I closed and locked the slider to his balcony and walked to the kitchen island again. I glanced down at his drawings and was impressed.
“Hey, this is good.” I pointed to his drawing when he ran back into the room. He pulled his Lakers cap down over his head and walked over to see which sketch I was pointing to.
“Thanks! They sent me a bunch of their logos over the years and said they need something new and fresh. So I was just messing with some of it today.”
“That’s great, Chase.”
“Okay, ready? I’m so hungry!”
“If you ate more than a Lunchable and energy drinks, perhaps you wouldn’t be so hungry, bub,” I said as we stepped into the hallway.
“I know, I know. But sometimes when the creative urge strikes, I’ve got to concentrate on it. Concentration isn’t my strong suit,” he said as we walked to the elevator. “Seriously, though, I’m trying hard to gain clients and make the best of this,” he said as we got into the elevator.
“I know you are, and you’re doing well.”
I couldn’t tell if he believed me or if he just thought I was blowing smoke up his ass. We chatted about the building and how it’d changed from a decorative perspective until we got into my car.
“Did you think my place was a mess?” he asked when we pulled out of the parking garage.
“No, but I could tell that you were focused on working.”
“I like to work,” he mumbled.
“I know. But you can’t forget to take time out for yourself, bub. You hadn’t been outside all day, and you barely ate anything. You’ve got to take time and breathe, Chase.”
“I know. I’ll keep working on it.”
“Taking time for yourself isn’t something you need to work on. You just need to do it. And I’m just going to say one more nagging big brother thing… Lay off those energy drinks. They’re not what you need, and Hollis would freak out if he knew you were downing those things like that.”
“I know. Mom and Dad said that too.”
I started to feel bad about pointing out so many things to him. If our parents had already climbed on him for those things, I was just piling it on. I was worried about him and wanted him to take better care of himself.
The restaurant was warm, and while we looked at the menus, Chase rolled up his sleeves. Whenever his forearms were exposed, I always looked at his wrist and the scar on his skin. It was a terrible habit of mine, and I hated myself for staring. I pulled my eyes away and focused on the menu. When the server came by to take our drink order, Chase rolled his sleeves down. So he either saw me staring or was self-conscious with the server.
“What can I get you guys to drink?” the server asked.
“I’ll have a Coke, please,” Chase said.
“Make it two,” I added.
“Okay. Do you need a few minutes to look over the menu?”
Chase looked at me, which made me smile. It was funny how he thought we might get something different. I handed the server my menu and gestured to Chase so he’d order. He smiled victoriously and then ordered a large cheese pizza with no seasoning.
“So Maggie didn’t want to come visit?”
“It wasn’t that she didn’t want to, she just had a lot going on at work,” I replied as our server returned with the drinks.
It was the perfect segue for me to ask him about how he was doing in that department. He rarely mentioned dating when we talked and texted, but I knew he’d been on a dating site a while back.
“Are you still using the dating site?” I asked.
He smirked and then reached for his Coke.
“Yeah, man. Not all of the Hawkins boys are blessed with beautiful CEOs of multimillion-dollar businesses.”
Fuck.
