a deep breath and removed the painful compression garment completely.
The red marks around his body were still visible, but he no longer tried to cover them.
“Come here,” I said.
He turned toward me.
For several seconds, we simply looked at each other beneath the warm hotel lights.
No oversized shirts.
No locked bathroom doors.
No second room down the hallway.
No pretending.
I placed my hand gently against his stomach.
He tensed instinctively but didn’t pull away.
Then Jeffrey reached toward me and carefully rested his hand against
