Page 22 of Chasing You

“Let me help you get comfortable.”

Right. He was there as a caregiver and a friend. Not to fulfill Kash’s fantasies. All the same, he allowed himself this selfish, indulgent moment. He forced his body to relax as much as it was capable, and he was pliant as Adele stripped him out of his jeans and button-up.

He breathed out a sigh of relief when his legs were released from the orthotics, and he tried not to grimace when Adele lifted one foot and began to massage the sweaty arch.

“That has to be gross.”

Adele scoffed. “You and I have both been inside the station locker room. Nothing is worse than that.”

Kash laughed and covered his face with both hands. “Yeah. The one thing I don’t miss.” He sobered quickly. He didn’t talk about retiring from his job much. Hell, he didn’t think about it at all. One trauma at a time, damn it. But he felt there was about to be a moment between them.

“If you decide to get back to work, you know I’ll find something for you, right?”

“Tired of me sponging off?—”

“Don’t,” Adele interrupted, firm but kind. “Please don’t. You know that’s not it. I just know you, and I know sitting around isn’t good for you.”

Another brutal truth. If Kash wasn’t dealing with the fact that these might be his last few years, he’d be freakingout about work. But it was the last thing on his mind for now.

He pushed up on his elbows. “Go get some food, okay? I know you’re starving.”

Adele stared at him, then sighed and dropped his leg, leaving him feeling somewhat lopsided. “Yeah. I’ll, uh…” He hesitated, his face turning toward the window. “I’ll be back in a bit. Text me if you think of anything specific you want.”

“You know me,” Kash reminded him.

Adele looked over at him, then nodded. “Yeah. I do.”

six

ADELE

It wasn’tlike Adele minded not being in the loop. Really. He understood boundaries. Even if he was struggling with the need to be a helicopter parent, he practiced boundaries at home. He taught his son to hold them fast and enforce them no matter who the person was asking him to bend.

And he’d once again vowed to sit quietly and let Kash do this on his own without help.

But it was killing him, sitting there knowing that Kash was inside, possibly learning more about himself, and he was doing it entirely by himself. He’d seen how much this was hurting his best friend. He’d distracted himself from thinking about how bad it was by creating this fantasy that Kash was falling in love with some nameless, faceless stranger on a dating app, but deep down, he’d known it wasn’t that.

But at least when he was creating that little lie in his head, he’d been distracted. Now that Kash had firmly shot that theory in the foot, he was forced to reconcile that whatever illness ravaging Kash’s body hadno easy fix.

It might not have a fix at all.

And there was no telling how it was going to end.

The thought made him sick to his stomach, so he spent the hour and ten minutes waiting on Kash in the group chat. The guys were great at making him feel better, but even Kylen’s dad jokes weren’t cutting it today.

He was on edge, ready to jump out of his skin at any given moment.

Then the door swung open, and there he was. He was…smiling? No, it wasn’t a smile, but it almost looked like it because his lips weren’t turned down in the frown he’d been wearing for weeks and weeks.

He looked okay.

Maybe hewasokay?

He fought the urge to jump up and demand answers. Instead, he watched Kash chat with the woman at the front desk, then take a stack of papers from her. He was leaning heavily on his cane, and his legs were still very stiff, but there was the barest bounce in his step that hadn’t been there on the way in.

“Well?” Adele demanded as they hit the sidewalk. He couldn’t contain it any longer.

Kash took a breath. “I’m not terminal.”

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