Chase shrugged lightly.
“You can tell when someone’s actually paying attention to him. He responds differently.”
Logan laughed under his breath.
“Yeah. I noticed.”
A beat passed.
Then Chase added, almost casually,
“You and I could probably get along fine without him in the room too.”
Logan snorted.
“Oh, I’m aware.”
They shared a brief grin.
Logan grabbed his gym bag.
“This only works,” he said, starting toward the locker room, “if we’re on the same team.”
Chase fell into step beside him.
“I’d rather be teammates than competitors.”
Logan glanced at him.
“Good answer.”
They reached the locker room entrance.
Logan paused, meeting Chase’s eyes.
“For what it’s worth… he looked happier with you there.”
Chase stilled slightly.
Not pride.
Relief.
“And that didn’t make me want to pull him away,” Logan added.
He held Chase’s gaze another second.
“It made me want to step forward.”
Then he pushed the door open.
The locker room smelled faintly of metal, soap, and old rubber mats.
Lockers clanged somewhere farther down the row. A couple guys were already leaving, gym bags slung over shoulders, the late-afternoon lull settling in.
Logan dropped his bag onto the bench and grabbed a towel.
Chase opened a locker a few doors down, pulling his shirt over his head without much ceremony.
