Chase nodded slowly.
Tommy realized suddenly he was standing between them.
Not deliberately.
Just… there.
And for the first time in his life, standing between Chase and someone else didn’t feel like losing.
It felt like possibility.
The patio lights swayed faintly above them.
Inside, the party went on like nothing had changed.
But Tommy knew something had.
And this time, for once, he wasn’t trying to win.
He was just trying to see what happened next.
Chapter Nine
Chase
Chase didn’t leave right away.
The party was still going behind him when he stepped out onto the porch, the bass of the music thumping softly through the floorboards and the hum of conversation spilling out through the open door.
Someone laughed too loudly inside.
Someone else shushed them.
Normal party noise.
He closed the door quietly behind him and leaned against the railing, letting the cooler air settle the heat that had been building in his chest all night.
Across the street, porch lights glowed in warm squares through tree branches. A dog barked somewhere down the block before being called back inside.
Ordinary.
But his head was still stuck on the patio.
Tommy standing between them.
Not tense.
Not awkward.
Just… there.
Chase rubbed a hand across the back of his neck and exhaled slowly.
He’d expected tonight to feel like closure.
That was the responsible version of the evening, the one that made the most sense. See Tommy again. Realize it had just been chemistry in a strange situation. Walk away like a normal adult.
Instead he’d walked outside feeling like something had quietly rearranged itself.
