Wayne Gray

Perhaps. A little bit. 😄

Thanks, Thorn. My doc did reiterate that he would rather have me want to try than to not want to make any changes at all. He said something Mike has spoken of before - that all the work I'm doing has tremendous value. That even if I can't do it completely on my own, my efforts will mean the doses I take will be a lot lower than they would have been otherwise. Plus, wearing those 32" jeans will be awesome.

I got the results of my blood work back a week and a half ago. I will go see my doctor to officially discuss them in a couple of weeks, but he messaged through our electronic health record. He applauded the twenty point drop on my cholesterol, but ... said that he'd still like me to consider statins. That the drop alone isn't enough to push me into the "normal" range for heart-attack risk. Well, I need one more data point to decide. If what I'm doing is working, even if it's slow ... then my cholesterol should be even lower the next time we check it. I replied with this, and reaffirmed that I'm still committed to this path. I also said I'd agree to take the meds if what I'm doing at the end of the next ninety-day period isn't enough to get me out of the red zone. Then after replying to his message, I walked over to his clinic a few blocks from my office. He agreed, with a bit of a headshake. The word "stubborn" may have been bandied about. So, at the end of May or the beginning of June I'll have another test. Coincidentally, I joined a CrossFit gym this week and I'll be making myself suffer for an hour a day, four days a week. If I can't get there with all that I'm doing now, then it's just not going to happen. And ... that's okay. But I need to know for sure before I start the meds.

Beautiful picture. Looks like something I'd find on Pexels.

Hehehe. And where, exactly is that line? The wild thing really is that everyone sees it differently. Though, I will agree that the friends likely crossed into meddlesome! Thanks for the comment, KayDeeMac!

Thanks, KayDeeMac! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Grant's just IN it now, right? He's 27-28, so yeah ... he's right there where you were. It's hard getting past this bit ... and I remember it so vividly.

Again, not sure how I missed this comment! Thanks for reading and commenting, Jeffrey!

How'd I miss this? Thanks for the comment, Tom. By now you've read the next couple of chapters so I'll just say thanks for reading and commenting. I appreciate that greatly.

Actually, I wrote a story that had no dialogue at all for almost a full chapter. Readers don't notice, because there are thoughts of characters shown ... but there's no dialogue for a significant chunk of the first chapter.

I look forward to your upcoming story, droughtquake!

Thanks, Jeffrey! tim and I worked hard to write in one voice. That got easier as we began to trust one another, and gave one another permission to just write, tinker, and put our own mark on what the other did. Important too is knowing when to leave something alone, and that just takes communication. And the HEA. 😄 I like it too!

Thanks so much, Thorn! I loved reading your comments from your editing ... some of those made me laugh, just seeing your reactions to some of the lines we wrote. Thanks for taking this ride with us!

Thanks, rick! It's so awesome that you enjoyed it. I know it's a weird, different sort of story, but it was our goal to make it fun, silly, dramatic, and then serious too. I think we achieved those things, and did so in a way that really challenged us both. It was a lot of fun to write this with tim. 🙂

Thanks, chris! Good news all around for our couples, and the soap continues to gather steam. At this point it has a cult-like following among a big demographic. Think Rocky Horror Picture Show, but happening weekly. 😄

Thanks, Butcher! Yeah, the story ended happily for those folks we were following. And it probably didn't look like that was going to happen for some time. Then we've got good news for Ike and Devin, and the pending marriage of Frank and Ben. Lots of happiness in the end. I know ... very unlike a soap. 😛

He's felt inadequate for a long time. It wasn't that Devin gave him a hard time over it, but a man can sense when he's not what his partner needs. He's had a lot to get over.

I did take it! No, these are tic-tacs!

Damn it, rick!

Damn it, droughtquake! Lol

Christmas, the following year. Ben and Frank lay in their bed together, warm in the afterglow of lovemaking. Ben dozed contentedly on Frank’s muscular shoulder, while Frank lay with his eyes closed, his arm holding his lover close. "Bennie." "Mmm, yep?" Ben’s hand moved down his man’s chest and abs. Frank grunted and briefly enjoyed Ben’s silent demand for more. "Okay, just stop that." "What?" "That. I need to talk to you." Frank grinned. "Don’t play innocent with me!"

Thanks! That was the entire idea. Thanks for reading the chapter. You've got another to go and there will be yet another soon!

Thank you, tim. 🙂 I appreciate you reading and for the comment!

I have to call this bit out. Gerry must have anti-zombodies, an sex wit Tom isn't enough to turn 'im back, but it seem reasonable that if we feeds deez fishes to Gerry, den he will be a zombie. Den him and Tom can be happy again. Simple, yeah? Two plus two. I laughed so much writing this with tim, and "anti-zombodies" was one of those things that made me just giggle.

FYI, we're going to be busy working on another project. 😉

🙂 I love the analysis. The short of it is Georgette didn't actually reveal a thing. To her, the tone in her voice was not a tell. She genuinely wanted Troy and Grant to sit beside one another, not for them to spill their guts to her. Had Grant not felt hyper-guilty, and the friends eager to avoid tipping their hand, it would have passed without scrutiny. The reveal happened when all of the friends reacted how they did to their fairly obvious friend. But ... I'm happy you're feeling so protective of Grant. That's really nice. He's a likeable guy, even though he's made decisions that may not sit well with some readers. Thanks for the great comment.