Page 78 of A Reluctant Boy Toy
“Love you,” I called when I was almost too far away for him to hear.
“Me too, Stoney.”
I walked home with a lighter heart.
The more I acknowledged that I might be different, the more it felt like an immense weight dropped off my shoulders. I was no longer uncomfortable about the things I wanted. I wasn’t some weird, cold dude, who couldn’t be bothered with sex.
Rather than constantly asking myself why I wasn’t like everyone else, I now wondered if anyone else I knew was like me. Did I want to share what I’d learned or meet other people who experienced attraction the way I did? Maybe.
How many of them thought they were broken, or frigid, or wrong?
If I shared my story, would it help someone else?
When I made it home a while later, I put the kettle on for tea.
I was standing in the mostly dark kitchen staring out the window when footsteps approached from the hall behind me. I turned to find Sebastian in the kitchen doorway wearing his slanket one-armed. Morrigan followed him in. She stopped just inside the door, sniffing the air to see what I’d been up to without her.
“Trouble sleeping?” Sebastian asked.
“I went out for a bit.” I turned on the light over the stove. Got chamomile tea from the cupboard. “It’s good to be home. How about you? Is everything okay?”
Were we going to talk about what happened between us or not?
“I had a hard time getting comfortable,” he admitted.
I guess not.
“I’m sorry.” I checked Sebastian’s medication schedule on my phone. “It’s time for a pain pill. I’m making tea if you want some.”
He pulled a chair out and sat at the table. “Thank you.”
“You’ve been eating like a bird.” I got him a bowl of cut fruit and a yogurt cup. “You need to eat if you want to keep up your strength.”
“Eating is a lot of bother for me right now.”
“If you’re asking me for help, it’s no trouble.” I sat opposite him and forked up a bite size piece of melon.
He took it and chewed thoughtfully. “I didn’t want to presume.”
“Do I seem like the kind of guy who lets people take advantage of him?”
He gave a sly grin. “You probably don’t want the answer to that.”
The little monster. “Trust me when I say I’m happy to feed you as long as you need me to.”
He nodded without looking up.
“What?” I peeled the lid off the yogurt and licked it out of habit before spooning up a dollop for Sebastian.
“I don’t want you to get mad.” He caught his dry lower lip between his teeth. “But I think you might.”
“I already said I’m happy to help. I don’t know what else I can say.”
He accepted the yogurt but still didn’t lift his gaze to mine.
“Sebastian, Iwillget mad if you starve yourself because of your pride.”
“Ilikehaving you feed me.” Finally, his feathery lashes lifted, and he shot me a wide, almost pewter glare. “I don’t want you to get mad, but I like it very much.”
