“Is he acting like he’s not feeling the same way?”
I thought about Finn’s texts, the way he’d kissed me goodbye last night. I pictured the way he’d looked at me like I was the only person in the world.
“No,” I admitted. “He’s not.”
“Then stop overthinking, you fucking lawyer. You like him. He likes you. You had amazing sex. Those are all good things.”
“I know, but—”
“But what?”
“But I have a track record of putting work ahead of everything and letting relationships die because I prioritize my career over everything else. What if I do that again?”
Diego was quiet for a moment. “Are you workingseventy-hour weeks right now?”
“No. I negotiated the modified partnership track, remember? I’m down to about fifty, maybe fifty-five on busy weeks.”
“And are you happy with that?”
“Yeah. I am. I’m getting my work done, the Morrisons are happy with my performance, and I have time to live my life.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“The problem is—” My throat tightened as I tried to articulate the fear that had been lurking in the back of my mind. “The problem is that I’m scared I’ll mess this up, that I’ll fall back into old patterns and hurt him because I can’t balance everything.”
“Chase.” Diego reached across the table and smacked my arm. “Stop catastrophizing. You’re not the same person you were five years ago. Hell, you’re not even the same person you were six months ago. You made changes. You set boundaries. You chose to have a life outside of work. Those arerealchanges, mature, adulty changes, as much as it hurts you to admit it.”
“I know, but—”
“No buts. I mean, yes, butts, but no buts with one T.” He grinned at his own ridiculousness. “You like this guy, and he clearly likes you. You’re good together. Stop looking for reasons it won’t work andstart enjoying the fact that itisworking.”
I stabbed a piece of lettuce. The fucking thing needed to die for looking at me all happy and hopeful while I wallowed in self-doubt and pity.
“You think it’s working?” I asked.
“You showed up to the gym this afternoon grinning like an idiot because you got laid by someone you care about. So yeah, Chase, I think it’s working.” He picked up his burger again. “Now, can we talk about something else? I love you like a brother, but if you keep spiraling about this, I’m going to need to switch from beer to vodka.”
I laughed. “Okay. What do you want to talk about?”
“Your kitchen counter?”
“Oh my God.”
“Because I’m just saying, food safety is important—”
“Isohate you.”
“Also, I need more details about this counter situation because I have questions. David loves to try—”
“Absolutely not!”
“Was it comfortable? Because granite is hard—”
“Diego!”
“I’m just concerned about your joint health! You’re not getting any younger—”
I threw a fryat him.
