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"Cri the tiniest bit

I smacked his chest for emphasis "Have you seen yourself? More to the point, have you fucked yourself?"

And that, ladies and gentleery that would keep hts for the rest of my life Not to mention the heat that flared in his eyes I feltcredibility here "I just mean-- hell I don’t knohat Iuess the question is, why?"

"Why I hadn’t had sex in so long? Or why I didn’t tell you about Polly?" he asked, his arms still on either side ofthere, his thu the skin exposed

It thrilled me no end to have his hands on me once more And it scared me beyond belief that his hands could thrill e to push past that?

"Answer both," I ventured,just because I could? Okay, we’ll go with that

"I will answer both; they’re actually linked But it’s a bit of a story--are you up for it? It’s all the things you say you don’t like: messy, painful"--he bu"

He was giving me a choice here Not just to hear his story, but to take this next step with him To hear his story, and let him in To hear his story, and he’d trust me with it Was I up for this?

I chewed on my lip He stroked my hip

"Okay," I said carefully, then placed a kiss in the exact center of his chest "Let’s hear it"

We sat on the front porch on opposite ends of the old wicker sofa, separated by a pillow I’d unwittingly erected between us Probably not theway to listen to his story, but I needed this s I now understood hen irlfriends complained about how stressful relationships were, they said they were tired of all the back and forth and arguing and feeling let down

Frustration, elation, being deters inside and out But the e involved with someone romantically? I had no primer except my mother’s--hence the deter Leo okay, I went straight for the scotch, and he accepted hballs, and Leo told me his story

"I was born in Manhattan, Lenox Hill hospital--"