Adan Navarro
I DIDN’T know how it happened—mostly because I refused to think about it—but somehow summer passed, fall was almost over, and I was still spending time with Chase Rhodes. Lots of time.
I’d gotten into a routine where I spent weekends at his apartment and also went there on days that I had a light class load. His schedule was different from mine because his evenings were usually spent working, whereas I had class during the day. But he gave me a key and I hung out at his place because his refrigerator was always stocked, his couch was comfortable, he had good lighting… and also because I knew he’d walk through the door at the end of the night, usually with a big smile and a funny story.
One night in early November, I fell asleep studying on the couch. The sound of the locks turning woke me up, so by the time Chase walked in, I was sitting and rubbing my palms over my eyes.
“Sorry,” he said as he hung up his coat. “I didn’t mean to wake you up.”
I expected him to walk over, sit on my lap, and kiss me. That’s what he usually liked to do, and I didn’t mind, so I let him. But that night, he dropped his bag by the bed and shuffled into the bathroom, barely looking at me, let alone touching me.
With a frown, I set my book down and approached him. “What’s going on?”
He had his shoes and shirt off and was working on his pants. “Nothing.” He kept his gaze lowered, not making eye contact with me. “Just gonna grab a shower.”
“Chase,” I said gently as I grasped his arm. “What’s wrong, baby?”
With another shake of his head, he managed to cover his eyes with his hair. A sniffle and a gulp told me what he was trying to hide.
“Are you crying?” I asked worriedly as I pushed his hair back and tilted his chin up. His eyes were wet. “You are. What happened?”
“It’s nothing,” he insisted. “Give me a few minutes in the shower and I’ll be fine.”
“No.” I dragged him close and wrapped my arms around him. “Something’s wrong. Talk to me.”
“Don’t we have that rule where we can’t talk about family or shit that matters?” he asked with a sniffle, but he circled his hands around my waist and held on tightly, so I suspected he wanted to talk.
“What can I say? You’ve turned me soft.”
He chuckled and reached between us, groping for my dick. Being close to him had caused the predictable response. “You don’t feel soft,” he said as he rubbed the heel of his hand up my shaft. “But I know how to get you there.”
“And I’m going to take you up on that.” I twined my fingers with his, brought his hand up to my mouth, and kissed the back of it. “Right after we talk about what has you down.”
He sighed deeply and looked up at me from under his lashes. “You really wanna know?”
Surprisingly, I did. “Yes.”
“My director Jared had his kid at work today. I went into his office after the show, and he was holding his son up and flying him around the room like an airplane and making whoosh noises. The kid was giggling like crazy.”
“That sounds, uh, cute.”
“It was.” Chase nodded. “But then it reminded me of this girl who lived down the hall from me when I was little. Her dad used to do that too, and I always wanted my dad to give me an airplane but he was barely there and when he was he was usually fighting with my mom, and then he took off.” Chase took a deep breath and I tried to process his quickly spoken ramble. “See?” he said. “It’s stupid. Lots of people don’t see their fathers and it’s not like it’s new for me.” He shrugged. “Maybe I’m being extra sensitive because this is gonna be my first Thanksgiving since my mom moved away. We have a show on Friday and Saturday, so I can’t go to Florida.” He rubbed his lips together and dragged his fingers through his hair. “But, again, that’s not a big deal. A bunch of my friends are getting together, or I can have dinner with Selina and her family or I can fly solo or… whatever. See? No big deal. I’m fine.”
But he wasn’t fine. I only had to look at the set of his shoulders, the red rims around his eyes, and the grimace he was trying to pass off as a smile to know he was down. Even though I often rolled my eyes at his exuberant personality, the truth was, I liked how happy and bouncy he was all the time and I hated seeing him down.
“Come on,” I said as I tugged his hand and led him out of the bathroom.