Gemotions

He stared at the screen, the words he had written years ago staring back at him. Liam, the name he hadn't used in a decade, shone out from the digital page. He swallowed hard. A knot of tension tightened in his chest. His palms were already slick with sweat. He felt a strange tightening in his groin, a phantom ache.

He ran a hand through his hair, a nervous gesture he hadn't realized he still used. The diary entries chronicled his awkward crushes, his teenage rebellion, and his first, clumsy attempts at intimacy. He wanted to laugh and cringe simultaneously. He crossed his legs. He felt the heat rising in his thighs.

The words, the raw honesty of his teenage self, were a potent cocktail of embarrassment and something else, a feeling that made him suddenly restless. He had to stand up, he had to pace. The room felt too small.