Page 13 of Something Like Forever

“Sorry, but you know thebest way to do it without him getting mad.”

Tim thought about it. “That usually involvesme being shirtless, which somehow, I don’t think is going to workfor you.”

“Definitelynot.”

“He’llbe upset,” Tim said, “but he won’t be angry. I promise. You reallyshould tell him yourself,but… I suppose I can do it for you.Just this once.”

“Are you going to takeyour shirt off first?”

“Oh hell yes,” Tim said.“This one might require the full monty. I’ll tell him when I getout of the shower.”

“Thanks.” Jason nodded tothe canvas. “Do I really look so scrawny next toWilliam?”

“You complement eachother. You’ll be depriving the world of something beautiful if youdon’t change your mind.”

Jason wasn’t swayed. Hecould be stubborn, and when he was, nothing could move him. Noteven Ben. For this situation, they would needreinforcements.

* * * * *

“Welcome to your—” Allisonsized them up. “—first of many family counsellingsessions.”

Tim resisted a groan.Allison was rarely wrong, and while he wasn’t looking forward tothis becoming a regular occurrence, he would do whatever wasnecessary to get Jason’s life back on track. Not that his sonseemed pleased about the situation.

“There’s going to be morethan one of these?” Jason complained, arms crossed over hischest.

“She’s only kidding,” Bensaid calmly. “Aren’t you?”

“I’m in for as many as ittakes,” Tim said.

Jason slumped deeper intohis chair. “Some of us have to work.”

“I work!” Tim shot back.“Who do you think is paying for this?”

“He didn’t mean it likethat,” Ben said, “but your schedule is a lot more flexible thaneither of ours.”

“And that means Ishouldn’t have a positive attitude?”

“No, but you know he’sonly—”

A fluttering noisefollowed by a thwack attracted their attention. Allison had tossedher notebook into the air and it had landed in the center of thecircle. Or the square, since there were four chairs, each facingthe middle.

“That’s better,” Allisonsaid, rising briefly to fetch the notebook. “There aren’t a lot ofrules for what we’re about to do. Don’t interrupt when someone elseis speaking. You’ll each have your turn. The one exception is whenthis hand goes up.” She raised it to demonstrate. “That means youstop talking and listen to me. Any questions so far?”

They eyed each other and shook theirheads.

“Good.” Allison’s lipstwitched. “One more thing before we begin. I just want to say howhappy I am that things have returned to normal. I’ve been getting alot more sleep lately, and Ben is back to needing me. Just how it’ssupposed to be.”

“Are you seriouslygloating?” Ben asked, fighting down a smile of his own. “Don’t actlike things are perfect at home. Brian told me that he’s losingwhat little hair he’s got left.”

“Blame an excess oftestosterone, not stress,” Allison replied. “I like my menvirile.”

“Are you saying mine’snot, because—”

“Guys,” Tim said. “Can wefocus?”

“Professional,” Allisonmurmured to herself. “Right. Sorry.” She cleared her throat. “Nowthen, Jason, we’re here because we all care about you. We have thebest intentions, but only you get to decide what path your lifetakes. All we can do is offer our advice. With that in mind, whydon’t you explain the situation to us.”

Jason’s arms remainedcrossed, but now he seemed more like he was hugging himself.“William moved to Oregon to return to active duty, which I want. Iwas supposed to go with him, but—” His eyes darted first to Ben,then to Tim. “My home is in Austin.”