Chapter 4
FOUR
CASSIUS
“You’re going to need it.”
I folded my arms, refusing to take the ball. “Nope. Nuh-uh. Not happening. Keep it here.”
Dylan huffed out an annoyed sigh when I shook my head.
Since we’d been battling over our joint lucky basketball, he’d been getting more frustrated. Did I love getting a rise out of my best friend? Hell yes. It was fun. Especially as he was the epitome of cool. Not to be confused with closed off.
He was too loving and giving for that.
Case in point: he wanted me to take our lucky basketball away with me to Michigan U. No way was that happening.
It didn’t matter that I was going to play B-ball on a full-ride scholarship, and I absolutely would go pro to play for the League. He needed our ball here.
Was I being ridiculous? Quite possibly. But it was bad enough that I was leaving while he was staying home to go to the local community college in Minneapolis. The thought of leaving him without our lucky ball was a step too far.
“Fine,” he relented. “But take my jersey.”
I grinned, snagging his high school team jersey from his bed. As far as I was concerned, his jersey, number twelve, was just as lucky as the ball. While I was the one chasing my pro basketball dream, he’d been the one supporting me all the way.
Hell, my best friend was at my side every game, making sure I got the cream of the play while watching my back the whole time.
That he didn’t really like playing wasn’t lost on me. It didn’t mean he hadn’t been great at it. What it meant, his commitment, was that he was the best fucking friend ever. He’d played for me. To be my support.
Fuck, I wondered if there was anything else of his I could steal to take with me. How the hell was I going to cope with not seeing him every single day?
I swallowed hard as I watched Dylan busy himself with my iPod. He was putting together a new playlist for my twelve-hour drive to school.
“Can I have your pillow?”
Dylan snapped his attention to me, his brows shooting high before they settled into a semblance of understanding.
I was a needy asshole at the best of times. These past two weeks in the buildup to me leaving tomorrow at dawn, I was practically certifiable.
“My favorite pillow?” he clarified.
I shamelessly bobbed my head.
The look he sent my way indicated he understood. How could he not?
We’d been two peas in a pod since the day we met. But that was nothing compared to the past eighteen months since he’d moved in. While Dylan had technically taken over one of the spare bedrooms, it was nothing more than a glorified closet.
Every single night, we shared a bed. I gravitated toward his warmth, hung on to his calm and his sweetness. Not once had it ever been weird or awkward. How could it when it was simply us?
“That’s fine, but only if you leave me yours.”
Grinning immediately, I launched at him, arm wrapping around his chest. All six foot three of me landed on top of Dylan, tearing a grunt from him. “You promise to call or text every day?”
“As if you’d let me get away with not doing that.” He clung to me, his grip strong and familiar. While Dylan didn’t have my height, his shoulders were wider than mine. They helped him give the best snuggles.
“Knock, knock.” Since Dylan’s door was already angled open, Mom eased on in. Her smile settled on us immediately. “You need a Dylan-sized body pillow.”
I lifted my head off Dylan’s chest and grinned at Mom. “You have the best ideas. You think we can have one made, one that’s just as squishy as Dyl?”
“Dude.” Dylan jabbed my side, his fingertips digging in. “I am not squishy.”
“Not an insult, just fact.”
While I expected the shove, I still landed to the side of him with an “Oomph.”
“Only firm, bulging muscles could manage flipping your bulky ass.”
I reached over and flicked Dylan’s ear. “I think you meant perfect ass.”
Dylan’s snort matched Mom’s.
“Hey, no agreeing with Dylan. It’ll only go to his big head.”
All my pouting did was earn me an eye roll from Mom and a pillow smacked in my face.
“Come on. Guests are due to arrive any minute. I need your help downstairs.” Mom smiled softly. The moment I saw her get teary-eyed, I was up.
“Don’t get sad, Mom. I’m leaving my better half right here with you. It’ll be like I’m not gone at all.” I embraced her, dotting a kiss on top of her head.
“True, I suppose.” Mom chuckled and angled to peer up at me. “Better looking too.”
As I scoffed, Dylan stepped up, engulfing us both in a hug. “Thanks, Mama T. Always knew you’d see the truth of it.”
Rather than calling them out, I settled into the love.
I was going to miss them both so much. And Dad.
“Right. You two need to let me go and get your butts ready.” Mom wriggled free, but I didn’t miss her affectionate smile. I was so grateful Dylan would still be here, keeping my folks wrapped up in love. If I couldn’t be here, he would be equally the best thing.
Left alone, I stared at Dylan. “Wish we didn’t have this farewell thing.”
“I know. But it makes Mama T happy.”
It did. I knew that. My folks had invited some of our close family. Paula was coming, too, having made up some bullshit to her parents to let her break free from the confines of her house.
“You think we can escape to the river after?”
The river was our spot. Our quiet place away from home and school and the pressures of the game. It was tucked away around one of the larger curves, and over the years, we’d been lucky enough to never have anyone discover us while we were there.
It was the place where we came out to each other.
Hell, we even stored an old cooler under a bush, complete with beers and snacks.
“You think that’s wise? You need to be on the road by six.” While concern filled his tone, he didn’t conceal the want in his eyes. He wanted the escape with me too. The last night I was still technically living at home. With him.
The last night before—if I had my chance—my world would burst wide open with possibility in the pursuit of my League dream.
“I’ll be fine. Just an hour,” I promised, inwardly smiling at his protective streak.
He was going to make such a good cop.
“Then yeah. Of course. Whatever you want.”
Dinner was fun and loud. We didn’t break free until just after ten, but my tiredness would be worth it.
The gibbous moon sat high in the cloudless night sky. Plenty of light spilled to the dry ground, making visible the uncharted path we followed by rote.
Before long, we reached our spot and sat on the grassy bank. Side by side, we pressed against each other, the position familiar and comforting.
“You know you’re going to be amazing, right?”
Dylan’s deep voice cut through the high-pitched whines of the cicadas, but it didn’t pull my attention away from the moonlight spilling onto the slow-moving river.
Looking at Dylan right now was impossible.
With a fear I never prepared for, an anxiety I never expected sparking in my gut, there was no way he wouldn’t spot it.
When I remained quiet, though, it was just as bad. It was as big a tell as me simply laying bare my soul for Dylan to see.
His strong arm looped across my shoulders. A tight squeeze of my arm followed, enough for me to exhale and lean my head against his shoulder.
We sat in silence, my gaze on the moon’s silvery reflection as I took comfort in Dylan’s embrace and the sound of his steady breathing.
“What if I fuck it all up?” I ignored the uncertainty in my tone, the quiet catch.
“What if you don’t?”
I huffed out a breath, a small smile pulling at my lips.
“You are an incredible player. You’re the best guy I know, and I’m not blowing smoke up your ass.” He punctuated his words with a tender kiss against my head.
Another twitch of my lips and a little tension loosened in my chest at the familiar gesture.
“And we’ll be okay, right?” The question wasn’t one I’d ever asked before, despite it plaguing my mind.
“Are you serious?” He rocked me a little, amusement lighting his tone when he said, “As if we’ll never not be okay. You’re my best friend and always will be.”
“Yeah, I know.” I rolled my eyes at myself, more than aware that I sounded like a prepubescent teen, but Dylan meant everything to me.
I loved him as much as I loved my folks but differently.
I couldn’t even compare it to being like the love of a brother as I didn’t know what that was, but it seemed more significant than that.
My thoughts were jumbled as I tried to figure out how I’d cope away from him, from home and my folks. The words “Do you believe in soul mates?” spilled out of me.
When Dylan’s breath froze, I stilled, wondering what the fuck I’d just asked.
It wasn’t like I was in love with the guy. It wasn’t like that. Hell, we’d never even kissed. Not that he wasn’t a good-looking dude, because he was all levels of sexy. I objectively knew that.
But fuck if I knew what I was thinking or feeling.
This was my last night. My emotions were doing a number on me. Making me spin out. Making me—
“Yeah, I do.”
My shoulders jerked when he spoke despite his words being whisper soft, and fuck if my pulse didn’t pick up and dart through my veins at the speed of light.
Shit, I needed to look at him, see his face, read his expression. Not that I thought he was fucking with me—that tended to be my role in our relationship.
Moving my head from his shoulder, I shrugged off my awkwardness. This was Dylan. I told him practically everything. Even stuff he didn’t really want to know.
Hell, just a couple of years ago, he’d saved my dick from third-degree burns and hadn’t told a soul. He’d even checked my sore dick during the healing process when I struggled to see through the mirror at the underside of my soft cock.
Now, that right there was a friendship like no other.
The memory, and the gazillion others, bolstered my confidence. “Me too. I think you’re mine.”
Dylan’s eyes widened a fraction before they settled, a gentle smile softening his features. “You do, huh?”
I narrowed my gaze at him and snapped out my hand to dig my fingers into his side. The asshole laughed as he caught my hand before I could tickle him.
With a wide smile, he clasped our palms together and lightly squeezed. “I think you’re my soul mate too.”
“You do?”
“I do. It’s why I know you’re going to achieve everything you ever dreamed of. It’s how I know we’ll always be best friends. Next year, in ten years, and fifty years from now.”
His words were cheesy as fuck—the whole exchange was—but I held on tightly to them. Snatched them from the gentle breeze and tucked them deep inside me.
“You ever need me and I’m there for you, okay?”
I searched his gaze and nodded. “Same goes for you. And I swear to god, when you’ve finished your associate’s degree and become a cop, you keep yourself safe and don’t make me come and force you into early retirement or some shit. Because I totally will.”
An amused snort fell from Dylan’s curved lips.
“That right? The hell would I do in early retirement?”
I shrugged. “What’s the equivalent of a house husband for a best friend?” I ignored his raised eyebrows and carried on. “Well, that. You’ll be that. I’ll be pro before you know it, kicking ass on the court, rolling in endorsements, which means I will absolutely make it happen.”
“Uh-huh. And you think I’ll just roll with it?”
I tutted and shoved at him. “As my soul mate, you’ll do so willingly, knowing it’ll make me happy, as all I want to do is keep you safe.”
Pursing his lips, Dylan was clearly holding back a laugh. “How about I just stay safe so we don’t need to worry about me being a kept man, ’cause if you think I’ll ever do your laundry, we need to reassess this whole soul-mate deal.”
“Keeping you safe would be the ideal solution.” I was nothing if not magnanimous. I’d be sure to remind him of it at some point.
“In that case, we have a deal. Stay safe and have each other’s backs.”
Sighing happily, I wrapped my arm around him and settled my head once again on his shoulder. “Deal.”