“What a relief.” Jeremy reached out to place his hand over the fist Harrison still had clenched around his spoon. “You might want to put that down before you crush it.”
Harrison dumped the spoon into his bowl and pushed it away. “When I moved to Australia, I was one of those ‘troubled teens’ you hear people complaining about.” Harrison held up his hands to put air quotes around the words. “Skipping school, getting into fights, drinking anything I could get my hands on.”
“At thirteen?” Jeremy couldn’t stop the raise of his eyebrows. He couldn’t imagine Harrison drinking alcohol at such a young age.
“Oh, yeah. That was me. I was still dealing with a lot of stuff that happened before I left England.”
“The death of your parents?” he asked.
“My mum,” Harrison corrected. “My father didn’t die until about a year later.”
Jeremy managed to cover his surprise this time. He’d assumed Harrison’s parents died at the same time but, when he thought about it, Harrison had never specifically said that. But why would a thirteen-year-old boy move overseas to live with his aunty and uncle if his dad was still alive?
“Anyway,” Harrison continued, “after a particularly bad bender, my uncle insisted I talk to someone.”
There was a long pause. “A counsellor?” Jeremy said by way of encouragement.
“Something like that.” Harrison was still hedging, still censoring, but at least he was answering the question. Jeremy wasn’t about to quibble over semantics. “She helped me sort through a lot of stuff. Eventually, we decided on a series of rules I could use to help me stay in control of my life. They weren’t exciting. Sleep, good nutrition and exercise, were the foundation. Then, we added other things on top.”
“No drinking, no swearing, etcetera,” Jeremy added.
Harrison nodded.
“How many of these rules do you have?”
Harrison’s chest moved as he took a deep breath. Jeremy wouldn’t say he’d relaxed again, but he no longer looked like he expected to lose his head. “More than I’m willing to admit to at this point in our relationship,” Harrison told him. “I don’t want you to realise how boring I am until after you’re crazy about me.”
“What makes you think I’m not already there?” Jeremy said with a smile as he sat back in his chair. “Do you ever get the urge to break the rules? Be a rebel?”
Standing, Harrison picked up the empty plates and took them over to the sink. “They’re self-imposed, I’m not sure breaking them would count as rebellious,” Harrison said with a snort. “Besides, they’re good for me. If you want a healthy mind you have to start with a healthy body and healthy habits. It’s basic self-care, nothing more.” He turned, crossing his arms as he leaned back against the sink. “Not as dramatic as you were expecting, I suppose.”
Jeremy shook his head. “Drama holds no fascination for me.” For six years his life had been nothing but drama. By contrast, Harrison’s story of teen angst and subsequent self-discipline was an enormous relief. Anna had been right, after all. Harrison was saddled with emotional baggage the same as any other adult on the planet, but he wasn’t trapped under the weight of it like Aaron had been. “You know, I reckon I could learn a thing or two from you,” he added. “When it comes to self-care, I’m still a beginner.”
Harrison moved more easily as he lowered himself back into his seat at the table. “Everyone has to start somewhere.”
“True.” Jeremy looked up at the other man from beneath lowered lashes. He was grateful Harrison had trusted him enough to share such a personal part of himself and he wanted to respond in kind. “I started the second time I became homeless.”
Curiosity lit up Harrison’s eyes. “Tell me?”
He smiled, leaning on his elbows as he clasped his hands beneath his chin. “I didn’t scare you off with the first story?”
“Not even close,” Harrison assured him. “I want to know all your stories.”
Jeremy liked that. He wanted to know Harrison’s stories, too. “This one has a happy ending,” he said by way of opening the tale. “After I left Aaron, I met this couple, Brady and Trina. Well, they weren’t a couple at the time. I was sharing an apartment with Trina and we both met Brady when he moved in next door.”
It was Harrison’s turn to raise his eyebrows this time. “Sounds like the set-up of a bad porno.”
If there was any tension remaining in the room, that well and truly broke it. Throwing his head back, Jeremy laughed out loud. “Oh crap, it really does,” he said, covering his face with his hands. “I never thought of it like that before.”
“Did this situation lead to kinky times?”
Jeremy released a sigh as memories flooded his mind. “So damn kinky. And sweet. And a hell of a lot of fun.” The three of them had spent quite some time falling into bed together and he didn’t regret a single moment. “But then, Trina and Brady fell in love,” he said with a bittersweet smile, “and I knew it was time for me to opt out so they could be together. Which meant moving out of Trina’s apartment, hence my return to homelessness.”
“Was it a messy ending?”
He shook his head. “Not at all. They’re both beautiful people and I know we’ll be friends long into the future but, I haven’t spoken to either of them since I moved out nearly three months ago. That was when I decided to stay single.”
“So, you weren’t only getting over Aaron, you were getting over Brady and Trina as well.” The acceptance in Harrison’s eyes told Jeremy he understood how important the short-term relationship had been to him.
