Page 139 of Pretty ’n Peak

Austin found himself humming as he walked to work on Monday morning.

He’d put in an application to Cuffd and three other places over the weekend. And even if he didn’t get any of them, it didn’t matter.

He was going to turn in his resignation today.

In a way, it felt sudden. He’d worked there his entire adult life. He didn’t have anywhere that he was moving to directly.

But now the evidence was in. He hated his job.

When he’d been typing up his resignation—simple, formal, polite—he hadn’t felt an ounce of regret.

And as Taja had laughingly pointed out, there was no point in making more money if he was just going to spend it on therapy.

But he was also the kind of person who tended to make a decision and take action. Or at least that’s how he used to think of himself. The Before Austin, who knew what he wanted and how to get it.

That’s who he was working on being again.

There was a part of him that was still scared. What if no one wanted to hire him? What if they took one look at the blind guy and just assumed he wasn’t competent? What if he was asking for too high a salary and got himself edged out?

What if? What if? What if?

He reminded himself that he had enough money to live on for at least two years.

Even if he spent more of it than he probably should on presents for Teo.

That was the other reason he was humming this morning.

Teo was coming to visit in two weeks.

Austin had tried not to be too eager, but he already had a dozen options for where they could go. The farmer’s market near his house. The art museum. One of his favorite gay bars, a low-key place for a few beers. Or maybe going out dancing? He hadn’t gone in years, but he got the sense that Mateo would love it, as long as he wasn’t in the spotlight.

Were all of those too date-like? He didn’t know, and they hadn’t really put parameters on anything. It just seemed like, after the hikes and dinners and card games at the Meadowlark, it would be strange to just meet up for a scene.

He didn’t let him examine that idea too closely. He was still mentoring Mateo—showing him around the gay kink scene of Portland—but that didn’t mean they couldn’t hang out as friends.

And the rest of the time… Austin had so many scenes in mind. He’d love to show Mateo off at the club. Feel every one of his indrawn breaths as he took in the scenery around him. Maybe put him on display as he tore beautiful moans from his mouth.

Or perhaps they could stay home, where he could wear him out with pleasure, and then fall into bed together to snuggle him close.

All of them seemed good.

Austin hardly noticed what he was working on all day. Some bullshit that everyone was frantic about, but which wouldn’t be his problem after a few weeks.

He already had his plan—a meeting with his boss at four, then an extra session with Taja that he’d scheduled at six.

The first ended up being easy. His boss shook his hand, told him he’d be sorry to lose him, and immediately launched into a transition plan for his four weeks’ notice. The whole thing was surprisingly anticlimactic. He went through it like he was in a dream.

The second was… much harder.

For some reason, he’d assumed that Taja would be as overjoyed as he was about all of the changes in his life.

He’d come in bubbling with excitement, fresh from his success in the meeting, and still dreaming of Teo’s warm lips and silky skin.

It was until fifteen minutes into the session that Taja even got a word in edgewise. “I notice that you’re very excited about Mateo.”

He nodded. Of course he was.

“I want to ask about some of your assumptions. You’ve been using the language of tests and experiments to think about your feelings. And that’s a good tool—you have a very analytical mind. But what would you say if you read a study with a sample size of two?”