Chapter Nine
“I’m sorry I had to push this back,” Gabriel said as he walked into Reid’s office. “I had some surprise work come up, and I just couldn’t make it in. But it’s thanks to you that I could even sit at my desk long enough to do it, so… thank you.”
Reid smiled at him, which Gabriel was really starting to like. He’d had a few hot showers with Reid in mind, now, and as confusing—alarming, even—as that was, he couldn’t help the way he reacted to him.
Besides, no matter how confusing or alarming masturbating to the thought of Reid touching him was, Gabriel keptdoingit.
He’d reminded himself a hundred times that Reid didn’t know that, and was unlikely to be able to figure it out. That didn’t make him any less nervous about facing Reid, though.
Which was why he’dreallyput it off.
“Hey, as long as you’re feeling better. You know the drill,” Reid said, nodding to the examination table.
“Shirt on or off?” Gabriel asked, unsure which he wanted to hear. He doubted that Reid would ever be attracted to someone like him, but it was exciting to think that justmaybe, he was.
“Off, I wanna see how you’re going.”
Gabriel shrugged his jacket off and then pulled his t-shirt over his head, climbing up to sit on the table.
Reid approached him, standing just close enough that Gabriel could feel his warmth.
He hadn’t noticed that before. He’d noticed that Reid was kind to him, and that he made him feel safe and cared for, but he hadn’t noticed how warm he was, how he made Gabriel’s skin tingle as he stepped closer.
Not until now, at least. Now, he couldn’t take his eyes off the line of Reid’s collarbones or the way the fabric of his one-size-too-small t-shirt clung to them.
Gabriel’s mouth went dry as he stared at Reid’s chest in front of him. He forced himself to look away after a handful of seconds, afraid that Reid would realize what he was thinking.
“You’ve got some nice definition coming along, here,” Reid said, reaching out to touch his upper arm.
A swarm of butterflies took off in Gabriel’s stomach, making him want to squirm under Reid’s touch. He’d been surprised when he looked in the mirror, and it felt good to have Reid compliment his body.
“This is good for six weeks. You’ve clearly been taking care of yourself,” Reid continued, running his fingers along the length of Gabriel’s arm.
He could barely remember ever being touched with this much care. Not by anyone.
It felt sogood.
“I’ve been following your orders,” he responded belatedly. “I figure you know best.”
Reid chuckled. “I wish all my patients thought that way.”
“Well, I learned my lesson early.Youknow my body better than I do, despite what you told me the first time.”
“You live in your body,” Reid said. “I’m just trying to make you more comfortable.”
“I’m way more comfortable.” Gabriel rolled his shoulders back, sighing softly as Reid touched them. “I feel great, actually.”
Hedidfeel better, and that wasn’t helping with whatever was going on in his head about Reid. Reid was kind to him, Reid took his pain away, Reid took him seriously.
He was everything Gabriel had wanted in the first men he’d been attracted to, the ones he’d been sure were just the product of being an overeager teenager bent on proving himself to the world, determined to be valued by someone.
Except now he was an adult—an accomplished, relatively settled twenty-something—and Reid made his heart sing every time he smiled at him.
Confusing didn’t evenbeginto cover it.
“Good,” Reid said. “That’s exactly what I wanna hear.”
Gabriel looked up at him, suddenly aware of how close he was, how warm his hands felt on Gabriel’s skin.
