Buondì!
Sono passati mesi, ma negli ultimi giorni mi è tornata la voglia di leggere MM e ho ripreso in mano una serie che avevo iniziato tempo fa sotto consiglio di Veronica, quindi ecco qui l’estratto visto che è martedì ed è tempo di Teaser Tuesday.
Felipe tucked the card into his pocket before wiping his eyes. “On a lighter note, how’s your boyfriend?”
“Ah, that. He’s not really my boyfriend. Sort of.” Felipe arched an eyebrow at him, and Calvin laughed. “Yeah, we THIRDS agents don’t do anything the easy way. Everything I told you about us was true, except the boyfriend part. Ethan and I have been best friends since we were kids. Things changed between us, and that night I left you in your apartment, things got a little heated.”
Felipe’s face went red. “Oh God, he knows about that night?”
There was no way to make it sound less awkward. “He was in the surveillance van listening.”
“He’s an agent as well?” The color in Felipe’s face intensified.
“He’s my partner at the THIRDS.”
Realization seemed to dawn on Felipe. “Was he at the table?”
“Yeah, the tiger Therian sitting next to me.”
Felipe’s eyes went wide. “Oh my God, he must want to punch my lights out.”
If Felipe had been close by that night, it’s possible Ethan might have. Calvin had never seen his partner so pissed off. “Ethan knows the job. He doesn’t hold it against you.” Too much.
Felipe’s expression softened. “From what you’ve told me about him, he sounds like a great guy.”
“He is. We’ve been through everything together. Then, like I told you that night, things changed.” Calvin took a sip of his beer. It wasn’t just the change that had turned everything upside down. It was Ethan’s inability to decide what to do about it.
“Does he feel the same about your relationship?” Felipe asked gently.
“He’s got SM—selective mutism—and social anxiety. Change is really hard for him. Something as big as this…. It’s been difficult for both of us. He hasn’t told me he loves me, but the way he feels about me has definitely changed. I don’t know if he’s ready to put a name to whatever’s going on between us or if he’ll be ready to move forward. I don’t want to push him, so we’ve been taking things slow. Really slow.”
“I can understand how the SM would make things difficult for him. I have a student with SM, though he’s responding well to the behavioral therapy. How long ago was Ethan diagnosed?”
“Late teens. Ethan was always a shy kid, and with everything going on at home, his parents assumed he was quiet. Ethan’s doing better now than when we were kids, but he didn’t take to the therapy as well as his parents had hoped. The therapy definitely helped, but he’s never been able to work past the mutism. He has good days and not so good days. When his anxiety hits him hard, it tears me up. There’s not much I can do for him on those days other than help him feel safe.”
“He’s lucky to have you.”
“I’m lucky to have him too. He gave me something to fight for.”
Chapter 2 – CATCH A TIGER BY THE TAIL d Charlie Cochet
