Graham laughed, sliding his hands along Thad’s arms, the water slicking his way. “Yeah, but it’s myjobto be in shape.”
“Mmm, true,” Thad admitted. “But you do itverywell.”
“Thank you.” Graham smoothed his palms across Thad’s chest. “So, uh, back to this waxing thing from the other night.”
Thad groaned and tipped his head forward. “What did I tell you about talking about my brother when my dick is out?”
“Uhh, I didn’t say anything about your brother this time,” Graham countered with a laugh. “That was all you.”
That was fair, Thad supposed. So he straightened and looked Graham in the eye. “What do you want to know about it?”
Graham kept rubbing at his chest. “Just curious why you started doing it.”
Thad shrugged. “I mean, I’m pretty hairy. And when it started going silver I … I don’t know. It made me feel …”
He hesitated because this wasn’t easy for him. This raw honesty. There was no doubt he’d always found it easier with Graham than with anyone else. And that was probably why Thad had started to develop feelings for him in the first place.
And while he might not know what the fuck he was doing in a relationship, he did know how important it was to open up to Graham. To be honest. To let himself be vulnerable.
His therapist had stressed that enough times. Harlan was probably going to be ecstatic to find out Thad was in a relationship now.
So Thad took a deep breath, swallowed hard, and said, “It made me feel …old.”
“And that … bothers you?” Graham tilted his head, studying Thad’s face.
Thad resisted the urge to flinch. To look away. To hide.
“I … yeah.” He dragged a hand through his damp hair. “I mean, everyone else got to do all this shit in their twenties, you know? They got to fuck around in college and try out relationships and jobs until they found the right fit. And I had to do it all a decade later than everyone. It was … it wasembarrassingto not have it together at my age.”
“I get that,” Graham said.
“And I—I don’t know. I wasn’t trying to meet someone to fall in love with or anything, so what did it matter if I knocked a decade off my age on my profile on the apps, dyed my hair, and waxed my chest? It wasn’t going hurt anyone if I wasn’t completely honest with someone I was only hooking up with once or twice.” He shrugged.
“Did you go to a salon?”
“At first, yeah. I started doing it when I lived in New York, when I had the job at the startup. I was already dying my hair, and I could afford to drive to Jersey to get a cheap wax when I needed it. It was … it was my treat to myself, you know? A little luxury I’d never had before.”
Graham frowned. “What did you do after the company went under?”
“I let the hair grow for a while. But I noticed—I noticed people treated me differently. For one, I got a lot of people into the whole Daddy thing. Which … whatever. I don’t give a shit if other people are into it but it wasn’t what I was looking for.”
“Sure. Makes sense.”
“So I started doing it at home.”
Graham winced. “Ouch.”
“Yeah, it hurts like a bitch,” Thad agreed. “No matter who’s doing it.”
“I’m sure. I know some guys who do it for hockey because the chest protectors get really uncomfortable otherwise. They’re always complaining about it though.”
“Why are you so curious about it anyway?” Thad asked, smoothing a hand up Graham’s back.
“I don’t know.”
“Do youwishI was furrier?”
“Mmm, not exactly.” Graham let out a thoughtful hum. “I meant it when I said you’re hot with a smooth chest and you’d be hot with a furry one. I guess I want you to know I don’t care where you’re at in life. I don’t care if you’re behind the schedule most people have. If youwantto wax because you like it better, then fucking go for it. But if you don’t want to deal with the cost and the discomfort, I’ll—I’ll be into you either way.”
