Page 35 of Chasing You

It took some clever maneuvering to get him out of the shower without slipping on the tiles, but soon enough, he was dry and sliding into his sweats. Adele hadn’t left his side, but neither of them had been brave enough to speak a word.

How long would this go on? How many times would Adele put up with this before he got tired of it? Not just thejerking off, but all of it. The caregiving. The worrying. The hovering.

At some point, he’d have to go back to living his life the way it was before Kash came. Adele needed to fall in love with someone—truly and completely in love. When that happened, he’d be able to let go, and Kash could finally say goodbye to the fantasy and start to live his reality.

It wouldn’t be the best, but he’d get to keep his friend, and that was all that mattered in the end.

nine

ADELE

“I’m in trouble.”

Ridge looked over from where he was dunking the sponge into the large bucket and lifted a brow behind his aviators. “What kind of trouble? Legal shit, or?—”

“I think I’m in love.”

Ridge dropped the sponge and walked over, pushing his glasses into his hair. “Ah yes, the bestie.”

Adele tried not to cringe at the word, and he nodded. “Yeah. And don’t give me shit, please. I’m apparently obvious except to the one person that matters, and it’s fucking killing me. But maybe it’s for the best,” Adele added.

Ridge raised a brow at him. “How exactly is that for the best?”

“Because…” He stopped. The truth was, he was pretty sure Kash had some idea, and Adele was on board now with Bowen’s theory that Kash had been in love with him for years. But no matter what Adele put on the table, Kash wasn’t taking it.

They’d had their moment in the shower—a good moment. A fucking great moment once Adele figured out that Kash wasn’t really hurt. But after, it had been awkward silence and emotional distance until the next day, when Kash went back to pretending like nothing happened.

He didn’t know if it was a self-esteem thing or if it was Kash struggling with his feelings, but either way, he felt stuck. He couldn’t be more obvious if he tried, and he had no idea what to do. The wooing plan was failing, and Adele was starting to panic. What if this whole thing really was one-sided?

What if Kash was going along with it because he thought Adele needed it? Bowen could very easily be wrong. Maybe Kash hadn’t wanted Adele to touch him at all. He wasn’t the one who’d asked for it. He’d just said yes. Maybe Adele was putting him into a situation where he felt like he couldn’t say no.

Panic rose in his throat, and his breath started to shake in his lungs.

“Hey,” Ridge said softly. “Are you okay?”

“Honestly? No. I mean, yes, I’m fine. But I feel like I’m going to spend the rest of my life alone, and pining, and miserable.”

“That’s…defeatist. And not like you,” Ridge said.

Adele groaned and rested his head against the side of the truck. It smelled like car wash soap and dirt, which wasn’t the most pleasant combination. “Yeah. I can’t seem to shake myself out of this funk.”

Ridge walked over and leaned next to him. “How can I help?”

“I don’t think you can.” Adele turned his head to the side to look at his friend. “I’ve tried everything to get him tocrack, but he’s…he’s so distant. And not just because he’s going through health shit. This is different.”

Ridge let out a small sigh. “Have you talked to him directly?”

Adele’s laugh was almost hysterical. “No.”

“Because that’s what? Too reasonable?”

Adele flipped him off, but deep down, he knew Ridge was right. He should just talk to him. He had no idea why his head was still lodged so firmly up his ass about this. “It’s, ah…well. It’s a little worse than not talking to him directly.”

Ridge raised his brows. “Go on.”

Adele’s face heated. He hadn’t confessed this to anyone except Bowen, who refused to hear details—and for good reason. But he was keeping this from most of the guys, and it sucked. At their last meeting, he told himself he was going to fess up and tell the truth, but then he realized if they judged him for the way he was making a mess of this whole thing, he wouldn’t ever recover.

He couldn’t lose their respect or their trust. They were all he had left.

---