Page 3 of Chasing You

Adele’s face softened. “Burritos?”

“Extra queso,” Kash said. He spotted Adele’s SUV not too far away, and he let out a sigh of relief. “It’s really good to see you.”

Adele stopped short of the passenger door, let the suitcase go, then gathered Kash tightly to his chest. Being in his arms felt like coming home, and a wave of grief hit Kash in the chest. He didn’t want to give this up. He didn’t want his life to be over so fucking soon.

But that was a problem for tomorrow. Right now, there was just this. “I missed you,” Kash said very quietly.

He felt chaste, warm lips press against his temple and then heard the murmured words against it. “I missed you too. But it’s good now. It’s fine. You’re home.”

And he was. But he didn’t know for how long.

Kash’s cover was blown when he fell on the way into the house. He’d known the flight was going to make him unsteady on his feet. The most random things seemed to trigger his weakness and tension in his muscles, but he hadn’t expected it to hit him while he was mid-step.

That was…new.

And really not fun.

He hit the ground before he had the ability to brace himself, and Adele had been a dozen steps ahead of him and didn’t turn around until Kash’s body thudded against the wooden porch. Kash had turned his head to the side to prevent himself from breaking his nose on the fall, so he didn’t see Adele move, but he heard his heavy footfalls as he threw himself from the door to his knees at Kash’s side.

“What—”

“Don’t ask,” Kash begged. “Just…can you help me in, please?” He hated asking, but his legs were so stiff he couldn’t turn his ankles, and he could feel his toes curled tightly in his shoes.

He knew Adele noticed when he got him up, considering how Kash couldn’t actually move his legs. “I need to carry you,” Adele murmured.

Kash’s face was bright red and molten-lava hot as his best friend lifted him by the waist and pulled him the few feet across the threshold. He said a prayer Gage wasn’t there to see this. Or Bowen. Or any of Adele’s new, amazing, ridiculously good-looking friends who had become part of his life while Kash was away.

He swallowed bitter resentment down as Adele literally dragged him into the living room, and by the time he was on the couch, he was calmer.

The place looked exactly the same as it had years back when Kash had last visited. Gage had only been thirteen at the time, and Kash had only stayed forty-eight hours. He’d left with the same aching pain in his heart he’d arrived with. Nothing had changed. There were no sudden and wild realizations that led Adele into his arms. And his pants. There was just a renewing of his aching need for a man he could never have.

It felt a little worse now because Adele was still very much single and still not looking Kash’s way.

“Are we going to talk about this yet?” Adele asked, crouching beside him on the floor. He got Kash’s legs up on a handful of throw pillows. Kash didn’t have the heart to tell him that elevating his feet wouldn’t make a difference.

“No,” he answered stiffly.

Adele raised a brow at him. “Really?”

Kash lifted his hands, grateful his fingers weren’t stiff like his lower limbs, and he covered his face. “Tomorrow?”

“I’m literally going to hold you hostage if you back out on this deal,” Adele warned him. Kash was still covering his eyes, but he heard the shift of Adele’s clothes, then felt the warm press of his lips against his temple. “Hang tight. I’m going to get your stuff.”

“Not like I could go anywhere,” Kash muttered when he was sure Adele was out of earshot. He tested his feet, but it was no use. They were like concrete below the hips. His thighs and calves were so tense they wanted to tremble, but his muscles refused to give an inch.

He was paralyzed.

And he was now on the hook about telling Adele the truth.

The only problem was the answers Adele wanted weren’t answers Kash could give him. He would give just about anything to know what the fuck was wrong with him so he could give himself some peace of mind. Or at least a place to start. Hell, he could start looking into treatments because living like this was an absolute nightmare.

But so far, he was surviving on the doctor hand-wave of indifference.We don’t know. We don’t know how to find out. Here’s the number to some different specialists. Good luck and Godspeed.

The door opened and shut a few times before he saw Adele pass by the living room archway. He was dragging Kash’s bags, and he didn’t stop until his hands were empty and he was breathing a little heavily. He appeared fully a moment later, resting his shoulder against the wall, and he looked at Kash with an unreadable expression.

But that only lasted a moment. “Do you want to be in bed?”

“I’m going to stay here for a bit, if that’s alright with you.”

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