The kiss incident should have been over. It wasn't. Not even close. Nearly an hour later, everyone was still hanging out in Chase's living room. Nobody had stopped bringing it up. Especially Chase's friends. "Remember when Adrean just walked over and kissed him?" "Please stop." "Remember how red Chase got?" "Please stop." "Remember—" "PLEASE stop." The room burst out laughing. Chase buried his face in a pillow. Meanwhile Nick sat beside him, looking increasingly annoyed every time the story was mentioned. Eventually Adrean wandered over and dropped onto the couch beside Chase. Way too close for Nick's liking. Chase didn't even notice. He was too busy trying to hide from the conversation. Adrean started talking to him about something. Then something else. Soon the two were laughing. The room relaxed. Until Adrean casually slung an arm across the back of Chase's seat. Nick froze. One of Chase's friends immediately noticed. "Oh no." "What?" "Oh no." Nick slowly stood up. At 6'1", that was already intimidating. "Nick?" Chase asked. Nick ignored him. His eyes were locked on Adrean. "What are you doing?" Adrean blinked. "Talking?" "You're very close." The room collectively groaned. "Here we go." Nick threw his hands into the air. "You kissed him earlier!" The room exploded. "HE FINALLY SAID IT." "IT TOOK AN HOUR." Adrean immediately started laughing. Which somehow made everything worse. Nick started pacing. "You can't just do that!" "Apparently I can." "That is NOT the point." "Then what is the point?" "The point is—" Nick stopped. Realizing he didn't actually know how to finish that sentence. The room was losing their minds. Meanwhile Chase had turned bright red again. "Can we not?" Nobody listened. Nick continued arguing. Adrean continued laughing. The room continued encouraging both of them. Then Chase quietly reached over. And tugged on Nick's sleeve. Just once. Nick stopped talking instantly. The room fell silent. Slowly, Nick looked down. Chase wouldn't even meet his eyes. His face was red. His ears were red. Everything was red. "Can you stop yelling?" The question came out barely above a whisper. Nick immediately deflated. "...Fine." The room erupted. "THAT'S ALL IT TOOK?" "HE WAS READY TO FIGHT FIVE SECONDS AGO." "CHASE HAS UNLIMITED POWER." Nick ignored them. Chase relaxed. And Adrean stared at the two of them. Then shook his head. "You're unbelievable." "That's what I've been saying," Chase muttered. And for the rest of the afternoon, everyone agreed on one thing: Nick might be terrifying. But Chase was apparently the only person who could make him behave.
A week later, the mansion was unusually quiet. For once, it was just Chase and Adrean. No friends. No interruptions. No Nick. The two were stretched out on the couch playing a video game. Eventually, Adrean glanced over. Chase was focused on the game. Very focused. "You're losing," Adrean said. "No I'm not." "You definitely are." A few minutes later, the front door opened. Neither of them noticed. Until a familiar voice spoke. "What exactly am I looking at?" Both of them froze. Nick stood in the doorway. The second he saw Chase and Adrean hanging out together, his expression changed. Not angry. Just very dramatic. "Oh no," Chase muttered. Nick slowly walked into the room. "A whole week." "Nick." "A WHOLE WEEK." Adrean immediately started laughing. That was a mistake. Nick pointed at him. "Don't." That only made Adrean laugh harder. Meanwhile Chase looked like he wanted to disappear. "Can everybody relax?" "No," Nick said instantly. Nick dropped into a chair across from them. Crossed his arms. And proceeded to stare. "Are you pouting?" Adrean asked. "No." "You're absolutely pouting." "I'm evaluating the situation." "You're pouting." Nick looked at Chase. Then at Adrean. Then back at Chase. Then sighed dramatically. "You didn't even t3-t me." "Oh my God." "You didn't." "I was busy." "With him." "Yes." Nick looked personally betrayed. Adrean nearly fell off the couch laughing. For the next ten minutes, Nick complained about being "replaced." Eventually, Chase stood up and walked over. Nick immediately stopped talking. "What?" Chase sighed and sat beside him. Instantly, Nick looked happier. The transformation was so fast it was ridiculous. "There." Nick nodded. "There." Adrean stared. "That's all it took?" "Apparently." Nick looked entirely too satisfied with himself. And Chase buried his face in his hands. Because somehow the most dramatic person in the mansion wasn't the MMA fighter. It was Nick.
