“Whatever,” I say with a laugh.
Chase rolls onto his side and licks my ankle.
“Dude! Gross!”
Yeah, my best friend doesn’t have great boundaries. He actually hasnoboundaries where I’m concerned. It’s to the point where the last guy I dated actually thought Chase and I were fooling around behind his back and broke things off.
I wasn’t too bummed, to be honest. I have more than enough classwork to keep me busy,and now I’m leaving for three months, so I guess Chase kind of did me a favor. He also didn’t like the guy, and I know he hammed it up on purpose whenever he was around.
“Admit it, Han. If I were into guys, you’d date me,” Chase says, apparently needing his own ego boosted today.
Staring down at him, I assess his broad shoulders, the freckles on the bridge of his nose, and his red hair. He doesn’t have washboard abs, but he’s balancing his beer intake with enough cardio to keep his physique decent…but soft. Chase actually isn’t my type at all, but I think it would hurt his feelings to know that.
Shrugging, I give him the same answer I give him every time. “Sure, Chase. If dick was your thing, you’d be it for me.” I extend my hand to help him up. “But it’s a moot point since you don’t bat for my team. Now come on, let’s go grab breakfast.”
Appeased by my answer, Chase uses my hand to stand up, swats me on the ass, and grabs his T-shirt from the chair by the door.
We say goodbye to everyone still milling around the gym and head to our favorite breakfast spot.
Once we’re seated with massive plates of food in front of our faces, Chase asks, “So, have you told Heart-of-Stone that you’re coming for a little visit?”
Chase has only met Stone a couple of times. We became friends in the eighth grade, and Stone was a senior. That was actually one of my favorite years, but then it was all just over, and Stone was moving to Montana.
“Yeah, we talked right before I called you,” I tell him around a mouthful of eggs.
“And?” Chase prompts.
“And he’s thrilled. Totally ready to welcome me with open arms,” I deadpan.
“Really?”
“Fuck, no! It went exactly as we thought it would. He was pissed and a total dick about it. I told him just to pawn me off on someone else and hung up the phone.”
Chase laughs across from me, but then pins me with his ‘serious stare.’
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” I start to argue, but he holds up his hand. “You can keep lying to yourself once this conversation is over, but I know how much it hurts you that he basically just disappeared from your life without an explanation. If you go out there and he reallydoesput you with someone else, and acts like you don’t exist, are you going to be able to handle it?”
Chase has been my sounding board for a lot of things over the last few years; my anger and resentment over Stone included.
“I don’t know. I mean, I guess I’llhaveto handle it. I need this internship to graduate. And it’s a great opportunity.”
“Will you finally tell your parents the truth? Or will you keep covering for him just to make everyone happy?”
“What are you talking about?” I ask, avoiding his eyes.
“Come on, Han. I know you tell your parents that you guys still keep in touch. You forget I was at family game night on several occasions and watched how much they pushed for you guys to really drink the one-big-happy-family juice.”
I wince. I hadn’t realized Chase had been paying quite that much attention over the years.
“Look, losing my dad unexpectedly was really traumatic for my mom. And James Addario was everything my mom and I needed. Of course, I want to make them happy. Besides, James has been through his own shit,andStone was a decent human being in the beginning. There were several years where he was a pretty good big brotherto me.”
Chase snorts. “I’m glad to see your standards are so high that ‘decent’ is what you’re willing to accept.”
How do I explain that Stone was the only person in my life growing up who didn’t baby me, coddle me, and act like I was some fragile porcelain doll? Stone made it no secret that he resented the special treatment I was given by our parents, but he was never a blatant asshole to me. He never locked me out of the house, hid my things, or did shit and then blamed it on me.
“It’s complicated,” I answer.
“Families usually are,” Chase replies.
