Learning to Trust - M.A. Innes Page 0,54

more I knew what the neutral look on Dr. Sheppard’s face was trying to say.

Before he could steer the conversation, I smiled and sighed. “Yeah, okay, I have to talk to him.”

A smile broke out before he could put that happy neutral expression back in place. “I think that’s a very good decision. I’m glad you brought it up.”

Chuckling, I shook my head. “I’m really smart. What can I say?”

He grinned, but it faded as he glanced over at the clock. “Do you need to go catch the bus?”

I shook my head. “I told Leon about our sessions. He didn’t want me taking the bus today because the weather guy said there might be rain.”

As Dr. Sheppard nodded, I started to stand. “But I shouldn’t keep him waiting because he’ll be here any minute. Thanks for your help.”

“I’m glad I was able to.” As he walked me to the door, he paused and I could see he wanted to say something else, so I stopped. “I want you to feel free to come to me with anything else that comes up…with being little or school or anything like that.”

“Thank you.” I knew what he was talking around, so I forced a smile. “I know Stan pushed a lot of the people I would’ve become friends with away, but I’m talking to people in my classes and Destin keeps threatening to drag me to meet his friends, so I’m not as isolated as it might seem.”

He’d been subtly encouraging me to get out more, so I knew his smile was genuine. “Good. But the offer still stands.”

“Thanks.” Talking to my therapist was one thing, but talking to him as a friend seemed weird. “I’ll remember, but you’ll probably hear everything that’s going on from Destin.”

He waved his hand. “Of course not, Destin is the soul of discretion.”

“Oh yeah.” That was exactly how I’d describe him.

With a final goodbye, I headed out the door to see Leon waiting by his car. He was frowning as he texted someone. As I got closer, he looked up and smiled, sliding his phone in his pocket. “Ready to go?”

The way he glanced at the building said he wanted to ask about my session with Dr. Sheppard but probably thought it wouldn’t be appropriate. Instead of asking, as I nodded, he opened his arms so I could relax into him.

He might have told himself that he wasn’t very warm, but he gave the best hugs and didn’t seem to mind cuddling at all. Once we’d had our discussion about how I’d wanted to be held, he’d been making an effort to take that into consideration. It might’ve been very deliberate, but it meant I got all kinds of hugs and cuddles.

“Yes, and yes, I had a very good session. My official ones are all done, but he said if I wanted to talk about anything else that was going on in my personal life that it was fine with him.” It only took a few seconds for him to groan.

“Destin told him.”

I laughed. “It was more like Destin was bragging about what a good Daddy his best friend Leon was turning out to be. Dr. Sheppard just connected the dots and wanted to make sure I was doing okay.”

Leon and I hadn’t gone into great detail about what had happened with our old roommates, but he knew my situation had been different from his. Giving me a big hug, he ran his hand down my back. “I hope you were able to tell him that you were doing fine?”

Was Daddy worried?

I stretched up and with a slow, deliberate movement kissed his cheek. Leon froze at the unfamiliar gesture, but then relaxed and smiled as I spoke. “I told him I had the best Daddy ever.”

He was probably relieved that I hadn’t pressed for anything else, but the way he hugged me tighter said I hadn’t overstepped his comfort level too much. “Did he accept that?”

I snorted. “He’s a therapist. What do you think?”

Leon chuckled. “Probably not. And there’s no telling what Destin said.”

“Yeah, evidently it was just around other people in the lifestyle, so it wasn’t like he was announcing your awesome Daddy status to the people at McDonald’s.” I had to laugh when he groaned.

“Don’t give him any ideas. He’s already overly friendly with the pizza guy.” Leon shook his head like he was trying to clear out his brain before focusing back on me again. “But everything went well?”

I nodded again. “Yes, he suggested