Page 11 of Under Your Care

“It’s okay, Lane, we all have our preferences,” he teased, not helping my embarrassment.

“Ughhh, please just forget about that,” I whined, hiding my face behind my hands.

“Alright, alright,” he mused. Looking at the time, he said, “I suppose it’s getting late. Do you think you’re okay to drive home now? Are you feeling a bit better?”

I smiled, saying, “Yes, I’ll be okay. Thank you– for everything.”

As we stood, he gave me a quick hug. “Okay, please be safe. I’d like to see you back in a week. Does that work for you? Amelia’s probably left by now, but I can make sure she schedules it first thing tomorrow.”

“Sure, that’ll be fine,” I agreed. After deciding on a date and time, Dr. Cohen escorted me outside, locking the door to the office behind us.

Chapter 7

Lane

I wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but I’d been way too horny the past couple of days. It was like my last therapy session had opened the floodgates somehow. I supposed that it was most likely due to me addressing my negative feelings regarding sex, but that would mean the therapy was actually working. Which was something I hadn’t expected happening.

Sure, I had gone into it with the hopes that it would help, but deep inside I truly felt like nothing would ever change. Wanting to test out my newfound libido, I downloaded a dating app and told Oliver to bring over some alcohol. He was unsurprisingly excited for a night of critically judging my potential matches while getting drunk off our asses. He arrived a lot quicker than I had expected, which resulted in him continuously ringing my doorbell while I rushed to get out of the bathroom. I swung open the front door just as his finger rang the bell for the millionth time.

“Jesus, fuck, Ollie! You’re lucky my neighbors didn’t just come out and shoot you,” I sniped, taking the grocery bags from him before practically kicking him inside the apartment.

He rolled his eyes, mimicking me, “You’re lucky the neighbors didn’t shoot you, meh, meh, meh.They probably wouldn’t aim low enough to hit me.”

Hewaspretty fucking short for a guy at 5’4. I couldn’t rib him for it much though since I was only 5’6. Rolling my eyes back at him, I carried the bags over to my kitchen counter. Looking inside, I found a six-pack of hard seltzer, a bottle of wine, and possibly the entire bakery section of the grocery store. I cackled at the assortment but was soon preparing us plates of baked goods and procuring cups from my cabinets. Once I was satisfied with our spread, I joined Oliver on my couch - a beat-up, but well-loved, lilac loveseat I had found at his store. He had offered to reupholster it - whatever the fuck that meant - but I liked it’s character and brought it home as it was. Taking a big sip of the wine, I brought up the app on my phone and casted it to my television so that Oliver had an easy view of our contestants. I wasn’t really looking for a relationship - I didn’t think it would be a possibility even if I wanted it - so I had my profile set to show that I was looking for a one-night stand. Oliver cuddled into my side as he knocked back his entire cup of wine.

“Drinking pretty fast there, buddy,” I quipped.

He ignored me as he nonchalantly shrugged and grabbed a cupcake.

While peeling off the paper wrapping, he sang, “Less judging me, more judging horny guys.”

I laughed, beginning to go through the profiles. For a virgin who’d never been in a relationship, Oliver sure had opinions. That guy’s dick was too small, that guy had weird ears, that guy looked too Mormon, and so on. Honestly, I mostly agreed with him, but had to remind him that we were just looking for a guy for me to hookup with, not marry.

“What about this guy?” I asked him, stopping on a profile.

The guy had a profile picture of his face and upper body - both relatively attractive - and was also looking for something casual.

“Ehhhh…” He groaned, pausing for a second before turning to look me in the eyes. “I mean… Do you really want to do this? I know you want something serious, so why are you suddenly intent on fucking some random guy and then never speaking to him again? I thought you were done with all of this.”

“I don’t know…”

Suddenly feeling dejected, I thought back to something Dr. Cohen had said last session. About how I’d only ever had partners who just want me for sex. Trying to find a one-night stand was the same thing. I wasn’t going to magically break that cycle by hooking up tonight.

“Ugh. Okay, well we can just have a sleepover instead. I feel like if I let you drive back to your apartment you’re going to accidentally drive off a bridge or hit somebody. Wanna watch a movie? That’ll probably be more interesting than any of these guys anyways.”

“Oh heck yes! Can wepleasewatch a nature documentary?” He pleaded. I shook my head in amusement and found an octopus documentary to stream for us. Oliver pumped his fist in the air.

We snuggled under a knit blanket, eventually both dozing off to sleep.

???

I awoke to the sound of my phone ringing. Oliver was still fast asleep. He had apparently taken the octopus movie we had watched to heart as he had all four limbs wrapped around me. Not wanting to disturb his sleep, I let the call go to voicemail. A minute or two later, the ringing started again. Begrudgingly, I very carefully untangled myself from my sleeping friend and walked into my bathroom so that my voice wouldn’t wake him. By the time I managed to shut myself in, the ringing had stopped. I began growing concerned when I noticed that it had been my mother calling. We spoke at least every week, but if I missed her call to catch up, she’d just leave a voicemail and wait for me to get in touch with her.

She picked up immediately when I returned the call. With panic in her voice, she skipped her normal pleasantries and asked, “Lane, have youheard about your cousin, Tate?”

My stomach dropped, churning from hearing his name first thing in the morning.

“No, is everything okay, Mom?” I forced out.

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