The warm jets propelled me forward, soothing the tension in my back as I floated in the hot tub, looking up at the dark sky. I wondered where to start in the conversation with Gabe. I didn't know how much he already knew and didn't want to bother him with my problems. He seemed like too important of a person to want to waste his time on my childish issues. Which is what made this time together even more special.
As he eased into the water next to me, I noticed music in the background — a playlist I'd made for him. There wasn't much crossover in our tastes, but after knowing each other 11 years, we'd found enough songs for an entire playlist.
"So... I'm going to torture you first..." Asking emotional questions to Gabe always made me so nervous — sometimes he could be more guarded and defensive than even Izaak (but at the end of the day, they both always answered my questions anyway 🥰). "How do you not get attached in relationships? Like, how do you stay detached? From people in general? Why aren't you in a relationship now? Why didn't you want to marry your ex?" I finally made eye contact, able to relax a little when I could tell he wasn't annoyed with my questions.
But he had thrown his guard up. "Are you still having problems with your newspaper guy?"
I poked my lower lip out. "It's my turn to torture you. I still have like 45 minutes or something."
"Fair enough, but I'll only agree to this if you give me your direct psychoanalysis of me afterward."
"I'm not a psychoanalyst. C'mon, tell me more about your relationship. All I remember is that you felt you couldn't talk to her about the spanko stuff."
"It was more complicated than that." He sighed, bracing himself for having emotions, since he was such a professional at not having any. Another question to add to my torture list.
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