One Caress (слэш)

Steve's rarely been touched in a way that didn't equate to some kind of hurt. The cold metal of a stethoscope against his frail chest or the sting of a needle drawing yet another blood sample, when he was a sickly child. The bone-shattering punches thrown by the neighborhood bullies on the playground, or by his own father at home, drunk and wild. His mother, weak and clutching at him as she grew more incoherent with the drugs as the cancer ate away at her insides. Touch was something he shied away from, something he told himself he just didn't want.
Except...he did. He just didn't know how.
Until he finds a flyer for a local "affection and intimacy services" program.
In which Steve learns how to become comfortable with touch, and there is one very good dog, and a slow-burn romance.