“Cool! A couple of the other guys in our class are gay too,” Josh said, then furrowed his brow. “Wait, that’s not true. Garrett is pan and I think Hunter is bi. And you already know about Cole, of course.”
Chase let his curiosity get the better of him as he asked, “What about Tobias?”
“I always thought he might be ace or a robot, but…” Josh trailed off, his smile growing mischievous. “But maybe not. Only time will tell.”
Riley shot Josh a quizzical look. “What are you talking about?”
Josh only shrugged and turned back to Chase.
“So, what do you say? You want to hang out with us for a bit? At least get some food in you? Our family is full of good cooks.”
Our family. These guys were already married and had no idea.
Chase couldn’t help but smile as Josh wiggledexcitedly where he sat, waiting for Chase’s decision.
“Yeah, why not? Let me just say goodbye to my mom, and I’ll walk out with you guys.”
“Sounds good,” Josh said, then turned to the headstone in front of them. “It was nice to meet you, Ms. Townsend. We’ll take care of Chase this Christmas. Don’t worry.”
Josh stood, holding a hand out to Riley to help him up off the ground. Riley smiled at Chase as Josh yanked him off the ground.
“We’ll wait for you by the entrance. Take your time,” Riley said, patting Chase on the shoulder as he walked past, and the two of them headed down the path toward the cemetery’s exit.
Once they were far enough away, Chase shifted to face his mom again.
“You work fast, don’t you?” he said, chuckling. “I guess I have plans for the rest of the holiday after all. Maybe I’m not as alone as I thought.”
Chase stood and grabbed his towel off the ground.
Saying goodbye never got easier, but this was the first time he was excited to see what the rest of the day would bring.
“Merry Christmas, Grandma and Grandpa. Merry Christmas, Mom. I’ll visit again soon. I love you.”
Chase touched two of his fingers to his lips and then placed them on his mother’s headstone, the wind rufflinghis hair. For a moment, he pretended it was his mom’s soft touch.
As he walked down the path toward Riley and Josh, he pulled out his phone and responded to Tobias’ text.
CHASE:Merry Christmas, Tobias. I hope you get everything you want this year.
I’m sure going to try to get everything I want, and I’m done facing life alone.
9
TOBIAS SIGHED AS HE powered down the computer in the front of the gym. The six a.m. class had just finished and everyone was making their way out into the cold.
Christmas was two days before and he had worked hard to give Madison the magical holiday she deserved. He even managed to enjoy most of it, but frustration was still eating at him.
He didn’t want to think about why he was so frustrated that Chase had the day off and he didn’t get to see him.
It was probably because he had to deal with the class all by himself and he was getting used to Chase being there to help him.
Yeah, that had to be it.
‘Sure, it’s totally not anything else.’
Be quiet, brain.
‘Couldn’t be his sweet smile that makes you melt a little bit every time you see it.’
