The Boyfriend Experiment

by Sean Ashcroft

  Reid was starting to realize that he wasn’t getting over his tiny crush anytime soon, despite Gabriel’s apparent straightness.

  Chapter Five

  The moment he ducked into the campus coffee shop, Gabriel almost ran straight into a broad, sculpted chest that he immediately recognized.

  “Reid?” he looked up at the other man, who was carrying two takeout cups of coffee in a holder.

  Reid wasn’t supposed to be here. Reid was supposed to be in his office, and as far as Gabriel was concerned, he didn’t exist outside it. It was more than a little surprising to see him where Gabriel worked.

  “Hey,” Reid’s face broke into a smile, his eyes lighting up warmly.

  He seemed so different outside of his office. Not in any one way Gabriel could put his finger on, but in general. It was like seeing someone after five years of losing touch. Dozens of subtle differences that added up to the impression of being a completely different person.

  Reid always seemed kind and friendly, but there was something… brighter about him, right now.

  It was nice.

  Gabriel rarely enjoyed other people’s company, especially people who didn’t work in his own field, but Reid… Reid was fun. Comforting. Apparently as big a nerd as Gabriel was.

  “What’re you doing here?” Gabriel asked, his mouth getting away from his brain. He didn’t mean to sound so rude. “Sorry, that… I mean, you’re allowed to be here, I’m just surprised.”

  “I studied here,” Reid explained. “I guess I forgot to tell you that.” He glanced around. “We’re in the way,” he said, stepping to the side, out of the path between the counter and the door.

  Gabriel followed him, pressing himself up against a nearby support pillar. He didn’t want Reid to see how desperately he needed to sit.

  That was probably a stupid impulse, because Reid knew, but Gabriel still hated to show weakness in front of anyone. Reid had been a stranger when they met, but after only two meetings, Gabriel had come to like him.

  That was practically unheard of in Gabriel’s life. He usually took a long time to warm up to people.

  Maybe space had made him more open to making human connections.

  “Well, you did seem to know the campus, so I guess I should have figured it out,” Gabriel said. He was still recovering from the shock of seeing Reid here. “But you’re not a student. Or a teacher. I think?”

  “No.” Reid smiled kindly. He had one of those really nice smiles that it was impossible not to smile back at.

  “No, I was coming to see an old professor. About you, actually. Not that I was gonna give your name, but now I’m thinking it’d be easy to connect the dots and know exactly who I’m talking about, so maybe you’d prefer I didn’t?”

  Gabriel considered that. On the one hand, he hated to show weakness. On the other hand, he didn’t personally know anyone in the medical department, and he wasn’t doing a great job of hiding the fact that he was in pain, anyway.

  Suffering the after-effects of space travel wasn’t anything to be ashamed of. It didn’t matter if people knew.

  Besides, if Reid was trying to get more help from him, the correct reaction was gratitude.

  “It’s fine,” Gabriel decided, the words leaving his mouth before he was entirely sure what he was going to say. “There’s nothing embarrassing about being one of very few people who’ve been to space.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Reid said. “You must be up to your eyeballs in cute lady scientists right now.”

  Gabriel laughed at that. Reid couldn’t have been more wrong if he’d tried.

  “It’s done absolutely nothing to improve my ability to talk to women,” he said. “Besides, even if I had magically become a ladies’ man, I don’t, uh… have the stamina for it right now.”

  As soon as the words were out, Gabriel wished he hadn’t said it. That was too personal a thing to tell someone he’d only met twice.

  Well, three times, now. Still, it seemed like too much.

  “I’m sorry, it’s probably weird that we keep talking about sex,” he said, hoping that he hadn’t just ruined his otherwise comfortable relationship with Reid.

  The first time it had been hypothetical, but this time, Gabriel had been admitting something a lot closer to home.

  “It’s not weird,” Reid assured him, his tone going back to the gentle, caring one he used in his office. “Your ability to enjoy sex is definitely part of your health and overall quality of life, and it’s okay to bring your concerns about it to me if that’s something you’re worried about. Trust me, you would not be the first person I’ve helped like that.”

  Gabriel blushed to the tips of his ears, his stomach twisting uncomfortably.

  “Thanks,” he mumbled, not really wanting to think about it. “And thank you for going out of your way to help me, by the way. But maybe don’t mention that last part to your professor?”

  Reid shrugged. “You’re welcome, and I won’t. How’s your pain today?”

  “Pretty much the same as it has been,” Gabriel said. “Maybe a little better? It’s hard to tell.”

  “I get that,” Reid said. “But you should be seeing some improvement as early as our next appointment. You’re young and healthy. I promise this will go away, and faster than you think.”

  Gabriel trusted that Reid knew what he was talking about, but it was hard to believe that right now. He was sick of being sore and tired all the time.

  Which was his own fault. He’d spoken to Connor, who he was starting to realize had kind of taken him on as a little brother, and he was in much better shape despite having been in space just as long and being older than Gabriel.

  Gabriel had neglected himself, and he was paying for it.

  Which could have been the title of his autobiography. It wasn’t new that he’d ignored his own wellbeing in the pursuit of his goals, but it had never been quite so painful.

  “Thank you for your confidence in me,” he said. “Seriously, feel free to share my details with anyone you want. I’m not used to not being generally healthy.”

  “You should see me when I get a cold,” Reid smiled wryly. “I get it. I see a lot of patients who’ve had life-changing things happen to them. Normally they’re more along the lines of car accidents, but the principle is the same.”

  Reid had no idea. Life-changing seemed like too small a phrase to really capture the way Gabriel felt. His life was divided into pre-space and post-space, and he felt like an entirely new person now that he was in the post-space phase.

  It was a lot to process, and he could only tell the people he knew what an amazing experience it was and how good it felt to achieve his dreams.

  That wasn’t making it any easier. He almost felt as though Reid would listen, and understand, but they didn’t know each other even close to well enough for Gabriel to open up to him.

  Besides, he wasn’t that kind of therapist.

  “Your coffee is probably getting cold,” Gabriel said reluctantly. If he took any longer, he’d have to explain himself to Alice, and while he liked her, too, he knew she wouldn’t understand why Gabriel desperately wanted to cling to his physical therapist. Of all people.

  More to the point, Reid felt like his secret. He didn’t want to share him.

  “Oh, uh.” Reid straightened up as though he’d been pulled out of a trance. “Yeah, probably. I should go. I’ll see you at your next appointment,” he said.

  Gabriel’s stomach sank, but he couldn’t stand there and bask in Reid’s presence all day. Even if he was the only person in the whole city who made him feel like someone genuinely cared about him.

  “You will,” Gabriel promised. He’d hated the idea of needing actual medical intervention at first, but Reid knew what he was doing and he wasn’t a nightmare to deal with. Gabriel was almost looking forward to their next appointment.

  It was the only physical contact he got, so he was starting to savor it.

  “See you later, Rocket Man,” Reid waved at h
im as he left, disappearing in the crowd of students outside within moments.

  Gabriel smiled at him as he went, glowing after the brief conversation. He’d clearly picked the right therapist.

  Chapter Six

  Gabriel burst into tears the moment Reid touched him, which Reid definitely hadn’t been expecting from the barely-there pressure on the top of his arm. Especially from Gabriel, who seemed to err on the stoic side and hadn’t been overly expressive before now.

  Reid took his hand away, went to pour Gabriel a glass of water from the cooler, and put a box of tissues next to him. He had no idea what was going on, but he’d have to deal with it.

  “Take your time, tell me about it when you’re ready.”

  “I’m sorry,” Gabriel said. “I’ve just been in so much pain all day and I haven’t felt like I could relax until now and everything hurts.”

  Reid’s heart sank. Something had obviously gone wrong, or he’d missed something, and now Gabriel was paying for it.

  It was nice that Gabriel felt he could relax around him, though. That was a level of trust he suspected Gabriel didn’t extend to a lot of people.

  “What happened?” Reid asked, pushing past the urge to blame himself and instead focusing on the solution.

  “I know you said I needed to start with five extra minutes of walking a day, plus exercises, but… yesterday was such a nice day, and I wasn’t in a whole lot of pain, and I figured that since walking makes me feel better, walking more would improve on that. And that was great until I forgot to eat after and laid down for a nap and then woke up this morning in a lot of pain.”

  Reid breathed a tiny sigh of relief. He hadn’t screwed up, and Gabriel hadn’t done any serious or lasting damage. He’d just overworked his already stressed muscles and now he was suffering.

  “That’s why you’re supposed to work up to more. It’s not rocket science,” Reid said, keeping his tone kind. Gabriel wasn’t an idiot, but he could probably use a laugh right about now.

  “That’s why I’m struggling with it. Rocket science, I can do.” Gabriel smiled wryly. That was a good sign.

  “I don’t think rocket science is the technical term,” Reid said, hoping to distract him while he moved around behind Gabriel to grab some soothing gel. “Pants and shirt off,” he added.

  “The technical term is astronautical engineering, in my case. There are other kinds. Am I going to die? Because it feels that way,” Gabriel said as he took his shirt off.

  “You’re not gonna die,” Reid assured him, fairly certain that Gabriel didn’t actually think that.

  Gabriel folded his shirt and pants and set them beside him on the examination table, sitting back down in his socks and underwear.

  “You’ve just overworked your muscles. It’s not ideal, but you’ll recover.” Reid set the gel down on the examination table, beside Gabriel’s clothes, and went to his desk to grab a protein bar.

  “Are you allergic to anything other than almonds?”

  “Other than that tape, not that I know of,” Gabriel said. “I’m amazed you remembered.”

  Reid blushed. He paid a lot of attention to Gabriel, and that wasn’t going unnoticed anymore.

  “Good. Eat this,” he handed the bar over to Gabriel. “Let me know what you think.”

  “Will this make me feel better?” Gabriel asked, unwrapping it as Reid moved behind him again.

  “You do need the protein,” Reid said. “But it's mostly to keep you quiet.”

  “Are you this nice to all your patients, or am I just lucky?” Gabriel asked, but there was laughter in his voice. That was good. Distracting him could only help.

  “Just lucky,” Reid responded. “I’m doing this because I like you.”

  “I’d hate for you to hate me,” Gabriel mumbled around a mouthful of protein bar. “This is good,” he added.

  “Yeah?” Reid asked, warming the gel up between his hands a little before he started working it into Gabriel’s shoulders.

  “Yeah, it's exactly like cake batter. It's even got the baking soda taste right. And sprinkles,” Gabriel said, sounding genuinely delighted. “I like it.”

  “Well, behave yourself and I'll give you another one to take home with you. The company sent me a case of samples.”

  “Perks of the job?”

  “Something like that,” Reid responded. “Companies send me all kinds of things in the hopes that I’ll recommend them to patients.”

  “Cool. I only get company-branded pens, and I have to steal those.” Gabriel rolled his shoulders back, sighing happily as the muscles in them finally relaxed under Reid’s hands. He was holding himself tightly, which wasn’t helping his pain levels at all.

  Reid didn’t like to use pain-relieving creams or gels on patients who were on their own and on improvement programs, because it was important that they could feel what their body was telling them, but apparently Gabriel wasn’t the kind of guy who paid attention to that kind of thing.

  Right now, it seemed more important to get Gabriel away from the point where he wanted to cry. Reid was starting to suspect that they’d been tears of frustration rather than tears of pain, the kind of crying that happened when everything had gone wrong, all day, and you hadn’t gotten a chance to take a break from it.

  He was honored that Gabriel felt he could cry in front of him. He hadn’t done that when he first came in. He obviously wasn’t the kind of person who did it a lot.

  “You got a trip to space. That’s a helluva job perk,” Reid pointed out.

  “I guess,” Gabriel said, chewing thoughtfully. “I don’t know what you’re putting on me, but I think it’s my soulmate.”

  Reid chuckled. “Wait until I really massage it in. I’ve gotten proposals based on that alone.”

  “You say that, but don’t be so sure I won’t propose.” Gabriel leaned forward as Reid started digging the heels of his hands into his back, long strokes up and down, adding to the warming action of the gel and working the sore, overused muscles of Gabriel’s back.

  He seemed to have most trouble with his back, though his legs didn’t look as though they were in great shape, either. Reid had been trying to spare him unnecessary discomfort the first time by letting him keep his pants on, but he could see now that Gabriel probably needed just a tiny bit more attention than he’d first realized.

  Gabriel gave off the air of being a grown-up, competent man. Reid suspected that he generally was—grown up beyond his twenty-six years, even—but only in things that he understood and cared about.

  His body seemed to be something he neither understood, nor cared about. Reid would have to fix both of those things for him.

  “I’ll give you a little tube of this stuff to take home, but you can buy it over the counter if you need more,” he explained, adding more to the palm of his hands so he could work on Gabriel’s arms. “I didn’t want you to use it in the first place because I wanted you to know when you were in pain so you wouldn’t push your limits.”

  Gabriel barked a laugh, shifting in place as Reid took his arm.

  “Yeah, that didn’t go exactly the way I imagined,” Reid admitted. “You’re a special case.”

  “I get that a lot,” Gabriel said. “But you’re the first person who hasn’t sounded mad when they said it.”

  “It’s not your fault that you’re a special case,” Reid said. “I should have anticipated that you’d try to push yourself. All the signs were kinda right in front of me.”

  Gabriel laughed again, but it was starting to seem like a sad sound. “I definitely push myself. I’m used to being able to do things faster and better than most people.”

  “Unfortunately, your body has its own timeframe. I know it’s frustrating. Believe me, I know. But you have to give yourself time.”

  “You sound like you’re speaking from personal experience,” Gabriel said.

  Reid wet his lips. “I am.”

  It wasn’t a secret, but it also wasn’t something he told everyon
e.

  He could tell Gabriel. Gabriel would appreciate knowing that Reid did know what this was like.

  “Two days before I was supposed to start college, I got hit by a car,” Reid began. “I’m okay now, obviously, but I wasn’t okay then. Broke a few bones, ruptured my spleen—which you do actually need, by the way—and I was stuck in a hospital bed for weeks. I was like you when they finally let me start walking around by myself. And it hurt. And it was frustrating. So I get it.”

  Gabriel nodded slowly, flexing his fingers as Reid rubbed gel into his forearm.

  “I’m sorry that happened to you,” he said after a moment, his voice tight.

  “I’m not,” Reid said. “I mean, at the time I wasn’t thrilled, but it made me who I am today. Who needs law school when you can actually help people, right?”

  “You were going to law school?” Gabriel asked, surprise in his tone this time.

  “Yeah, I was. Well, pre-law to start, but that was the plan. And then I changed my mind, and I’m glad I did. This is way less stressful than law.”

  “And based on my co-pay, equally lucrative,” Gabriel said.

  Reid smiled at that. “It pays okay, yeah. That’s not why I’m doing it, though. I do a lot of charity work.” He paused. “I’m not saying that to impress you.”

  “I know.” Gabriel nodded again. “You’re saying it because it’s true. But I also already know about your charity work.”

  “Of course you do,” Reid murmured, blushing again.

  Gabriel probably didn’t buy a sandwich without looking up reviews. He was a research-focused guy.

  That was fine. Hell, it was smart.

  Most people got referred to him one way or another. Gabriel had sought him out.

  That was surprisingly flattering.

  And definitely not helping Reid put his crush aside. Seeing Gabriel outside of his office had only made that worse. When he was here as a patient, it was easy enough to be professional.