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Beth tugged my t-shirt, pulling me down to her. “Bri and I are gonna spend the night. I mean, the morning with Jake and Mariska. You can sleep down here with us.”
I cupped her neck. “Have your sleepover with your friends,” I told her, because I intended to sleep with her for most of her nights.
***
Bethany
“You did get their autographs!” Mariska swayed me back and forth in her embrace. “Love you,” she whispered.
“Love you more.” I’d told Jake and Mariska that Brianna and I had been unable to get their autographs.
Jake came up to me and I gave him his bookmarks from the band and one with only Sage’s signature on it. With the bookmark in his hand, he wrapped his arms around me. “We’ll try to come by again if we can,” he said. I gave him a light kiss on his jaw and he turned to pick up his duffel bag.
“You’re welcome back anytime,” Gavin said, and bumped fists with Jake.
As Jake got into his car, he and Chase acknowledged each other with brisk nods. Jake winked at Brianna. They’d had said their “see you laters” enough times after we’d all fallen asleep late in the morning while we’d talked for hours on end.
***
Toward the end of work on Wednesday, I glanced at my phone and had received a new message from Chase. He’d sent me a good morning text. We’d had days when we texted nonstop, and others when we’d been too busy to text.
Chase: I am minutes away from seeing your beautiful face.
Feeling the same excitement as the first moment I’d laid eyes on Chase, I locked my phone and put it in my satchel. I’d told Brianna that I’d be leaving with Chase today. Brianna had picked me up the past three days and had driven me home also, except for this evening. Derek hadn’t come back to the Paloma bar or to La Floridita. Whatever the guys had told Derek must’ve really gotten to him.
I logged off my profile on the HR database and Mrs. Clark was at my cubicle when I pushed my chair underneath my desk.
“Your uncle would like to see you before you leave for the day,” she said.
***
The hallway wasn’t bustling with energy like it’d been when I had my first day here. Nervous, my stomach quivered and my hands dampened.
“Bethany,” Uncle Anton said as I entered his office. I closed the door behind me.
“Hi, Uncle Anton.” I pulled in a deep breath to steady my nerves. He didn’t appear happy to see me like he had when I’d been in this exact spot before.
“Debbie and I wished we’d all been able to get together more often.” He swallowed. “But we’re trying to help Cassidy with her pathological lying.” He settled his elbow on the table and pinched his forehead in frustration. “It’s difficult for me to believe that my little girl is a liar and hasn’t stopped lying since she was little.” He shrugged. “I just thought she’d grow out of it.” He was silent for a few minutes, but I maintained eye contact with him. “I know I’ve been preoccupied, but I don’t want you to feel like we’re not as happy to have you with us as we were when you’d accepted our invitation. Your”—he made a circular motion with his hands—“relationship with Chase worries me. I guess that scar he has gives him an edge, and he can be courteous—”
“Chase is courteous,” I interrupted in a level tone. He was my uncle, but I couldn’t allow him to make unflattering assumptions about Chase or his face. “And he respects me.”
He nodded. “Fair enough. But I don’t think he’s the guy for you. Cindy used to be with guys who looked like Chase—”
I folded my arms, shooting him a pointed look as I cut him off again. “I don’t think so.”
“They weren’t the spitting image of Chase, but they had the same MO: misunderstood, magnet for women, and very guarded. Any of that ring a bell?”
“If you think so highly of him, why’d you hire him? Have him in your house?”
“In fact, I do think highly of Chase. And he’s a suitable friend for Pierce. I wouldn’t have had him my house, much less employ the boy—”
“Then why haven’t you apologized to him yet? He won’t admit it, but he’s very hurt.”
He threw his hands up. “I have that on my agenda,” he answered dismissively. “Clearly, I’ve got my own messes to clean up, but there are some decisions that can’t be rectified. Chase may be one of those decisions.”
***
“Why’d you look like you were gonna snap someone’s neck?” Chased asked me after I’d finished an entire bottle of water.
