Page 120 of Full Body Hit: Part 2
Auston popped his head out of the living room, where he’d been with his parents. “Oh, she released you?” he joked at Chase.
“I’ll have to meet the rest of her toys tomorrow.”
Beside him, Ariana snorted. “I’ve never seen her get so attached to anybody. She’s barely spent time with her sister. I didn’t think it was possible.”
Chase squirmed. “I hope that was okay?”
“Oh, yeah. It’s amazing.” She stared out towards the porch. “I’m just going to clean these up.”
“Oh, I’ll help you.” Chase waved Auston off when the Alpha stepped closer and followed Ariana out, helping her pick toys up.
“Hey…” she started as they put everything away. “I just wanted to say…Auston told me a little about Spain. About how he went off and disappeared into a drunk mess for a while.”
“Oh, yeah. I mean, it was fine. I think I overreacted a little—obviously, he’s an adult, and—” Chase startled as Ariana stepped forwards and wrapped him up in her arms.
Chase hugged her back, arms coming up tentatively. He blinked as she moved away again. “Sorry. I just…after he told me how young you were, I was kind of, like…how the fuck is this going to work?”
Chase tensed. He’d had no idea that had been her reaction, but she went on.
“Auston told me you were mature, but that’s kind of what older creepy guys always say.”
“Auston isn’t—”
“No, no. I know. Sorry, my point is that I didn’t know how someone so much younger than Auston would be able to be his partner, but I get what he’s been saying about you now. How you two just…work together. Understand each other. If you weren’t here, he’d be drunk the whole fucking summer, no matter what we said or how we tried to support him. I mean, not that he drinks a lot normally, but he’d just…avoid the situation in whatever way he could. But you got him to stop in two fucking days.”
Chase stared at his shoes. “I mean…he wasn’t doing anything bad. He was just…”
“I mean, sure, getting wasted isn’t the end of the world for a normal adult, but I would be worried too. Like, it’s not something Auston normally does, and he was doing it to not deal with his goddamn emotions, so, yeah, you were right to be concerned. But you were understanding, too? Which…I think I wouldn’t have been.”
Chase wasn’t quite sure what to say to that. They’d talked it out and worked through it. What else could he have done but understand him?
Ariana shrugged. “Anyway. I just wanted to say that I’m really glad he found you. I’ve honestly never seen him so happy, and I’ve known him all my life, so.”
Chase could feel something bloom in his gut. “Really?”
“Yeah.” She patted him on the shoulder. “Welcome to the family.”
Auston caught him later when they went to the little house Auston had in San Diego. “Did my sister harass you?”
Chase laughed. “No. She was saying nice things, actually?”
“Aboutme?” Auston said dubiously.
“Well, more about me.”
“Oh. That makes more sense.” He kissed Chase on the top of the head. “You’re good? Having a good time?”
Chase nodded. It felt…strange, being embraced so easily by a family. Auston’s parents were sonice. His mom kept trying to feed him, and his dad was constantly making jokes that no one but Chase and the kids seemed to find funny. Most of all, there was something special about watching them all interact, sensing the grooves of history in their dynamics, carved in by years of love.
Chase had never had that. All his love was fresh and untested.
He wanted what they had, though. More than that, he was starting to believe he could have it.
“I really like it here,” Chase said, looking up at Auston as they stood close.
Auston smiled, a slowly unfurling thing. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
