" Damn! I have to resist! I'm so stupid! True, I thought of the clothes, which helped speed things up, but if he hadn't been the one to remember about...the teacher, my goose would be cooked for sure! We're hanging on by the skin of our teeth! And I thought I'd put all this behind me yesterday, but I can't get free.She returned with the clothes minutes later, and soon he was dressed. The two of them finished cleaning up, including wiping all the wet paint from his desk until it was useable for. I let the water fall on my back, massaging it, and washing away the tension. I turned and faced up into the spray, and felt the water wash away the tightness on my face and the traces of my tears.The sound of the water reminded me that when I'd run, Janet's husband had been in the shower. She'd been on the bed, her ass had been red and bruised. Her face was slack and she was zoned out, but not so much that she couldn't tell me to get out. So I got.I shook my head in the shower, and turned back. ‘Past tense. I lost him in a car wreck three years ago.’ ‘I’m so sorry.’ ‘It’s been tough, but I’m getting past it. You never forget, but time does dull the pain.’ Switching gears, he said ‘Let me guess—you tried to match using the color printed on the label, right?’ Feeling dumb, Paula admitted her mistake. ‘Don’t feel bad—I’ve done myself, more than once in fact. You’d think I’d learn,’ he said with a smile. He took the drawer from her cart. ‘Let’s see if we can get you something that. At that point Big Lad came back so I handed him can of Stella. We ended up in the living room, Big Lad and Dave were sitting at opposite ends of the sofa, like they didn't know each other and I sat in the arm chair, we sat and had a chat for a while before I mentioned their spacing awkwardness to them, Dave pattered his knee winked at Big lad and he shuffled across, Dave put his arm around him and started to cuddle and kiss his fore head, Big lad reciprocated by rubbing Dave chest then kissing.