. What weshoulddo versus what we are doing.”
She made a note on her pad of paper, then leaned over and tugged open a drawer. “Here’s a worksheet you can use to help decide if a thought you have is important for you, or can be discarded. We can’t control hot thoughts—the ideas that pop into our heads—but we can analyze them and decide if they’re valid or not.”
He was pretty sure ninety percent of the shit that popped into his head wasn’t valid. He took the piece of paper and stared at it. The columns swam in front of his eyes.
“When do you see her next?”
“Four more days.”
“Be gentle on yourself this week. Be aware of what you tell yourself youshouldbe feeling, and if it’s trying to attack how you really feel deep down.” She glanced at the clock. “We’ve got time now if you want to work through the exercise together.”
He shook his head.
“Okay. We’ll do this at your pace.”
His pace was too slow, though. Jess needed him to sort his shit out as soon as possible.
23
Brent’s phone rang as he arrived at Jess’s house. It was Evan. “Hey, you.”
“Looking forward to tonight?” Evan’s voice was silky and low, a rich rub that went straight to his groin.
So, so much. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. “Hell yeah.”
“What time are you getting into town?” Evan asked.
“I just arrived at Jess’s place, why?” As he said that, she opened the door, and he leaned in to give her a kiss.Evan, he mouthed, pointing at the phone.
“I’m going rock climbing with a couple of local guys this afternoon. You could join us if you want.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Chase Miller and DeShawn Williams. Do you want to come with?”
Did a bear shit in the woods? “Yeah, that sounds good. I met DeShawn last week. Jess took me around before we came to your place.”
Beside him, Jess raised her eyebrows and smiled.
After Brent confirmed a meet-up time with Evan, he hung up the phone and swung her into his arms. “What was that look for?”
She wriggled. “Nothing.”
“Out with it.”
After successfully squirming out his arms, she walked right back up against him and poked him in the chest. “Do you have a little celebrity crush on the local Olympian?”
