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“And how. But you don’t have to get me anything. Let’s focus on you—”
Garrick’s groan cut him off. “Which is kinda exactly what I don’t want to do. I’ve been thinking about this idea off and on for a couple of days now. I love the idea of you picking out something you want me to watch you use. Something you find sexy.”
“Ah.” As he parked at Garrick’s place, Rain was starting to see the appeal of this idea. It was a great way to get the pressure off Garrick with waiting to see if the meds worked, and going to the store together could be fun in and of itself. “But you don’t have to get me anything. I’ve got some money—”
“Rain.” Garrick stopped him with a hand on his thigh before Rain could exit the vehicle. “Let me do this? Let me do something nice for you. I want to see you enjoy yourself.”
“Yeah, but you’re getting dinner. I don’t want you thinking...you owe me or something else weird. Because you don’t. Yeah, you’ve been moody, but the way I see it, you’ve got good reason.”
“Fair enough, but what do you have against presents? I’ve noticed it before. That’s why I said it was a date—not friends going fifty-fifty on everything. Me wanting to do something special together. Spoil you a little.”
“You do that a lot already.” Rain’s voice went thick and rough.
“Yeah, and I like it. I mean, I know this thing is casual, but it doesn’t mean I don’t care for you. And you’re always telling me how much you like helping me. Well, it goes both ways.”
“Okay.” Rain set his hand on top of Garrick’s, studying their intertwined fingers. “We can have your date. And I’m not trying to be unappreciative. It’s more...it’s rare for me to get things that are just for me. Growing up with two brothers, almost everything was shared, from clothes to toys to books, and everything else was shared with the community at large.” As much as he liked the values he’d learned growing up in the community and always having friends at the ready, this was the less-than-great part, the way nothing had ever felt entirely his own. Coupled with those feelings of invisibility he’d struggled with, it had been tough to count on being heard and count on things he cared about sticking around.
Garrick nodded like he was waiting for Rain to continue, so he did, even if the memories were making his stomach churn. “If I outgrew something, someone else down the hall could use it. My mom’s big on decluttering. Things I liked had a way of ending up with new owners.”
“I feel you. Not with possessions so much, but with people for sure. Things I liked had a way of not sticking around.” Garrick’s voice was soft and distant, as he was undoubtedly thinking of his parents’ divorce and the ex-fiancée. “So I get it. It’s hard to trust, even with something small.”
“Exactly.” A lot of the tension left Rain’s shoulders. Garrick understood him on a level he wasn’t sure he’d ever been understood before. “I became pretty good at getting stuff for myself. And with most of my friends, I’m the one giving. People don’t...exactly go out of their way to do nice things for me. And when they do, it feels...strange.”
“Well they should.” In an unusual move for him, Garrick leaned in and gave Rain a fast kiss. “And maybe it will feel less weird if you practice.”
“When you put it that way...” Rain returned the kiss, slower and deeper, trying to convey what he couldn’t find the words for, that this meant something, something more than simply a fun outing. Garrick cared, and he wasn’t afraid to say it or show it. Garrick’s choice of careers alone showed that he was courageous, but this, the way he was forging ahead despite some disappointments, was true bravery on some deeper level. “Bring on the date.”
He wasn’t sure he’d ever be worthy of Garrick’s sort of heroism, but hell if he didn’t want to try.
Chapter Ten
“Well, that’s done.” Garrick sounded like he’d vanquished a dragon as he locked his prescription in Rain’s glove box. He was both cute and exasperating at the same time.
“Was it really that hard?” Rain gave him what he hoped was an encouraging smile. “Not like the pharmacist made you wear a big sign or something, and she didn’t even give you much in the way of embarrassing warnings.”
He had completed another few rows on his sock while they waited at the pharmacy, but the big box store wasn’t that crowded for a Friday night, and the way he saw it, they’d been lucky to draw a nice, motherly type of pharmacist who had been chatty about everything other than the subject of their visit.
