Page 10 of Not Catching Love

“Only when it makes sense. I don’t believe in breaking rules just to break them. People who make stupid rules are stupid to believe they won’t be broken, and that’s on them as far as I’m concerned.”

“Well, I think the rule about patients is stupid.”

She watches me for an uncomfortably long time. “I love you, but you’re being shortsighted. Your own damn community has been accused of being predatory for too long and fought too hard against that image for you to play with that man’s job. He’s a gay man in the medical field, and you’re the person he’s treating. What do you think people would say and assume if something happened between you when there’s such a clear imbalance of power?”

No one could ever say something horrible about Derek Knight. “There isn’t though. Derek doesn’t have any power over me. I know what I want, and I go for it.”

“And while that’s one of my favorite things about you, notthis time you don’t. I mean it. You’ve had your brain addled by far too many people who should have done right by you, and until you put some effort into fixing the damage they did, you can’t claim to be in your right mind about anything.”

“Oh, fuck you.”

She laughs. “What’s wrong? Are you going to throw a tantrum, sweet pea?”

“Don’t you know that you can’t talk to people like that these days?”

“Yes, I do find people these days struggle to tell the truth.” She studies me. “Help me out here. Which part of what I said don’t you agree with?”

“I’m not an idiot. I know what I want.”

“What you think you want.”

I scoff. “You’re an expert on me now?”

“My baby boy, I’m team Xander. I’m team you do whatever you need to. I’m not pushing you either way when it comes to therapy, but I will when it comes to your nurse. I forbid it.”

“Youforbidit?” I tug at the sweater. “Does Grandaddy Gerald forbid it as well?”

“He will if I ask him to. I know you’ve never been given a boundary in your life, but this is me giving you one.”

The funny thing about never having boundaries? I don’t knowhowto have them. So I hear Aggy speak, but an angry little gremlin catches the words and filters out any meaning.

Derek’s the one I want, and if he’d stop talking about goddamn therapy every time I saw him, he’d be the perfect guy.

Aggy either wants me happy, or she doesn’t.

Boundaries or no boundaries.

Chapter Four

Derek

“Happy birthday!”

I internally die inside as Constantine leads a singing line of restaurant staff from the kitchen and into the dining area. He’s holding a cake way too big for the two of us, and I want to crawl under the table and pretend like I’m not here.

That jerk.

I’m already physically sore from the football game with Manny and my other friends today; now, he’s going to make me emotionally sore from the betrayal.

The whole time they’re singing “Happy Birthday,” the smoke rising steadily from the candles, I glare at him. He smiles at me.

Who needs enemies, huh?

“Thirty-five, you old bastard!” Constantine shouts as the servers resume the not-a-spectacle side of their jobs.

“Say it louder. I think there’s an old lady in the corner who didn’t hear you.”

“Thirty-fucking-five!”

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