Page 45 of Leo, My Partner

“Yeah, but it’s messy.”

“I like making you mess,” I tell him with a smirk.

I hand him my washcloth and turn around so he can wash my back. “Do you want to go on another date with me in a few days when we return to the city?”

“Yes. Where?”

“It’s a surprise. Don’t worry, it’s nothing dangerous. I think you’ll like it.” I turn around when he’s finished. “Wear makeup again for me?”

“Yes,” he murmurs again, blushing prettily.

We get out of the shower, and after I dry Ty off and help him get dressed—he grumbles the whole while but doesn’t tell me to stop—we go our separate ways. I grab a bag of cans I have set aside for my own target practice and step outside. The early morning air is crisp, tingling my nose as I breathe in deeply.

Trotting down the stairs, I walk deeper into the woods, heading for the area I usually set up my targets. I’ll set the cans closer for Ty, since this is his first time shooting a gun.

While I work, I think about the feeling I get when I look at Ty. It’s so strong, and even thinking about him makes me feel emotions I’ve never experienced. I search within myself, trying to pin down the feeling, but it keeps eluding me.

Since it’ll take a while for Ty to get the dough made and wrapped for baking, I sit on one of the stumps where I set up my cans. I close my eyes and try to figure out the emotions I have flowing through me. Obsession, for sure. Infatuation. And something … more. What is that more? It’s almost like?—

My eyes pop open, and I gasp, not believing it. It can’t be. The shitty therapist that was in the reform school told me it wasn’t possible. I’ve believed it for the past twenty years.

My hands shake as I pull out my phone. I’m nervous. I’ve never been nervous about anything.

The phone rings a few times against my ear before Blu picks up.

“I have a patient, Leo,” he says by way of a greeting.

“I think I love Ty.”

Silence greets me for a few moments, then I hear Blu mutter unintelligibly. A minute later, he’s back on the line. “Why do you think you love Ty?”

I tell Blu all about the unknown emotions I’ve been having, how I look at Ty and get this overwhelming feeling I can’t put a name to. I also mention how I felt this inexplicable draw to him the first time I laid eyes on him. The urge to claim him was so immense I had to wrestle it down until I had it subdued, which was no easy task.

An unexpected chuckle drifts through the line. Blu rarely laughs. Hell, he hardly smiles unless June is around. It shocks me enough that I stop talking.

“Leo, you know the answer to that question. For people like us, it’s not easy to come to terms with, what with most studies saying we can’t feel love. But not every psychopath is the same. Take me and you for example. You feel different emotions than I do. You formed a genuine friendship with June while I haven’t ever had a real friend in my life.”

I run my fingers through my hair. “Yeah, but June is June. He’s different.”

“And so is Ty, if you love him.”

“Fuck, Blu. What do I do?”

“There’s nothing for you to do. He’s already yours. You’ve claimed him, and he knows it. He’s not going anywhere. How do you feel when you’re with him?”

That’s a question that can be answered easily but with as much shock as finding out the emotion I’m feeling is love. “Happy. The first time I was happy since I can remember.”

Blu hums. “That’s how I feel with June. It took me a lot longer to come to terms with it than you did, and I had to work it out alone.”

“I’m glad you’re here for me to talk to, Blu. I’m glad you’re back in my life.”

“Me too, cousin. Need anything else?”

I look at my watch, trying to gauge if Ty is done so we can get started. He should be wrapping the dough now to rise, and I have to get the guns out here.

“When do I tell him?”

“That’s up to you. Be sure before you do though. Normal people like to ask questions like ‘how do you know’ and shit like that.”

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