Tash smiled back at him. “Good morning.” He walked in and placed his bag at the foot of the stairs. “Beautiful place you have here.” His gaze swept the room. “Mid to late nineteenth century, I’m guessing.”
Jordan nodded. “Yes. It was built around 1880, from what we were able to find out from city records.”
“Mind if I wander around?”
“Of course not.” Jordan watched as Tash entered the front parlor and gazed up at the tin ceiling.
“Beautiful restoration.” He looked about appreciatively. “Everything in this room is perfect.”
“Thanks.”
Drew entered the room, pulling on his jacket. “I’ve got to go, Jordy. Call me later, okay?” He hugged him tight. “I love you. Everything’s going to be all right.”
“Thanks, D. Love you too, man.” He hugged Drew’s slender frame.Thank God for my friends. “Talk to you later.”
Drew shook Tash’s hand. “Good to see you again. Take care of this guy. He’s a pain in the ass, but I like having him around.”
Jordan groaned. “Don’t you have work to do? Boobs to lift or something?”
Drew shuddered. “Not anymore. God save me from the ladies who lunch and have too much money and time on their hands.”
After Drew left, Jordan showed Tash around the rest of the house. The man certainly knew his architecture, and as they stood in the front parlor, Jordan questioned him on his obvious knowledge.
Tash laughed and pushed his glasses up on his nose. “Oh, it’s only a hobby. I have a carriage house in Brooklyn that I spent years renovating, so I’m always interested in seeing what other people have done with their homes.” He ran his hand over the carved mantel of the fireplace. “I appreciate when I see a house, like yours, where so much obvious love and thought was put into the restoration.”
“Keith and I spent every weekend doing something for this money pit. But I won’t deny I love it.”
“Why deny it? And it’s good you have a comforting place to do the treatment in. Makes things that much easier.” He pulled open his satchel and took out a bag of saline, the vial with the dosage of the flumazenil, and the intravenous tubes.
As he worked, Tash talked. “I’m starting you out on a low dosage to see how you react. You haven’t been on the Xanax for that long, which is a good thing, so I’m hopeful this will work right from the start.”
Jordan clasped his shaking hands together. His heart pounded so hard he hoped he wouldn’t stroke out. What a chickenshit he was. He’d taken the drugs with no thought or concern; why did the treatment scare him so much? “How will we know if it works?”
“It’s not going to happen overnight, Jordan.” Tash put down the vial on the marble coffee table. “You didn’t become addicted immediately, so I’m sure you know the treatment won’t work after one dose. But after tomorrow, your anxiety level should drop significantly.”
“Um, all right. Do I need to do anything?” Jordan watched as Tash set up the IV pole and hung the bag of saline on it.
“Roll up your sleeve and let me go wash my hands.” Tash headed toward the small powder room next to the kitchen. Jordan pushed up the sleeve of his thin sweater and leaned back on the sofa with his eyes closed. Memories of making love with Lucas played in his mind, and a yearning to hold him and be held welled up from within, so strong he almost couldn’t breathe. He’d never been so alone as he was at this very moment.
“Hey, Jordan, don’t worry. I promise it will be okay.” He opened his eyes to view Tash kneeling next him, a sincere, comforting smile on his handsome face. Jordan couldn’t be more thankful to have someone like Tash as his doctor.
“I know.” He huffed out a nervous laugh, running his hand through his hair. “Fear of the unknown, I guess.”
Tash picked up his hand and squeezed it. “Don’t be ashamed. It’s normal to be scared. I’d be surprised if you weren’t. But I’m going to be with you every step of the way. That’s what I’m here for.”
Jordan was sitting and staring at their entwined hands when a growling voice broke into his reverie.
“Am I interrupting anything?”
Jordan jerked his hand away and turned around to see a glowering Lucas standing in the doorway. Elation bubbled up inside of him and a wide smile broke across his face as he jumped up and ran over to his lover.
He threw his arms around Lucas. “What are you doing here? I’m so happy to see you.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Lucas hugged him back, hard and tight. So tight he almost couldn’t breathe, but it felt good to be wanted and needed by this man. “I had Val rearrange my schedule this next week so I can be with you for the treatments. My phone calls will be routed here, if that’s okay.”
“You don’t know how much I wanted you here with me.” Lucas’s heady scent enveloped him, and Jordan couldn’t let go, burrowing his face into Lucas’s shoulder, digging his fingers into the wool of Lucas’s suit jacket. “I was thinking about you.”
“Oh yeah?” Lucas pulled Jordan off him and raised a brow, a lazy grin tugging at his lips. “What were you thinking, Prep School?”
