My Sex Addict

unfinished look, like it couldn't decide if it wanted to rain or hold back just a little longer. I was late, of course. Rushing into

presso machine behind the counter. I wasn't supposed to be there-I had my favorite café three blocks down, but i

ng not to drop my coffee and typing in my passcode with one hand. He was just... there. Like part of the back

reaction. I looked up, instinctively, my gaze drawn by the sound. He wasn't laughing at me, or even with any

t compelling. Tall, lean, with dark eyes that flicked up just once and then back to his book as if n

reen and tried to focus. The w

left that day. I nodded. H

him. I hesitated before walking past, unsure if he'd remember me. He did. That same small n

ame a

corner with a book or his phone. I never saw him with company. Never saw h

Subtle at first. Then less subtle

t. My laptop blinked its final red warning a

stressed, because he glance

ed a ch

d. "Yeah,

g and slid one across

said, plug

replied, going

covery. I looked away quickly, unsure if I'd invaded something priv

day. But we started sha

n front of me before I ordered. The way he started saying "Good morning" without loo

hen you spoke-like what you were saying was the only thing that mattered in the moment. And maybe that's wha

imes clenched, then relaxed, like he was fighting something no one else could see. He had a carefulness

of this strange, quiet rhyth

toward his bag, "was it for r

linch. Didn

he said calmly,

prised at the

ed. "But I figure if you're going to keep sit

o quickly. Then, more hones

slightly. "Mo

I nodded and changed the subject, sensing

about what he'd said, but how he'd said it-with the kind of calm

d. That quiet confession cracked something open between us-somet

. The therapy appointments. The distance. The relapses.

n a way I hadn't felt in years. Like the beginning of

n't ready