Dallas scolded himself harshly. Again. He told himself he was being stupid, that he was forcing himself to feel things that were not really there, that his mind was twisting everything out of proportion.
Why wasn't I feeling like this before people started saying there was something going on between Axel and me?
The thought came sharp and irritated. This is stupid… he murmured under his breath.
But even as he tried to convince himself that these feelings were recent, that they had only appeared after the rumors started, he knew it was a lie.
He knew it with unsettling clarity. He hadn't started treating Axel differently lately. This hadn't begun now. It had started a long time ago.. quietly, without him noticing, and he had only become aware of it because other people had pointed it out to him.
