Rugged Mann

Part 1: Therapy Sessions Chapter 1: Jason Mann Jason Mann puts his time spent in with his patients. Some hours are stuffy and plain, others are painful and disturbing. This is his life: listening and advising. It’s good money, but, like other people he knows, he’d rather be at home reading a good mystery, wealthy. He doesn’t feel awkward using the term patients, but some professionals in his field do. Sometimes he doesn’t even understand his field of study: the act of talking intimately, individual parties getting to know each other, and the event of unraveling emotionally, whether the information (both physical and verbal) is good or bad. It’s a lot of spoken bullshit he realizes. Absorber and talker. Talker and absorber. Yes, bullshit. He’s been a psychologist now for almost twenty years: listening to people about their problems, scoping out their lives, piecing hearts and minds together, attempting to fit lives back in form, shaping, and acting as a support for the modern human. At thirty-eight, he enjoys his job, thinking it different than his many friends (Doug Keen, Karen Bosch, Mike Hendricks) he knows, the astrophysicist (Bill Dawson) who is currently retired from NASA, pastor Mike Eggers, and Gillian Lorde, one of his closest friends, his lovable hag, a maintenance manager for the local school district. Jason cannot say that his days blend together because of his patients. Something is always different, though. A liar. A s*x addict. A verbal abuser. An arsonist. A stalker. An alcoholic. A thief. A cheating wife. Not a single hour is the same, which is exactly what he prefers. He feels blessed with his life, of course. He likes the word sanctified better. Doesn’t really know why, but he does. Sanctified to be physically fit and healthy, knowledgeable of his surroundings, and having the strength to survive from one day to the next on this f****d up planet with all these f****d up people. Sanctified to have his own business on Third Street in downtown Redder, next to Lake Erie. Pennsylvania born, fed, and raised. Sanctified to have his best friend, Gillian Lorde, even if she calls him too much about everyday nothingness. And Doug Keen. And Larry Boxx. And Glenn Marchell. And sanctified to have his boyfriend of the last six years in his life, Officer Dillon Christopher Snyder of the Redder Police Department, who pushes him to become a better person each day, and a better therapist, romancer, and boyfriend. Dillon…dreamy Dillon…is the perfect man for him and (by the grace of God) will make a perfect husband, someday. The cop of fifteen years hasn’t asked Jason to marry him as of yet. Perhaps this will happen sometime soon, though, maybe this summer or fall, which both feel eons away since it’s currently March, cold still, icy out, and bitter. Spring is trying hard to make an appearance at the seasonal party, but it’s taking some good old time doing so. Jason can see himself snuggled against the hairy bear cop, pressed next to the forty-year-old-man’s muscular chest, pink n*****s, and six inches of naked, limp cop-c**k. Again and again, he wants to be folded inside Dillon’s Herculean arms, repeatedly kissed by the man, romanced and seduced for the rest of his life, ‘til death do them part, of course. Marriage. This is what Jason wants. Husbandhood. No longer available for the taking by other men. No longer on the market. He wants a f*****g ring on his finger and to show it off. Dillon just isn’t above average as a s****l partner in the bedroom. The guy is ruggedly handsome and all heavy-duty action. His heart is one of the strongest Jason knows: overly kind, sensitive, in it for keeps, and faithful. And his libido is unstoppable. Jason can’t think of a better man with a better heart. The cop is a star of sorts that he looks up to. Godlike, immortal, knowledgeable regarding his feelings, in touch with his feminine side, ridiculously charming, and also rock-solid masculine when he needs to be. Dillon’s like a good meal, Jason thinks, hearty and wholesome, needed, and replenishing; the way every man should be in any relationship. They live together in a small cottage next to Lake Erie. The cottage sits hidden from other small cottages, mostly hunting cabins belonging to rough and tumbled men who work and live in Pittsburgh. The cottage is concealed by Pennsylvania oaks, pines, and maples. Jason purchased the place from his Uncle Lou in 2009, calling it his permanent residence. After he started dating Dillon, the hot cop found it gingerbread-perfect, fairy tale-like, and storybook right. He moved in shortly after two months. Dillon honestly didn’t receive Jason’s blessing, but did it really matter since the two men were sleeping together and sharing a life as boyfriends? Plus, being handsome like Dillon always causes men to do strange things, even Jason. No surprise. Pure honesty. Today, they live a discreet life together as unmarried lovers. Dillon works a variety of shifts in law, and Jason processes his patients’ sessions on Third Street, listening to a selected few of Redder residents’ problems and their detailed obsessions, love interests, and bizarre life tales. Together, as boyfriends, Jason and Dillon meet at the cottage for dinners, make love next to the heat-sharing hearth, and pass John Grisham novels back and forth, comparing novel notes with each other. They sometimes go grocery shopping together, take weekend trips to some of the lake’s small islands, and visit Reddering’s, the local pub where men who frequently find other men attractive. Reddering’s is where they’ve met and discovered bliss. A shitty pub with deer skulls on the walls, country music, and two draft beers to choose from. Dillon calls this specific moment in their lives Pissing at First Sight. Six years ago. Almost to the day. The two men stood side-by-side in the pub’s bathroom and urinated. Dillon also calls the moment Pee Dating. Jason knows why: Between the two of them, Dillon was the one who started the initial conversation that had brought them together. He looked to his left while standing at an American Standard urinal and said, “Nice blue eyes, guy.” Jason looked to his right. “Brown beard. I like that on a man.” “Great shoulders and blond hair. You’re cute more than handsome. A pretty boy.” “So I’ve been told.” Short pause. A d**k shake. Another visual once-over of the man next to him. “I’ve seen you around Redder. Lots. Can’t really place you, though.” “You probably have seen me. Officer Dillon Snyder at your service.” Another shake. Flush. “A cop. I dig cops. Always have. They turn me on.” “In or out of their uniforms?” “Does it really matter?” Jason walks to the sink and begins to wash his hands. Dillon follows suit. “Is it illegal to buy a hot cop a drink?” “It all depends on the drink and if you think the cop is really hot.” Jason winks at Dillon. “Something strong and with a punch.” “I can do whiskey.” “We can do whiskey,” Jason corrects, tells Dillon his name, what he does for a living, and continues to wash his hands next to the cop, beginning something with him. Jason also knows: they slept together on that first night after meeting. Jason had a small flat above a law firm. Dillon admitted that he liked Jason’s naked and tight bottom better than the flat. No joke. Jason let him spend the night, and a few more nights after that. More things Jason knows: the next morning, they had breakfast together: coffee and donuts; a cop’s delight. Dillon really didn’t care what the meal was at the time as long as he could stare into Jason’s blue eyes and try to prevent himself from helplessly falling for the guy. Over the donuts, Dillon said, “You have no speeding or parking tickets. Your record’s clean.” “Thanks for doing a background check on me.” “A cop has to know who he just spent the night with.” Jason teased, “I’m sure you can find a reason to put me in your handcuffs, officer. I’m not a saint.” Dillon agreed. Jason seduced him. They’ve been together since, but only as boyfriends. The next step in their lives is marriage, Jason thinks. He wants a ring from the cop. He wants a license to go with it. Maybe someday this will happen for him, and for Dillon. Maybe not. Jason will ride it out, though, because he loves Dillon Snyder, everything about the officer of the law. His most important romance.