Page 48 of Chasing You

Kash burst into laughter. “We’re so old.”

Adele glanced up, then snorted and shook his head. “We’re not expired yet. Slightly out of date, maybe, but we have some life left in us. Come here.” He took Kash by the chin and turned his head, then ripped open the acrid-scented alcohol pad.

It stung when Adele cleaned him, but the pain faded quickly, and the cream after was soothing. He closed his eyes and basked in his best friend’s touch.

“I’m sorry I ruined the trip.”

Adele sighed quietly as he smoothed the edges of the bandage over Kash’s skin. “You really think it was ruined?”

“I think that you planned something really nice, and my body decided that it wanted to fuck around,” Kash told him. He leaned back, looking at his friend. Adele seemed sadder than anything else. His mouth was turned down at the corners, and he had his hands hanging loosely between hisspread knees. “I feel like this is a preview of what the rest of my life is going to be like.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Adele said, and Kash couldn’t help a wince. He’d half hoped that Adele would blow smoke up his ass and tell him it would pass. But he also knew Adele too well to think those words were coming. “I’ll never give up on our beach days though. Or shelling.”

Kash’s chest warmed. “Promise?”

“Cross my heart. But you’ll have to accept a bathroom escort from now on,” Adele said, and when Kash wrinkled his nose, Adele sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not joking. God knows what kind of nasty shit you could have picked up from that floor.”

Kash couldn’t argue with him there. “All I really want is to go home and have a nice shower and comfortable sweats.”

“Make it a bath?” Adele said. Kash’s mouth went dry. “The one in my bedroom fits more than one person, and I’ve got a couple bubble bars and some Epsom salts.”

Kash swallowed heavily. “Yeah?” Was that an invitation? Or a suggestion.

“Gage won’t be home tonight. He’s over at a friend’s after rehearsal. We’ll be unbothered. You can relax…and I can help,” Adele added, his voice dropping low.

Nope. Kash wasnotmisinterpreting anything. And he could only lie to himself for so long. He just didn’t understand why Adele was doing this when he’d never shown any indication of loving Kash as more than a friend before now.

Was it pity?

He did feel pretty pathetic, and he probably would for a while—until he learned his new body.

Did he think Kash would never be able to find anyone else willing to sleep with him?

He was pretty sure that wasn’t true. It was the opposite. Kash was done trying to fill the holes in himself with people who didn’t fit the right shape. Adele was it for him. He just didn’t trust it could be real and struggled to believe that those feelings could go both ways.

But maybe he shouldn’t overthink it. Maybe he should accept what Adele was willing to give him until it ended. It probably would. Kash had never been blessed. But why not be a little selfish when everything was so damn terrible?

“I think that sounds really good,” Kash said, meeting Adele’s gaze.

Adele’s cheeks pinked, and his lips parted on a soft inhale. “Yeah?”

“Yes.”

Bowing his head, Adele nodded. “I think we can salvage the rest of the day.” His hand crept out, and then he linked fingers with Kash and held tight.

Kash squeezed back. His grip was weak, but it was there, and that’s what mattered. “Yeah. I think so too.”

They sat quietly there in the little room of the ferry, mostly in silence, on the cusp of something big and important. And the only thing Kash had in that moment was faith that if he accepted this—whatever it was—nothing else was going to fall apart.

thirteen

ADELE

The airin the car was tense—but not in a bad way. Adele felt like he was standing off the edge of a cliff, ready to jump. He had no idea what was at the bottom, but he realized he didn’t care. He was ready to take the risk. He was ready to see if he could fly.

The drive home felt longer than the drive to the ferry. Kash’s muscles began to relax about ten minutes after they disembarked, and now, he was snoring softly with his cheek pressed against the window. Adele fought the urge to reach out and brush fingers through his hair. It was hard not to touch him whenever he wanted, but it was easy to give in when Kash was opening up to him.

And that was happening.

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