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Without any prompting, he kept walking.
“Way to go, Jason. You didn’t even flinch back there. How many seconds?”
He flexed the hand that had touched the lady. “Not sure. I didn’t count.”
She grinned and looked ahead as more couples moved around them.
“Progress. Let’s keep going.”
He swallowed hard but nodded. “Why didn’t I have a coach like you in high school? If only my dad...”
“You’ve got Rueben.”
“That’s true, but he lived so far away. It wasn’t until I graduated high school that he became a bigger part of my life. I think he realized how my parents had pushed me to the side, and he refused to see me any way other than as the perfect grandson, capable of anything. It really helped when I was trying to figure my life out. Probably wouldn’t have gone to college had it not been for him.”
“He is pretty great. Do you miss him?”
“No, he still texts and calls as much as he did before. He’s already bored of retirement. I told him this morning we were dating. Hope that’s okay.”
Hannah grinned. “Yep.”
Just then, a woman who was running headed straight for them. Her headphones were on and she was searching the park with her eyes. Before Hannah knew what was happening, he stepped behind her and the woman slammed into her.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” the woman said, ripping out her earbuds.
Hannah massaged her shoulder and looked back to see a very guilty Jason hiding behind her. “No problem.”
“Guess I have some work to do still,” he mumbled.
She laughed and took his hand again. “I guess we do.”
For the next few weeks, Hannah spent her evenings with Jason, interacting with others at busy places like the mall, restaurants, and the dog park. By the end of the second week, shaking hands cost him about five to seven seconds of pain—if he remembered to count—and brushing against someone didn’t usually bother him at all. If that wasn’t progress, she wasn’t sure what was.
He also applied the strategies he learned with her at the office. A month after Rueben’s retirement, he was finally getting used to the constant contact with others in the office.
He still struggled at his taekwondo lessons though. No matter how much he tried, he struggled having someone actively attack him. If Hannah was the one coming at him, it was easier, but he still struggled to block defensively and attack offensively. But Sabum was patient and allowed Hannah to work with him more than not.
The only thing they hadn’t practiced again was kissing. But the closer they became, the more that desire grew within Hannah.
Holding hands became too normal, and their hugs never lasted long enough.
On Friday evening, two weeks after purposefully going into public, they were ending their evening at her doorstep.
“You’re amazing,” Jason said, tugging gently on her hand. “You haven’t given up on me this whole time.”
“Of course I didn’t. I couldn’t.”
“How did I get so lucky?”
She bit back a smile as he carefully tucked a piece of hair that had fallen in her eyes behind her ear. Her gaze went from his trusting eyes to his full lips, and suddenly she wanted to celebrate his success with a kiss.
He seemed to sense her thoughts and held her cheeks with both hands. His thumb rolled over her cheek, spreading warmth up her face. His attention fell to her lips. “I know you’ve been super patient with me. I want to kiss you as well, but...” He looked back at her. “I—”
“Maybe we could do some more experiments,” she said hoarsely. She couldn’t speak much when he looked at her that way.
He raised a brow. “Experiments?”
She nodded. “Yep, some testing of the waters. It doesn’t seem fair that you’re missing out on some of the best touching possible. Do you trust me?”
