To my surprise the prospect of hearing what Patrice was going to say didn’t make me cringe in trepidation of what he’d say. I knew whatever it was it didn’t mean things were shaky or that if I didn’t change it was over. Just something to work on, together. So my heart beat steadily in my chest, as I waited for Patrice to think over his answer.

“Hmmm we’re getting better at it, but we sometimes wait too long to air grievances.” Even as he spoke he kissed my neck and face, soothing the blow.

I nodded in agreement and kissed his palm again. “This is true. We are getting better, and we are still not that great at being open about what bothers us in the moment. I wonder if we could use a new tactic—”

“Okay, but why do I have the feeling this is going to go down the fucking path,” he said, voice full of humor.

“Uh because you know me and my thirst.” I clapped my hands, ready to laugh my ass off at his reaction to what I was going to say. “Hear me out before you veto my idea, are you ready?”

He grinned at my teasing and waved a hand in a “get on with it” motion. “Grievance oral! Whenever we need to say something that we think may be hard for the other person to hear, we soften the blow with a blow job. Pun intended,” I added smugly, barely able to get the words out, and Patrice was laughing so hard I had to move out of the way to give him space. I turned around to face him and he had his fist over his mouth like he did when he was practically convulsing from laughing so hard. Which he did a lot these days, because I could be a clown.

“Bébé, we need to report back to the therapist. I am not getting into grievance oral with her!” He did sound a little terrified, but he was grinning so hard the corners of his eyes were crinkled.

“I’ll report back on this one, I can keep it PG though. But at least admit you like my idea.”

I was on my knees facing him and he tugged on my hand to bring me closer. He was still sitting with his legs spread on the bed, that massive chest still moving up and down fast after the laughing fit. “You’re lucky I’m so into you.”

It was like everything he said was a reason for me to say something corny. But before I did, he got us back on track. “What are the qualities we value in each other?” Patrice asked, making me squirm. That one would go to a place that was hard for me. I did not do well with compliments.

I pointed at my chest. “I’ll go first.”

Patrice