My desire for touch feels insatiable. Maybe I didn’t know what I was missing—in the same way that my sex drive was abstract until I had actually experienced sex—but now I know how good it feels.” Forced to live without M’s copious physical affection, I understood that our friendship had brought me a form of fullness I’d never had before. I also understood that, with us living so far apart, I was unlikely to feel that fullness anytime soon.
