Page 37 of Chasing You

Ridge looked at him carefully. “Would you reallycondemn yourself to a relationship where you weren’t in love just to make someone happy?”

“I would if it was him.”

Ridge burst into laughter. “You jackass. That’s love. No one does that for someone they’re not head over heels with. You can’t think about this clearly because you want him to the point of what I’m starting to think is insanity.”

Ridge was probably right, and Adele hated it. “I just don’t know what to do.”

“What are your options?”

“Well,” Adele said, then bit his lip in thought. “I could tell him the truth, and it could be great. We could fall in love, and we’d have babies and shit.”

“Or?”

“OrI could say something, and he’d say yes to make me happy, and we’d end up burning down one of the best friendships I have in my life.”

“And the third option?”

“Why do you think there’s a third option?” Adele asked, but he was blushing because there was one. It just wasn’t going the way he planned.

Ridge crossed his arms and stared at him until he cracked.

“Okay, fine. I’ve decided to seduce the absolute fuck out of him until he has no choice but to see we’re perfect together. And then we’d fall in love and have babies and shit.”

Ridge snorted. “Mhm. And how’s that working out for you?”

“I’ve given him two hand jobs, and while we both promised not to make it weird, it’s gotten weird. He’s been my best friend since we were kids. I know him better than anyone except maybe my brother and my son. Butsuddenly, I feel like he’s a stranger. And fuck, I need to come up with some way to make him understand that I could be the best thing that ever happened to him. Because he’s the best thing that ever happened to me. I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”

Ridge closed the distance between them and cupped Adele’s face between his hands. “Hey.”

Adele tried for a smile but failed. “I know. I’m?—”

“You’re a good guy,” Ridge said, interrupting him before he could go on another tirade about what a disaster he was. “You’re an amazing guy. Hell, if you weren’t so head over heels for someone else—and if you were more my type…and if there wasn’t that whole policy about not dating your boss,” he added with a laugh, “you’d be at the top of my list. Now, I can’t say for sure that Kash isn’t trying to avoid you—I don’t know him well enough for that—but there’s a good chance he’s trying to protect his heart. If he’s as much like you as you say he is, he’s probably shit-scared you’d set yourself on fire to keep him from getting even the slightest chill. And that’s probably not the kind of future he wants to condemn you to.”

“God, this sucks.”

Ridge snorted. “Seems like it. But I get why you haven’t talked to him. I understand the fear that he’d lie to you to spare your feelings.”

Adele swallowed thickly. “Do you think seducing him until he realizes this could be good is a terrible idea? I mean, do I stop? Or keep going?”

Ridge eased back and looked Adele in the face. “Well, you’ll be in love with him no matter what, right? No matter what his future looks like? Or how bad this thing with his body gets?”

“That’s the one thing I know for certain,” Adele answered honestly.

“Then I think all you can do is ease him in. But you might need to try being more obnoxiously obvious.”

Adele laughed. The advice was both absurd and perfect. “I’m not sure how much more obvious I can get after literally getting into the shower with him and making him come all over himself.”

Ridge grimaced. “Those are the deets I don’t need.”

Adele laughed. “Sorry. I just…need to come up with a plan better than the one I’m using now.”

Ridge sighed. “And I guess I’m going to help you with that.”

“Bud, you don’t need to. I don’t need to make my problems your problems.”

“Yeah, well, since my love life is going absolutely nowhere,” Ridge said with a grimace, then leaned his head on Adele’s shoulder, “I might as well do my best to give someone else their happily ever after.”

Bowen, Adele, and Ridge sat at the table at Lane’s bar, staring at each other, all of them looking lost and uncertain. Adele hated himself for keeping his feelings from the rest of the guys, but he had a feeling if he let Frey or Dallas in on his little plan, it would turn into an epic disaster. Worse than it was now.

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