Graham chuckled, glancing over. “I guess you can call it that.”
“You said you wanted my advice though?” she asked.
“Ahh, yeah.” Graham admitted, glancing around. It was a noisy restaurant, with an open kitchen, brick walls, and high ceilings. Sitting at the bar like this, he could lean in and speak quietly in Madison’s ear without worrying someone would overhear their conversation. “Is it … is itweirdif a guy doesn’t stay over after?”
She took a sip of her cocktail. “After what?”
“Umm,” Graham said because he wasn’t sure if it was crossing a line to talk about sex with the guy he was dating to his ex-girlfriend.
“Oh, sex?” She laughed. “Seems pretty normal to me. You were the weird one who was like … so down for the relationship stuff right away.”
“Oh.” He grimaced. “Shit. MaybeI’mthe problem here then.”
“Hey, I didn’t mean it like that,” she said. “I just think … you’re very all-in up-front.”
“That sounds like a polite way to tell me I come on a little strong.”
She shrugged. “Honestly, at the time, I found it refreshing. That’s why I could tell when you pulled away. It was a big 180.”
Graham swallowed. “That’s what I’m worried about with him. That he’s pulling away.”
“So you’ve had sex and he’s getting weird now?”
“Well, no,” Graham said. “Not exactly. And it kinda depends on what you consider sex. We haven’t like …”
“Oh, don’t be boringly hetero,” she said with a roll of her eyes when he didn’t finish his thought. “Sex is whatever you want it to be. It doesn’t have to be about, I dunno,insertion.”
“Then, yeah, we’ve definitely had sex,” Graham admitted.
“But you feel like he isn’t emotionally there for you?”
“No.” Graham shook his head. “Emotionally he seems all-in. It’s just … we go to sleep together, and I pass out, and heleaves.”
“And you don’t think he’s like … afraid of the emotional closeness or anything?”
“No.” Graham couldn’t quite put it into words. “No, not exactly. He opens up to me about a lot of stuff. Actually, I think he’s always shared more with me than with anyone else. I think maybe I’m the closest friend he’s ever had as an adult, and I don’t really feel like that part has changed.”
“Ahh. Okay,” Madison said. “So the only issue is he doesn’t stay over after sex?”
“It sounds stupid when you put it that way,” he admitted.
She laughed. “No, I mean I get it. And if it bugs you, it bugs you.”
“I guess I feel like an asshole forlettingit bug me,” he admitted. “Like …whyis it such a big fucking deal? So what if he prefers to sleep at his place?”
“I dunno,” she said. “Whyisit a big deal?”
“It feels like … like maybe he has one foot out the door.” Graham swallowed hard, looking down at his plate.
“Hmm. Has he saidwhyhe leaves?”
“He said he has insomnia and isn’t used to sharing a bed with anyone.”
“Well, maybe it’ll take him a little time to adjust.” Her tone and shrug were philosophical.
“Maybe.”
“Does he have any reason for why he’s never done that with anyone else before?”
