Page 15 of Chasing You

Gage rolled his eyes. “I’ll make it up to you? Luke has a date, and he’s freaking the fuck out about looking nice. I have to go help him. Then I have to stalk them both so the guy doesn’t try anything rude or fresh.”

Ridge raised his brows. “Are kids bringing back ‘fresh’?”

“He’s in a play,” Adele said. “About the…fifties?”

“Sixties. Anyway, thank you, love you, bye!”

The door slammed a moment later, and Adele looked down in his arms, but Ina was fast asleep.

“She had a long day. If you want me to take her, I can,” Ridge offered.

Adele tightened his arms around her. “Let me have my moment, please. I’ll never have this again, and while Gage says he wants a whole litter of children, I’m not sure he’s going to keep that opinion once he’s old enough to realize how much responsibility being a parent is.”

Ridge sighed as he stirred the beans, then popped a lid on them and turned. He glanced from Kash to Adele and smiled. “You’d look good with another baby in your arms though, just sayin’.”

Kash let out a soft, startled cough, then said, “Yeah. I could see it.”

Adele’s face heated as he rocked Ina from side to side. He didn’t know what to say to any of that. There was no way in hell Kash meant it the way Adele wanted him to. There was no way they could do all this again together. Starting over.

His heart ached all the way down to his stomach.

“Hey. Not to be an asshole, but do you mind if I turn in?” Kash asked him. “I’m suddenly not very hungry, but if you save me some, I promise to tear them apart later.”

Adele wanted to cry. “You’ve hardly eaten anything today.”

“I know. I’m just hurting.” His arm was shaking. Fuck.

Ridge swooped in to take Ina and leaned in to murmur in his ear, “Go walk him to the bedroom and tell him I’ll save him a plate. This whole thing might not be as unrequited as you think it is.”

Adele was too terrified to hope as he let the baby slip from his arms. He looked at Kash but couldn’t read his expression, and that was more painful than anything because it never used to be like that. They were practically telepathic years ago.

But they’d lost so much.

He offered Kash his hand and let him hold on tight as they made their way back to the bedroom. Adele had desperate, burning questions clawing at his throat. Did the doctors have any idea? Had any of the tests come back? Were they running more?

Would Kash please let him in so they could get through this together?

“Your friend is nice,” Kash said as he eased back down on the bed.

“Hmm? Oh. Yeah, he’s an amazing guy.”

Kash’s lips softened. “Good-looking too.”

Adele’s ears burned.Oh. He supposed he should have realized Ridge was more Kash’s type than anything. “You want me to get you his number, or?—”

“What? Oh my God,no. That’s…” He trailed off with a sigh as he settled into his pillows. “That’s so not what I meant. I’m too much of a mess for anyone to love.”

“Bullshit.” Adele rolled his eyes. It wasn’t like he wanted to set Kash up with someone else. That would kill him. But he also wasn’t about to let his best friend believehe wasn’t worthy of love, no matter what was going on with his body. “And anyone who says different will have to fuckin’ deal with me.”

He helped Kash pull the blankets up over his chest, and then he brushed fingers through his hair. Kash leaned into the touch, and for a moment, Adele existed in the fantasy. It wouldn’t last, but he had this moment.

“Love you,” Kash murmured. He was drifting. “Have a good dinner. Date.”

Adele opened his mouth to correct him, but Kash’s breathing had already evened out. He was asleep. Worry turned into something closer to fear. Something had to be wrong. Whatever this was, it was bad.

He shut the door on his way out and fought the urge to fall to his knees and scream. When Kash said he was coming home, everything was supposed to be going right for the first time in years.

Now, it felt like it was on the verge of completely falling apart.

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