My eyes twitched, and I started to rock my leg. “It’s best if we end this session now.”For your sake.
“We still have time.”
I did, but she, not so much, if she continued talking out of her ass.
“You’re a smart man, Tirone. I’m sure you’ve made a connection to what I’m trying to explain and the feelings you’ve been experiencing for the past two years. Once you get over your issues with Delilah, once you no longer feel the urgency to fulfill those needs her behavior created in you, you’ll become aware that—”
“That what? That my love for Jo isn’t real?”
“That you’ve developed an unhealthy obsession with a woman you should have never had. The need to hurt anyone who hurts her or the need to intimidate her into staying with you and punishing her when you imagine she won’t, all this will stop once you admit to yourself that Jo is nothing but a replacement for the—”
I burst open her briefcase and got one of those ready to go syringes out before I swooped down on her chair. I emptied whatever medicine that was in it and filled it with air. “One more word about Jo or how I feel about her, and I’ll stick this air syringe inside your neck. Same goes if you yell.”
Her eyes widened at me in fear. “Tirone, please calm down.”
“Jo is not a replacement for anything. She’s nothing like my mom. I didn’t fall for Jo because of a stupid need to protect my mom from her fucking husband or to punish her for Delilah’s mistakes. I didn’t develop a fucking obsession with a forbidden older woman. I fell in love with the one and only person that speaks to my soul. The one that sees my darkness and still holds me and lets me cry on her chest instead of running away. The only light I see in this fucked up world. My forever.”
She trembled. “You’re right. Of course. I’m sorry. I misjudged the situation.”
“Before you came in here, did you tell her anything about that bullshit you just said?”
“No,” she mumbled.
“Did you say anything that hurt her?”
“No. Why would you think that?”
“I didn’t like the way you were looking at her. You were judging her. I can see it in your eyes.”
“I didn’t say anything, Tirone. I’m not here to judge any of you. I have nothing against you or her. I was only trying to help.”
I kept the eye contact until I was satisfied she learned her lesson. “Yeah. Too bad you suck at it. I’m afraid this will be your last session, Doctor Ryan.”
“What do you mean?”
The door burst open. “Ty, what the fuck?”
I glanced toward Jo—and Furore who was just right behind her. “I think I need a different therapist.”
CHAPTER 17
Jo
Furore did what he had to do to keep Tirone’s records clean and the principal settled for a three-day suspension instead of expulsion. The boys’ families were either silenced or compensated. No charges were made.
The therapist, however, was shaken. She didn’t want to press charges, but she was adamant on convincing us to admit Tirone into a psych facility.
Honestly, I was on Tirone’s side on this. Furore shouldn’t have triggered him, and if the therapist had done a better job with Tirone, he wouldn’t have had another violent episode. He hadn’t had one since that miserable night none of us would forget. It’d been almost a year. He was making a lot of progress.
Besides, he had a few more months before he went to college. Spending them at a mental institute could impact him more negatively than positively. I was no psychiatrist, but I knew Ty. He’d think we’d abandoned and stopped loving him.
Somehow, Furore got Doctor Ryan to shut the fuck up. Doc recommended another doctor he used to know, and Tirone would resume therapy with him next week.
It was early to be hopeful, but Tirone did nothing in the past three days but study, work at the club, buy me chocolate and ice cream to help with the cramps and read with me to get me out of the funk. He and his dad didn’t bicker or try anything out of jealousy. Tirone took his mood meds regularly along with the antibiotics; he’d picked a mild infection from having sex with me on my period. It could be contagious so Laius and I had to take them, too, to be safe. As hot as it was, perhaps period play wasn’t the best thing to do again.
Our sex life was fruitful, and the threesomes I’d missed returned on full speed. The only thing they didn’t do during the time we were on the antibiotics was come inside me. Tirone said the doctor warned the antibiotics could interfere or the cancel the effect of the birth control pills. Tirone hadn’t mentioned the baby issue again, and I decided not to open the topic with Furore to avoid any conflict until Tirone was stable enough to make rational decisions.
Until my period was late.
