NINETEEN
Jen
Adam’s hand in mine feels nice—right. When he talks about what I mean to him, I get a bit choked up.
I never felt like he valued me when we dated before. I always felt like I was the last on his list of priorities. But recently it’s been quite the opposite. I figured it was just because he was in a tight spot, but what if it wasn’t? I wish I could know for sure.
“Let’s talk about how you’re both communicating,” Judy says. “Jen, can you think of a time recently when Adam did something that annoyed you?”
I press my lips together, because as much as things have changed, I can think of quite a few. “I guess so.”
Adam turns to look at me, and I suddenly feel very much in the spotlight.
“Can you describe what happened and how you communicated your feelings to Adam?”
I shift, letting go of Adam’s hand for the moment. “Well, I was pretty annoyed when you went through my online shopping cart and—” I pause, remembering the second part of the question. “You know what? Let’s talk about a different example.”
Adam smirks and spreads his legs wider, making the bulge of the dildo extremely obvious. It’s off camera, but I’m completely distracted for a moment and can’t help pressing my thighs together to savor the slight pressure.
I clear my throat, trying to focus. “The first night you stayed with me. You woke me up with your stupid music.”
“You think my music is stupid?”
Judy interrupts. “Hold on, Adam. I want to hear from Jen how she communicated that with you.”
I scratch my head. “I don’t remember. I guess I told him to turn it off?”
“No, you just came out of the bedroom and groused at me for a whole bunch of other stuff like using your laptop.”
“Hmmm.” Judy says.
Why do I feel so attacked by a sound? “OK, but I was annoyed. What was I supposed to do?”
“Well, Jen. You said it yourself. You could have just explained that you were feeling a bit frustrated and asked him to turn off the music or use headphones.”
So now I’m the asshole? “Well what about the time he used up all the hot water right before I wanted a shower?”
“That must have been frustrating,” Judy says. “But let’s try not to stack up gripes. Instead, let’s try voicing them at the time and then letting them go.”
I glare at her self-satisfied expression in the video chat. Sure. Let’s see how she does living with him for a week.
“That would be great,” says Adam. “I often get the feeling you’re annoyed with me, but you don’t say what I did to piss you off, you just stay mad.”
“I don’t stay mad!”
“Not if I distract you.” He grins, adjusting himself in the sweatpants.
I glare at him.
“Hmmm,” Judy says again. “Adam, that’s probably not helpful for Jen. How about we try to sit with her feelings for a little while when you can tell she’s angry and let her have a chance to express that to you.”
He leans close to me and whispers in my ear. “What if you tell me while I eat your pussy? You can never stay mad when I’m doing that.”
I slap his leg, but he doesn’t stop grinning at me, and despite myself I’m very aware of how wet I feel. I clear my throat. “Right.”
“Let’s practice. Jen, can you repeat after me? Adam, when you wake me up with loud music, I feel…” She trails off, giving me an encouraging look.
I sigh. “Adam, when you wake me up with loud music, I feel angry. Especially when it’s the Chainsmokers. They’ve got to be the worst band in the universe.”
