Chapter Three

Brady couldn't sleep that night, there was too much on his mind. Specifically, a certain someone who may or may not have been sleeping on Brady's couch at that exact moment.

Brady rolled over for the hundredth time that night, trying desperately to find a comfortable position. He'd tried counting backwards from one hundred. He'd tried opening a window. He'd even tried counting sheep. Nothing had worked. His thoughts kept drifting back to earlier that day with Tanner.

They had gotten close enough that Brady could have kissed him if he wanted to, which he definitely didn't. Why would he want to kiss Tanner? Tanner was a guy. An amazing, handsome, wonderful guy but a guy nonetheless. Besides, Tanner was with Lela and Brady was with Mack.

But Tanner had said he wasn't happy with Lela and Brady wasn't exactly happy with Mack either. That didn't mean he and Tanner should get together, though. They were both straight, though Brady wasn't so sure about that anymore.

This is ridiculous, Brady thought, pushing off the blanket he was using. Tanner's my best friend. I'm not in love with him, I just miss Mack.

Brady decided that a glass of water might help him clear his mind. He rolled out of bed and padded softly out of his room, trying not to wake Tanner up. His efforts proved futile, however, when he saw that Tanner was already sitting up on the couch, wide awake.

"Hey," Tanner greeted him, causing Brady's heart to leap up into his throat. "Can't sleep either?"

"Yeah," Brady replied. "Too much going on in my head. I figure a glass of water might help."

"Want to talk about it?" Tanner asked.

Brady shook his head. "Not really. How come you can't sleep?"

"Same reason, I guess. I've just been thinking about things with Lela."

"Oh?" Brady couldn't bring himself to say anything else. He was afraid if he said anything then everything he didn't say would come flooding out.

"I should go back and fix things, shouldn't I? I mean, we're Lela and Tanner. You said it yourself, we're meant to be." Brady silently cursed himself for ever saying that. "Besides, I like Lela. We work as a couple. There isn't really a good reason for us to break up."

"Isn't the fact that you're looking for one reason enough?" Brady asked, moving to sit next to Tanner on the couch. "If you're not happy in that relationship, what's the point of continuing it?"

"But I'm not unhappy," Tanner argued. "I don't have any reason not to be happy. I'm comfortable with Lela. When I'm with her, there's no worry that she won't accept who I am. She knows me and I know her. Isn't that enough?"

Brady shrugged and leaned back against the couch. A comfortable silence enveloped them and Brady took the opportunity to study Tanner. He was sitting with his knees tucked up against his chest. The expression on his face made him look lost and vulnerable.

"Do you ever miss the jitters of a first date?" Brady asked, shifting to face Tanner. "The thrill of a new relationship? That part when you're so enchanted with the other person that you just can't keep your hands off of them?"

"That seems like such a long time ago," Tanner murmured. "But yeah, I do."

"Don't get me wrong, the stability of my relationship with Mack is great but sometimes I wish I was still in the getting-to-know-you phase. The phase when all you want to do is just be with them because just being with them is magical."

Brady and Tanner stared at each other for a long time. Brady couldn't stop his eyes from flickering down to Tanner's lips. He hoped it was dark enough that Tanner couldn't see the way his gaze wavered.

"I'm not sure what happened with me and Mack." Brady was the first to break the silence. "I guess I just miss the magic."