spelled it out for him. “It means you work very well toward your endgame without a single thought of mine. It must be nice to be able to release all the tension and stress you claim to have.”
“All the tension and stress I
claim
to have?” He raked his fingers through his hair in a way that seemed almost painful. It was nothing short of an attempt to regain some semblance of control over his emotions. And the first time I’d seen him do it in a very long time. “You get off, too. So I don’t know where all of this is coming from.”
I’d had it. Simply had it. While I was already dishing out the cold, hard truth, I decided now was as good a time as any to reveal another. One that would send us past the point of no return on the subject at hand. “I fake it.”
The veins in Shaw’s forehead and neck threatened to break the skin. “You
do not
fake it! I would know!”
Calmly lifting a brow in challenge, I faced off with him. “Would you?”
“Yes! Jesus, where is all of this coming from?”
There was only one way to prove my point, and having embraced my newfound bluntness, I went with it once again. Grabbing onto the armrest at my side and the couch cushion on the other, I dropped my head back and closed my eyes as I allowed my body, coiled tight with unrelieved tension, to relax. “Oh, Shaw…Oh, Shaw…Right there. Yes, right…
there
!” I moaned, giving him and the good doctor a sampling of my incredible acting skills.
Shaw gaped. Jeremy resituated himself in his chair, glasses practically fogging.
Point. Proven. I was tempted to take a bow but decided to save it for the end of my acceptance speech when I won an Emmy.
Since the room had grown deathly quiet, enough so that I could practically hear the echoing of my performance, I decided to punctuate it with a conversation ender. “Once upon a time, you would’ve known I was faking it. All you had to do was listen and observe, but you haven’t done that in a very long time, which should tell you just how long I’ve gone without an orgasm for myself. At least from you.”
He looked like he was still trying to process this new information, like he was trying to find fault in my claim.
“Think about it, Shaw. Since when have I ever made that much noise while coming?”
Jesus, I’d have thought he’d gone into shock if not for the churning turbulence in his eyes. Something there had changed, an emotional mix of confusion and clarity, and then back to confusion again that one might attribute to a madman. Ah, he’d found the truth in my words and was venturing into that space of denial.
Jeremy cleared his throat, but it did nothing to clear the tension in the room. “I don’t often do this, but I believe you two to be a special case. I’d like to refer you to a colleague of mine, Dr. Katya Minkov. She happens to be in town for a bit, and I can see if she’s available.”
“Another therapist? In addition to you?” Shaw asked, already gearing up to shoot the idea down. “I don’t have the time or the patience—”
“Need I remind you that you said you’d do anything to keep Abe and me here?”
Shaw stopped talking, which, judging by the way he tensed, was a hard thing for him to do.
“Just tell me if I need to book a flight, Shaw,” I told him with a shake of my head. “That’s all I want to know.”
“No,” he grated between clenched teeth.
Turning to Jeremy, I waved for him to continue. “You were saying?”
But he wasn’t really answering me so much as he was reassuring Shaw. “What I’m proposing is something I think you’ll find…interesting, Shaw. I almost wish I had a reason to book a session or two with Katya.”
“Is that so? Would you like to switch places?”
Jeremy looked at me, blushing for some unknown reason, and then pulled at his collar. “I, um—I don’t think so. That would be quite unethical since, as I said, Dr. Minkov is a colleague. Though I’m not sure if she can really be called a
“All the tension and stress I
claim
to have?” He raked his fingers through his hair in a way that seemed almost painful. It was nothing short of an attempt to regain some semblance of control over his emotions. And the first time I’d seen him do it in a very long time. “You get off, too. So I don’t know where all of this is coming from.”
I’d had it. Simply had it. While I was already dishing out the cold, hard truth, I decided now was as good a time as any to reveal another. One that would send us past the point of no return on the subject at hand. “I fake it.”
The veins in Shaw’s forehead and neck threatened to break the skin. “You
do not
fake it! I would know!”
Calmly lifting a brow in challenge, I faced off with him. “Would you?”
“Yes! Jesus, where is all of this coming from?”
There was only one way to prove my point, and having embraced my newfound bluntness, I went with it once again. Grabbing onto the armrest at my side and the couch cushion on the other, I dropped my head back and closed my eyes as I allowed my body, coiled tight with unrelieved tension, to relax. “Oh, Shaw…Oh, Shaw…Right there. Yes, right…
there
!” I moaned, giving him and the good doctor a sampling of my incredible acting skills.
Shaw gaped. Jeremy resituated himself in his chair, glasses practically fogging.
Point. Proven. I was tempted to take a bow but decided to save it for the end of my acceptance speech when I won an Emmy.
Since the room had grown deathly quiet, enough so that I could practically hear the echoing of my performance, I decided to punctuate it with a conversation ender. “Once upon a time, you would’ve known I was faking it. All you had to do was listen and observe, but you haven’t done that in a very long time, which should tell you just how long I’ve gone without an orgasm for myself. At least from you.”
He looked like he was still trying to process this new information, like he was trying to find fault in my claim.
“Think about it, Shaw. Since when have I ever made that much noise while coming?”
Jesus, I’d have thought he’d gone into shock if not for the churning turbulence in his eyes. Something there had changed, an emotional mix of confusion and clarity, and then back to confusion again that one might attribute to a madman. Ah, he’d found the truth in my words and was venturing into that space of denial.
Jeremy cleared his throat, but it did nothing to clear the tension in the room. “I don’t often do this, but I believe you two to be a special case. I’d like to refer you to a colleague of mine, Dr. Katya Minkov. She happens to be in town for a bit, and I can see if she’s available.”
“Another therapist? In addition to you?” Shaw asked, already gearing up to shoot the idea down. “I don’t have the time or the patience—”
“Need I remind you that you said you’d do anything to keep Abe and me here?”
Shaw stopped talking, which, judging by the way he tensed, was a hard thing for him to do.
“Just tell me if I need to book a flight, Shaw,” I told him with a shake of my head. “That’s all I want to know.”
“No,” he grated between clenched teeth.
Turning to Jeremy, I waved for him to continue. “You were saying?”
But he wasn’t really answering me so much as he was reassuring Shaw. “What I’m proposing is something I think you’ll find…interesting, Shaw. I almost wish I had a reason to book a session or two with Katya.”
“Is that so? Would you like to switch places?”
Jeremy looked at me, blushing for some unknown reason, and then pulled at his collar. “I, um—I don’t think so. That would be quite unethical since, as I said, Dr. Minkov is a colleague. Though I’m not sure if she can really be called a
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