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“Well, for what it’s worth, talking to you is easier than talking to my therapist. Doctor Sheridan is nice and all, but it feels weird to be put under the microscope.”
“Doctor Sheridan reminds me of my old therapist.”
I tilt my head to the side and study him. “Why is that?”
Adrian stops paddling and lets the water move past, at a steady and unhurried pace. He looks at me, and it feels as if he’s seeing me.
Like he can see right into my soul.
It’s exhilarating and terrifying, and I can’t look away.
I want to get lost in his eyes and never come back down to reality.
“When my parents died in a plane crash, I was really angry. It felt like the world was out to get me. I just couldn’t seem to make my peace with it. Jenny, the woman I was seeing at the time, suggested I see a therapist.”
“Did it help?”
Adrian blew out a breath. “I hated it at first. I thought my therapist was a condescending prick who wouldn’t know trauma if it bit him in the ass. Without my parents around, I was suddenly responsible for my family. I guess I just wanted someone to blame.”
“I’m sure he understood that it wasn’t about him. You were just trying to sort through some things.”
Adrian gives me a grateful smile. “Yeah, but I still feel bad about how I treated him. I did apologize afterward. But I’ve always said that he had the patience of a saint to put up with people like me.”
“People like you?”
“He told me that wanting to save the world is my problem. Because I can’t save everybody.”
Before I know what I’m doing, I reach between us and take his hands in mine.
I rub my thumb along the inside of his wrist and ignore the hammering of my heart. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with trying.”
Adrian gives my hands a firm squeeze. “There isn’t, but I had to learn how to set boundaries and how to give myself a break too.”
“See? You’re a natural. How many people do you know who can actually accept therapy so easily?”
“It was far from easy.” Adrian stands up and sits next to me. He is still holding my hands like they’re the most fragile things in the world. “But it’s so worth it.”
“I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”
Adrian nods. “Yes, we will.”
Slowly the inflatable boat comes to a sudden stop.
There are still butterflies in my stomach when we walk back to camp.
They stay there even though we are walking separately when we emerge onto the main part of the ranch.
Adrian doesn’t look back at me as he walks away, and I sigh. In my cabin, I hum and whistle as I throw myself stomach-first onto the bed and squeeze my eyes shut.
Chapter Ten: Adrian
“Mr. Steele, I wasn’t expecting to see you today.” Doctor Masterson stands up behind her desk and pushes her chair back. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
I let the door click shut behind me. “I thought we agreed you wouldn’t call me Mr. Steele. It’s Adrian, please.”
Doctor Masterson gestures to the chair opposite her desk.
It’s a modest-sized room with a matching leather set, a rectangular-shaped desk, and a large window that allows plenty of sunlight in. There’s an excellent view of the ranch grounds.
