“At least that’s honest.”
Chase nodded.
“I’m not trying to step into something that already works,” he said. “I just don’t want to pretend I didn’t feel anything either.”
Tommy studied him longer now.
“You’re very calm about this,” he said.
“I’m trying to be respectful,” Chase answered.
A breeze lifted Tommy’s hair.
For a moment neither of them spoke.
Then Tommy said quietly, “You always made things complicated when we were kids.”
Chase smiled.
“You always made them simple.”
Tommy glanced at him.
“That’s not a bad thing,” Chase added. “You decide what matters and move toward it. I’ve never been very good at that.”
Tommy shook his head slightly.
“You were always beating me at everything,” he said.
Chase’s expression shifted.
“I didn’t try to beat you,” he said quietly.
Tommy frowned.
“What?”
“I didn’t try,” Chase repeated. “I just didn’t know how to stop competing.”
The words hung between them.
Tommy’s pulse quickened slightly.
“You know what I used to think?” Tommy said.
“What?”
“I thought you had everything figured out.”
Chase huffed a breath.
“Yeah,” he said. “That was the goal.”
Tommy studied him.
“Did you?”
Chase didn’t answer right away.
