But her first words assured Kory that her former therapist remembered her just fine. “It’s been a while, Kory. I hope that means things have gone well since you left here.” Kory nodded. “You’d said you felt like you were ready to start dating, and a boy had asked you out. How’d that go?”
Kory had to fish way back in her head. She’d gone through a lot of boys fairly quickly, not finding teenage relationships very satisfying. All the boys she’d dated had mostly just wanted sex—not that she’d been complaining. She’d been eager to explore her body and theirs too…and the more who asked, the less inclined she had been to seek anything more. She had friends—they were the ones who fulfilled her emotionally. She didn’t need any love bullshit from guys. Fortunately, they’d been happy to kiss her and feel her and fuck her without that crap.
Stone was different, though, and she couldn’t wait to tell Natalie about him.
For now, though, she answered her therapist’s question. She told her about the remainder of her high school years that she hadn’t known about. What she liked about Natalie was that she felt no judgment from the woman, and she didn’t spend a lot of time scribbling notes or recording their words, and that was what made her feel more like a friend who wanted to help. So she told Natalie about her carefree fucking days…and then got to the part with the guy who, frankly, had her guts in knots.
“When I graduated, I wanted to get my nose pierced. I went to The Iron Maiden. You know that shop?”
“I’ve seen it—on Main Street, right? Across the street from the pizza place?”
“Yeah. Anyway, when I went there, I met this guy—Stone Bowman. He’s a hell of a tattoo artist.”
“Has he done some your piercings?”
“Actually, yeah, all of them. Anyway, I…have had a crush on him since then, and a few weeks ago, I asked him out on a date.” Natalie raised her eyebrows and smiled. “He accepted and we’ve, um, started dating for real.”
Natalie nodded, a gesture Kory remembered from long ago. “How’s that going?”
“It’s great. At first, I thought he was kind of a dick, because he’d say all these asshole things…but he’s just kind of a smart ass. But he’s, uh, pretty sweet, especially the more I get to know him. Anyway, we…” She sucked in a deep breath. As she got closer to where she’d have to tell Natalie how she’d freaked out, it was getting harder. It shouldn’t be, though. She should be able to do this. She’d told Natalie so much before and she just needed to power through and tell her the most important part. She swallowed. “When we first had sex, I kind of freaked out. Uh…you remember how I told you that Art used to torment me all the time?”
“Yes.”
“Well…without going into the gruesome details…” Why was it so hard to tell her? Was it because the memory was difficult to get through or was it because she didn’t want to talk about a really intimate moment? “Uh…Stone was doing something to me…sexually…and all of a sudden, I could barely breathe. I was scared out of my mind. So I asked him to stop, and then it was like I could see Art in my mind. I guess I should back up a little. A couple of days before, Stone gave me my first tattoo.” She pulled up her sleeve so Natalie could see it. “And the tattoo gun reminded me of how Art was constantly fucking with me whenever mom wasn’t around…you know, before he moved forward.”
“Do you think that’s what triggered the episode when you were getting intimate—the tattoo gun?”
Kory let that idea run through her head. “I don’t know. I…don’t think so.”
“Hmm. Have you tried to be intimate since that happened?”
“Yes.”
“Was it successful?”
Kory’s mind rushed back to Stone trying again that morning after her shower in the bright light of his bedroom and felt warm inside. In spite of the distress she was feeling, thinking of Stone in any capacity but especially of his successful attempt helped her feel better. “Yes.”
“Good.” Natalie shifted in her chair. “Have you talked with him about your past?”
Kory frowned. “Not much.”
“I know it probably feels awkward and it might feel too early. Don’t force it, but when you feel up to it, you might tell him a little. That way, if you wake up in the grips of a nightmare, he won’t be wondering what’s going on. You definitely want to wait until you think the time is right, but I think it would be prudent to start planning that.”