Page 31 of Full Body Hit: Part 2
AUSTON
Auston wasn’t sure how it was possible to be jealous of himself. Not envious, butjealous, a resentful, clawed feeling that was ripping him up.
And yet he couldn’t stop digging his fingers into the bruise.
“Things going well with your partner?” Auston asked, not even knowing what he wanted to hear. The obvious answer was,Yes. Yes, it’s going well. It’s going amazing. He’s the love of my life.
And yet there was that beast hissing at him again—if Chase said no, they had a chance.
It meant that maybe Auston could win.
Sure, it would be against his alter ego, but it still fucking counted.
Chase wiped his mouth with a napkin. They were sitting in a little café that did the best paninis in New Orleans. Auston wasn’t sure how he kept convincing Chase to go out for lunch with him—there’d been a week there when it had been clear Chase was trying to pull away.
Auston had thought about giving him space. He really had.
And then the moment in the car had happened.
Auston had never wished to be able to scent Chase more desperately. To know what the Omega was feeling.
It hadn’t just been Auston, had it? Sitting there in the magnetised air, craving touch so strongly ithurt?
Chase had given every sign that he’d wanted it. Had tilted his cheek into his palm. Peered at him with those liquid eyes of his.
Begging.
But maybe Auston was projecting—wanted Chase so badly he was filling in the gaps with longing.
“Oh,” Chase said. “Good. Yeah, really good.”
A pronged stab of pain and pleasure. “Yeah? You don’t talk about him much. What’s he like?” These were the kinds of fucking conversations he should be avoiding.
Chase frowned slightly, eyes and mouth going soft. “He’s…kind. Thoughtful. Generous. A real caretaker, you know? He genuinely cares about how I am instead of how he wants me to be.”
The resentment melted at the softness on Chase’s face—the simple joy that lit it up.
“And he’s really smart, too, and hardworking. Gives the best advice.” Chase shrugged. “He’s awesome.”
Auston cleared his suddenly tight throat. “That’s great.”
Chase beamed at him. “Yeah. I’m super lucky to have found him, honestly.”
“I’m sure he feels the same way,” Auston couldn’t help but add.
Chase’s cheeks went pink. “I hope so. What about you, though? I’ve never asked if you have a partner.”
“Oh. Uh…it’s complicated.”
And, there—a twitch of Chase’s face. A noise at the back of his throat—surprise, maybe.
Or disappointment.
Auston shook himself mentally. Really? This was where things had gotten to? Dissecting every fucking sound, cutting into the skin of every moment, digging around in its guts, obsessive.
He needed to get his shit together.
Chase nodded. “Oh. Have you known them long?”
