Page 21 of Hearts of Fairlake

"Yeah."

"Well, we'll see if Felix and Luke add a kid or two into the mix and make it weirder. The world could use more weird if you ask me."

I laughed, raising my bottle. "And to that, I can only agree. Less shit and more weird."

Devin smirked. "So, are we going to talk about why you've spent almost a week sleeping on your sister's couch instead of at your...does it count as a boyfriend?"

"Call us what you want," I said with a shrug. Trevor and I had both agreed there wasn't much point in us getting married. I had never been all that stuck on the idea, and Trevor had always sworn that if he got married, it would only be once. Since he had an ex-wife, all our bases were covered, and we had just set things up legally so we could take care of one another. "And I'd much rather talk about the fact that Chase just slipped up horribly, and you don't seem the least bit bothered."

Devin shook his head. "Everyone knows Chase has always been...weird about getting married. Even when we were teenagers, he was always against the idea. I mean, he was against the idea of relationships too, and now look at him."

"He's fallen in sweet, sweet, torturous love."

"Eh, I only torture him because it's good for him."

"And because it's funny."

"That too."

I smirked. "So you think he's doing a slow build-up to it?"

"We've talked about it, and I told him I’d love to marry him, but it's absolutely not required. I love him, he loves me, we're committed, we're...everything to each other. A marriage would just be a symbolic step that isn't strictly necessary," Devin said in an almost believably disinterested tone. "If that's something he wants to do, then all he needs to do is ask."

"Mmm," I hummed thoughtfully. "I see."

"What?"

"What?"

"Don't give me that, Ethan. You had that look on your face. And before you try to be smart...again, you know what look I'm talking about."

I grinned, knowing when I was busted. “It just...well, it doesn't sound like that's how you really feel. And I'm sorry,but if it didn't sound that way to me, it sure as hell didn't sound like that to Chase."

Devin frowned. “What do you mean?"

"I mean, it sounds like you very much want to be married to him. Even if you’d be okay if he never asked, part of you wants him to. Maybe there's some hopeless romantic in you that never died. Maybe you want to prove to yourself that marriage can be a good thing and not a weight that drags you down into misery with each other. Or maybe you just see it as the last, perfect step between the two of you. Whatever it is, it sounds like you want it, and trust me, Chase pays attention to every little thing you say and do. He's going to see it even clearer than I do."

"Is it that obvious?"

"Look, when Trevor and I talked about the possibility, we both agreed it wasn't something either of us wanted. Well, I didn't want it, and he'd gone through it once before and wasn't all that interested. To us, it was just a normal conversation, kind of like talking about picking out a house or something. Well, it was closer to discussing what brand of cereal we wanted. What you just said? That sounded more like you were trying to convince yourself as well as me."

Which probably meant Chase was panicking to figure out how to get over his hang-ups about the subject while picking out rings. I knew he’d already picked out rings, though I didn't know what they looked like. I might not have been investigating quite like I had been before, but that didn't mean I was above occasionally sticking my nose into my friend's business. Chase might look like his normal self, but I bet he was wracking his mind to pick the perfect place, time, and way to propose.

Devin frowned and then eyed me with a smirk. “Speaking of Trevor."

"Don't," I groaned. "And damn Bri for telling on me."

"It wasn't Bri."

"Then who?"

"Take a guess."

"Bennett would be too obvious for you to play this game, and Adam isn't a gossip. So it would have to be someone people wouldn't think is a gossip, but I know is a dirty gossip, and…Chase. Chase told you."

"Bingo."

"Ugh, how?"

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