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I guffaw at his remark. “Oh my God, no. I’m always saying the wrong thing. Do you not remember how we met?”
His nose wrinkles. “Fair point. But after that… You bandaged me up the other night. And told me I could go to college if I want. You’re really…” He sticks his hands in his pockets, head tilting down. “You’re really caring.”
Is that pink I spy on his cheeks?
“You are, too.”
He looks up at that, confusion lurking in his eyes.
“You offered to help me with learning self-defense. You stood up for me with Joel. Those were both kind things to do.”
He shrugs. “It’s no big deal,” he mumbles.
To him, maybe not. But to me it is.
More than he knows.
CHAPTERFOURTEEN
TESSA
I glanceat the clock on the opposite wall, remembering we need to get a move on so I can turn the room over in time.
“Are you ready to start?”
He nods, taking a seat in the guest chair.
“So we went pretty off tangent, but cue-controlled relaxation is all about using a keyword, or cue, to trigger a deeper state of relaxation. For this study, we’ll use the wordrelax.”
“Easy enough,” he comments.
“Right. So when you hearrelax, you’ll think about the progressive muscle relaxation sequence you’ve been practicing for the last few weeks. Focus on the lightness and ease that comes in the moment after you release the tension from your muscles. The aim is to get into that relaxed state quicker by associating the word with the feeling.”
“Like a Pavlovian response.”
“Exactly. And you said you weren’t smart.”
He chuckles and we start a shortened version of the original sequence, this time adding the wordrelaxwhen he’s at rest. I give him instructions to continue the shorter sequence at home once a day using the cue, while also consciously thinking about relaxing his muscles randomly throughout the day when he has a free moment.
By the time we’re finished, it’s past six o’clock, but Nathan and Chris thankfully aren’t waiting to use the room yet. Looking at the darkened room next door, it also appears Joel has already left, too. Thank God. It doesn’t seem like a good idea to have him and Austin in the same room together again.
“You all finished?” Austin asks as we walk down the hallway.
“Yeah, you were my last participant for the day, and I don’t have meetings with anyone else.”
There’s a comfortable silence as we descend the stairs, and I tighten my coat around me as we head outside, the cold nipping at my nose.
“You headed home now?” he asks.
“No, I’m walking over to the campus library. I’ve got an exam to study for.”
“What class?”
“Advanced Statistics for Behavioral Scientists.”
He shakes his head slightly. “Sounds like a breeze.”
The corners of my lips tug up in a smile at his gentle sarcasm as we continue toward the parking lot. His motorcycle is parked right up front, but I don’t want our time together to be done yet. “How was boxing last night?”
