Page 51 of Here In Your Arms

“What’s going on?” he asks.

“Straight to the point, huh?”

“You don’t seem like someone who’s into bullshit small talk, but we can start with the weather if you’d like.”

“No, you’re right,” I tell him with a rueful smile. Taking a deep breath, I look up at the ceiling to contemplate where to begin. “You said your sister is seeing a couple of guys, right?”

He looks confused, and I can’t blame him. We came here to talk about me and I’m bringing her up.

“Yeah, why?”

“I’ll explain, but do you know much about their relationship?”

“Well, admittedly I don’t pry too much into it. I don’t need details about my baby sister’s personal life. I do know they did a lot of navigating how to make it work with two guys and one girl, and they’ve had one big blowout, but since then they’ve really worked on communication and all that. Sounds like communication is really their foundation.”

“Is that why you started to work on yours?” I ask him.

“A little, yeah. I messed up a bit when I first met her guys and Charli asked me to work on my communication once everything settled. I know I come off as the stern older brother to her, but she means the world to me.”

I smile a bit. “I bet. What makes her think you’re the stern older brother?”

“There may have been a reference or two indicating I have a stick up my ass. She thinks I haven’t heard her and my brother joke about it, but I have.”

“You? A stick up your ass? I would have never imagined that.”

Graham laughs at the joke, and I feel at ease knowing he can joke about himself. We pause, comfortably taking some drinks as I think about how to approach this. Graham doesn’t push me, which I’m thankful for, and I finally think I know what I want to say.

“So, I know that you’re not the office gossip, but I just wanted to make sure this stays with us.”

Graham snorts a laugh and nods his head. “My stick up the ass reputation holds at work. I don’t have a whole lot of work gossip that flows to me and I avoid it anyway. Besides, I mentioned earlier I don’t really have friends, and I meant it. You’re good with me.”

“My partner, Wes, and I have always wanted a woman in our relationship. Like, when we were dating, it came up on the second date or something. It’s always appealed to us even though we wanted each other too. We’ve been together a few years, but now that we think we’ve found one, I’m full of doubt.”

Graham signals the waiter for another round, and I give him a look since both our drinks are still fairly full.

“Self-doubt in a relationship setting? We’re gonna need it,” he quips.

I smile and take another drink before continuing, “Wes is so confident in himself and I love that. He knows who he is, he’s funny, he has a huge heart, and he’s always welcoming of people. I like people, sure, but I’m not as open as he is. It takes me a little more time to open up and trust.”

Pausing, I look up at him so he understands the additional message. I’m taking a huge leap of faith here, and his solemn face tells me he’s aware of this and taking it seriously.

“We haven’t been seeing her long, just a few weeks. I guess I’m worried I won’t find my place in the new relationship dynamics.”

“Hm, sounds like any relationship, to be honest,” Graham says.

“What? We’re essentially creating a three-person relationship. How is that like any other?”

“New relationships of any kind need time to navigate, right? You find out more of who you are when you spend time with people, and who you aren’t, too. Take this conversation, for example. It would have been more comfortable and easier for me to just pass by your office. It would have been easier and probably more comfortable for you to ignore me and not open up. Here we are, though, both taking risk and finding out more about ourselves. Add in the factor of a new romantic relationship and it changes the game to be more serious.”

I nod, thinking about his words. I hadn’t expected him to be so insightful, if I’m honest. Part of me assumed it would be me talking with Graham just adding in a few words of affirmation or doubt. Sounds like I asked the right guy to talk to. He’s right, though, it’s only been a few weeks. I need to give it more time before assuming everything will just magically fall into place.

“When did you get so wise about this shit?” I ask him, genuinely curious.

“What makes you think I haven’t always been?”

I just raise an eyebrow at him, causing him to laugh and shake his head.

“Fair. I’m not normally the guy with great advice. I tend to follow and learn instead of showing someone how.” He takes a drink and scratches a little at his goatee, thinking a moment. “Watching Charli and her guys though? It’s made me go out of my comfort zone. Been doing a lot of thinking and there’s someone I think I want to be better for. She’s got someone, so it’s probably not gonna happen.”

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