Shawn’s eyes widened at Chase’s question.
“Six in the morning? Is that even legal?”
————————
“Your brother is coming?” Tobias asked, his gaze bouncing around the gym. “Thismorning?”
“Uh, yeah? Is that okay? I thought we allowed drop-ins for potential members,” Chase asked as he stood with Tobias at the computer in the gym. It had been almost two weeks since his meal with Shawn, and now he was coming in to try one of Chase’s classes.
“Well, yeah, of course. But your brother?” Tobias peered down at himself. He wore an oversized hoodie along with sweatpants Chase wished were a bit tighter. He still managed a supreme level of hotness. “Do I look okay?”
“Do you…” Chase trailed off as he watched Tobias pull at the drawstring of his hoodie, trying to make the rope even on each side. “Oh my God. Are you nervous?”
“What? No,” he said quickly. “I just, ya know, want to make a good impression, I guess.”
Chase couldn’t help his giggle slipping out, causing Tobias to narrow his eyes.
“It’s hilarious how adorable you are,” Chase said, reaching up to cup his cheek.
“Take it back,” Tobias said as he leaned into Chase’s touch.
“Not a chance.”
Tobias gazed at Chase warmly. His eyes widened suddenly.
“Does your brother know about us?”
“What about us?” Chase asked not-so-innocently. He couldn’t help but be curious about how Tobias would label them.
“That we’re…canoodling,” Tobias said.
Chase blinked at Tobias, searching his brain for the appropriate response to hearing his hot new hookup—the hockey heartthrob he’d been crushing on for over a decade—refer to their sexual activities ascanoodling.
It turned out, there wasn’t one.
Chase guffawed and fell apart in giggles, a buzz in his pocket distracting him.
He kept laughing as he pulled out his phone to find a message from Shawn indicating he’d pulled up outside the gym.
“My brother’s here,” he said between chuckles. “I’m gonna meet him at the door.”
“Yeah, yeah, see if we do any more canoodling after that,” Tobias muttered, and Chase did everything he could not to laugh again.
As he reached the lounge, Shawn walked in the door, bundled up in what had to be all the winter layers he owned.
“This should be illegal. The sunisn’t even up yet,” Shawn complained as he walked into Gym Rat Fitness. “The lack of sleep has to counteract all the health benefits from the workout.”
Chase laughed. Shawn was the opposite of a morning person, and Chase delighted in the fact that hadn’t changed over the years.
“Don’t worry, you’ll live,” Chase reassured him. “Take off all your Arctic gear and I’ll introduce you to Tobias. Everyone else should be filtering in in the next few minutes.”
“That is probably sixty percent of the reason I’m awake right now,” Shawn said, yawning as he unwrapped the scarf from around his neck with the rest of his layers.
“Just sixty?” Chase asked.
“Yeah, forty percent is to check out my little brother’s class, of course,” he said as he ruffled Chase’s hair. Chase shoved him away before he could undo his minimalistic styling.
“Enough of the ‘little brother’ shit. I’m only a few years younger than you.”
