Where Nerves End

some more electro stimulation on the back.”
“Shock therapy,” I mused. “Cant wait.”
Michael just laughed.
He must have put in more than a dozen needles, and they werent concentrated on my shoulder. Hands. Feet. Two in my scalp. Something about soothing the liver and fucking with the gallbladder, apparently. I was only half-listening as he explained it; his fingers were on me, and no amount of talking or sticking needles into my skin could distract me from that. I barely felt the needles. When he carefully parted my hair, hed sent electricity crackling along my nerve endings, and I couldnt even bring myself to care if he saw the goose bumps. As long as I could keep myself from getting visibly turned on, I was good, and somehow I stayed calm in that department.
In fact, I was calmer than Id been in a long time. Hyperaware of him and of his touch, yes, but…calm. Relaxed. Never thought Id be so comfortable and relaxed when I probably looked like a human pincushion, but after last night, Id take it.
I was vaguely aware of Michael moving beside me. Hed stood—apparently hed been sitting? Hell, Id lost track—and stepped away from the table.
“Comfortable?” he asked.
“Very.” One word, and it took unimaginable effort to enunciate. “Might fall asleep.”
Michael laughed softly. “Good. Ill be back in about twenty minutes.”
He dimmed the lights until he became a featureless silhouette against a barely visible wall. When he opened the door, bright, cool light spilled in from the hallway, illuminating his features for a fleeting moment before he stepped out. The door clicked shut behind him, and the room was mostly dark once again.
My eyelids were heavy, so I let them slide closed.
I drifted in and out for a while. Half-dreaming, half letting my mind wander. At first I was afraid to move because I couldnt remember where all the needles were, but eventually, I just didnt feel the need to move. I was too comfortable. Too relaxed.
And as I savored this peaceful, sleepy feeling, my mind wandered to the conversation Michael and I had had earlier. Though the very thought of money or any conversations relating to it could usually wind me up and negate all this relaxation, it didnt happen this time. There was some comfort in the realization I wasnt the only one struggling to make ends meet these days. Not that Id wish my problems on anyone else, but I felt a bit less like a goddamned failure when I knew I wasnt the only one. Good to know there was just plenty of room on the failboat.
My eyes flew open. Michael was in the same situation I was. Barely making ends meet, struggling with the cost of living.
“I had to switch my apartment to month-to-month, which is more expensive of course, because I just don’t know if I’ll still be able to afford it in three, six, twelve months.”
“Just be glad you’re not stuck with a damned mortgage.”
“I am. Every day, believe me, I am.”
What if…
I wasnt sure what a straight guy would think of moving in with a gay man, and I wasnt sure what I thought about living with a jawdropping hot guy I couldnt touch. Still, desperate times did have a tendency to warrant desperate measures, and moving in with strangers qualified as a desperate fucking measure. Moving someone sexy and untouchable into my house might not do much for sexual frustration, but it sure could make the sight of my bank balance sting a little less.
I had the space. The guest room hadnt been used at all since Wes left; the only overnight visitors we ever had were his parents every couple of months. I barely used my home office now that I had a laptop. I could easily clear out that room for Michael or his son.
Michael didnt know me from Adam, but he knew Seth. Seth could vouch for both of us, at least enough to convince each other we werent ax murderers or something. Though knowing Seth, hed find some way to lord the power of his endorsement over both of us. Still, people took in roommates they didnt know all the time, even without a mutual friends stamp of approval.
A tap on the door brought me out of my thoughts, and Michael stepped into the room. He closed the door behind him and slowly brightened the lights until I could make out his features.
“Feel all right?” he asked.
“Ooh, yeah,” I said.
“Good. I still want to do some electro-stim, though.”
“You and your car battery,” I said.
Michael laughed. “You know me.”
I wish…
He turned the light a little brighter, and carefully