Chapter 17
Rob was very careful to take only what belonged to him, mostly things he had bought with his salary from the bookstore. It didn’t take long to carry them out to Sean’s truck. The bed was nowhere near filled with the whole lot. Rob locked the door, grabbed his bike, and tossed it up atop the rest of his things. Then he got in. He didn’t even glance back as Sean drove away.
* * * *
As much as Sean wanted to begin at least some intimacy with Rob, he sensed he needed to be patient awhile more. Rob had been through some swift and jolting changes. Very likely he equated sex, even milder physical contact, not with respect and shared love but with control, contempt or even punishment. This would require a slow gentle kind of education. So the first week, he helped Rob get settled in what had been an unused room of Sean’s house and pretty much let him come and go as he chose.