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“A little about all of it, I think,” Aled said. “He told me that Jamie’s parents sort of disowned him for being gay, and that…that Jamie was cutting himself before Ronny stopped him.”
Aled desperately wanted Kit to let out one of his loud laughs and say it was all nonsense. Instead, he said, “It’s true. Jamie’s parents kicked him out of the family, as much as one can actually do that, when he was around twenty-three. Jamie used to be pretty high-strung to begin with, what with keeping that secret for so long.”
“But he seems so calm and steady now,” Aled interrupted with feeling.
“He is,” Kit agreed. “Because he’s lived and learned. And he got help. Not the sort of help Ronny wanted to give him, though there’s no denying that Ronny was the catalyst for him getting that help.”
Aled sighed and sagged in disappointment. “So theydidhave something special,” he said gloomily. “Ronny really did save him.”
Kit made an uncertain sound. “Not really,” he said. “I’m sure Ronny thought he was saving him, but all he was really doing was trying to make Jamie dependent on him. Ronny’s family background isn’t all that great either. His parents haven’t disowned him, but they more or less ignore him in favor of his straight, married siblings who have given them grandchildren.”
Aled said a sudden prayer of thanks to his own parents for being so accepting of his sexuality. But then, they weren’t here anymore, and their leaving had scarred him.
Everyone was scarred, it seemed. No one got out of childhood or youth in one piece. But at least they’d found each other, and no matter what Jamie had once been, he was brilliant now. The way he was with Dawn was proof of that.
Actually, the way he was with Dawn made so much more sense now. The two of them connected not because Jamie was some sort of magician, but because he really understood. Aled wondered if Dawn could sense that.
“Are you still there?” Kit asked, pulling Aled back to the moment.
“Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking about some things,” Aled said. “Like the fact that Jamie is perfect with Dawn. I guess I get why now.”
“Oh, so Jamie’s met the family now, has he?” Kit asked, the humor back in his voice.
Aled smiled bashfully. “Yeah. Sort of by accident. Dawn was having a meltdown, and Jamie stopped it. I kind of understand how and why now.”
“Jamie got help,” Kit said. “That trumps everything else, no matter what Ronny says. Ronny wasn’t lying, but his view of what happened is skewed.”
“I think I can see that,” Aled said.
“Talk to Jamie,” Kit said in a softer voice. “If he hasn’t told you about his past yet, it’s for reasons. Probably because his past is firmly in the past. If he’s ready to talk about it, to share, then that’s a good sign for the two of you. But really, he’s the only one who can tell you about what happened and what it means to him.”
“I think I get that now. Thanks.”
“You’re a good egg, Aled Keal,” Kit said. “I’m proud of you.”
Without warning, Aled choked up, and his eyes stung with tears. He would have given just about anything to hear his dad say that. He was certain his dad would have been proud, proud of them all, if fate hadn’t stolen him.
“Thanks, Kit,” he said, pushing himself to stand. “I will talk to Jamie. But now, I’ve got a class to go to.”
“Good boy,” Kit said, which made Aled laugh.
“You’ve got the wrong end of the whip, old man,” he said.
The two of them laughed together, then said their goodbyes. Aled tucked his phone away, hoisted his backpack onto his shoulder, and headed back to join his class. He felt better about things, but also like he’d shifted the rocks of the foundation that he and Jamie were building. He hoped the two of them would be able to stabilize things and come to an even deeper understanding, but he wasn’t naïve enough to think Ronny wouldn’t try to force his view of reality onto them all now.
FIFTEEN
The buzzof excitement that filled Jamie as he prepared his flat for the weekend he and Aled planned to spend together as a mid-term treat was a welcome relief from the increasing stress he was feeling at work. The term was going well as far as his classes and students were concerned. Nearly two months had passed and he and Aled had been able to keep things professional when it came to his duties as Aled’s academic advisor. Aled had shifted to a different unit of the one class that he was teaching, which Dr. Epstein approved of, and as of yet, few other people at the university knew they were involved.
It was the fundraising committee that provided the majority of Jamie’s headaches. Specifically, Ronny. Every meeting they had, every dinner with donors they planned, Ronny was right there, sitting next to him, giving off dom vibes as though he would snatch Jamie’s wrist and pull him out of the room for a little discipline if he set so much as a foot wrong.
It was way over the line, and it had gotten worse in the few days before the planned weekend. No matter how Jamie tried to avoid Ronny, that hint of menace and sense that at any moment, Ronny would step in and try to force Jamie back into the place he’d long outgrown was there. Jamie had gone so far as to ask Dr. Franklin if he could step down from the committee, but when Franklin had asked why, Jamie had come up short. The explanation would open a can of worms that might threaten his position at the university entirely.
It both irritated and terrified Jamie that, in essence, Ronny held his career in his selfish, unpredictable hand.
At least in his own flat, with Aled coming over at any time for a play session, he could forget it all for a while and hand someone else the reins of his body and his thoughts. He’d been so relieved when Aled had suggested the playtime. He hadn’t been aware of just how bad his stress level had gotten until getting Aled’s text suggesting they play. It was like someone had handed him a glass of cold water on a painfully hot day. He was so ready for it.
The flat was easy to set up. He didn’t have any of the heavy equipment that a dungeon had, but he’d bought his bedframe from a member of the community who crafted furniture, and it had all the cleverly concealed hooks and eyelets that would allow Aled to restrain him in any number of ways. Aled had noticed them when he’d stayed over a few times, and his text was proof that he’d been thinking about what to do with them.
