Chapter Five
The moment he ducked into the campus coffee shop, Gabriel almost ran straight into a broad, sculpted chest that he immediately recognized.
“Reid?” he looked up at the other man, who was carrying two takeout cups of coffee in a holder.
Reid wasn’t supposed to be here. Reid was supposed to be in his office, and as far as Gabriel was concerned, he didn’t exist outside it. It was more than a little surprising to see him where Gabriel worked.
“Hey,” Reid’s face broke into a smile, his eyes lighting up warmly.
He seemed sodifferentoutside of his office. Not in any one way Gabriel could put his finger on, but in general. It was like seeing someone after five years of losing touch. Dozens of subtle differences that added up to the impression of being a completely different person.
Reid always seemed kind and friendly, but there was something… brighter about him, right now.
It was nice.
Gabriel rarely enjoyed other people’s company, especially people who didn’t work in his own field, but Reid… Reid was fun. Comforting. Apparently as big a nerd as Gabriel was.
“What’re you doing here?” Gabriel asked, his mouth getting away from his brain. He didn’t mean to sound so rude. “Sorry, that… I mean, you’re allowed to be here, I’m just surprised.”
“I studied here,” Reid explained. “I guess I forgot to tell you that.” He glanced around. “We’re in the way,” he said, stepping to the side, out of the path between the counter and the door.
Gabriel followed him, pressing himself up against a nearby support pillar. He didn’t want Reid to see how desperately he needed to sit.
That was probably a stupid impulse, because Reidknew, but Gabriel still hated to show weakness in front of anyone. Reid had been a stranger when they met, but after only two meetings, Gabriel had come to like him.
That was practically unheard of in Gabriel’s life. He usually took a long time to warm up to people.
Maybe space had made him more open to making human connections.
“Well, you did seem to know the campus, so I guess I should have figured it out,” Gabriel said. He was still recovering from the shock of seeing Reid here. “But you’re not a student. Or a teacher. I think?”
“No.” Reid smiled kindly. He had one of those really nice smiles that it was impossible not to smile back at.
“No, I was coming to see an old professor. About you, actually. Not that I was gonna give your name, but now I’m thinking it’d be easy to connect the dots and know exactly who I’m talking about, so maybe you’d prefer I didn’t?”
Gabriel considered that. On the one hand, hehatedto show weakness. On the other hand, he didn’t personally know anyone in the medical department, and he wasn’t doing a great job of hiding the fact that he was in pain, anyway.
Suffering the after-effects of space travel wasn’t anything to be ashamed of. It didn’t matter if people knew.
Besides, if Reid was trying to get more help from him, the correct reaction was gratitude.
“It’s fine,” Gabriel decided, the words leaving his mouth before he was entirely sure what he was going to say. “There’s nothing embarrassing about being one of very few people who’ve been to space.”
“Oh, yeah,” Reid said. “You must be up to your eyeballs in cute lady scientists right now.”
Gabriel laughed at that. Reid couldn’t have been more wrong if he’d tried.
“It’s done absolutely nothing to improve my ability to talk to women,” he said. “Besides, even if I had magically become a ladies’ man, I don’t, uh… have the stamina for it right now.”
As soon as the words were out, Gabriel wished he hadn’t said it. That was too personal a thing to tell someone he’d only met twice.
Well, three times, now. Still, it seemed like too much.
“I’m sorry, it’s probably weird that we keep talking about sex,” he said, hoping that he hadn’t just ruined his otherwise comfortable relationship with Reid.
The first time it had been hypothetical, but this time, Gabriel had been admitting something a lot closer to home.
“It’s not weird,” Reid assured him, his tone going back to the gentle, caring one he used in his office. “Your ability to enjoy sex is definitely part of your health and overall quality of life, and it’s okay to bring your concerns about it to me if that’s something you’re worried about. Trust me, you would not be the first person I’ve helped like that.”
