"Yeah, sometimes I just assume everybody else already knows my business," Erran said, taking a sip from the mug of the de-marshmallowed hot cocoa. Kicking dairy had been a tough battle for him, with numerous relapses in Indian restaurants with yogurt and ghee and mango lassi, and Swiss Miss was a nice nostalgic thing. "Me and Gemma have been together since the island—you know she's back, right?" he added. "Otherwise I look dumb talking about this in the present tense."
"Anyway, it's not weird to bring up relationship stuff in therapy, or with your friends, so you're okay," he said. "So she's more demonstrative with physical affection than you are, you're saying. Do you feel like that's part of your personality, maybe, or because this is new for you, or does touching feel kinda unsafe and scary?"