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‘Who’s Dale?’ Dale asks, equally perplexed.
‘You’re Dale,’ I say.
‘I’m not Dale.’
‘Then who is? Who's Dale?’
‘Hashtag Who's Dale,’ Chase says with a laugh.
‘Hashtag Find Dale,’ I add, and Chase laughs even harder. ‘Can I have some of that joint, then, Dale?’
‘No,’ Chase says when Dale glances at him.
I huff and settle back into the wicker chair. I don’t say anything as Chase and Dale pass the joint between them, and I don’t say anything when Dale leaves, but I feel Chase watching me.
‘I like your hair,’ he tells me.
I look at him. I’m glad the night hides my blush. ‘That’s the second time you’ve said that today.’
‘It suits you. And the dress makes it pop.’
His eyes glitter in the dark, and I wonder on which part of my body they linger.
My skin is suddenly hot. I get the sense that we shouldn’t be here, down in the darkness of the garden, away from prying eyes. It feels intimate.
His voice turns thick and rough when he says, ‘I want to kiss you.’
I stop breathing.
‘You look like you taste of sugar and candyfloss.’
‘How high are you?’
His stares at me a moment longer before he clears his throat and frowns down at the ground. ‘You’re right. I shouldn’t have said that.’
‘Chase—‘
‘Do you like me, Frankie?’
I’m too stunned to speak.
‘Because if you do, I would... I would take you home to my room and fuck you, if you wanted. But I can’t give you more than that—‘
I press the heels of my hands into my eyes.‘Pleasestop.’
He falls silent. I stay like that for such a long moment I hope he’s gone back into the house, but when I straighten, he’s still here, staring at me.
I swallow the lump in my throat. ‘I can’t… I can’t hear this. All Archer talks about is sex, and all Cass talks about is sex, and I… I need you. I need your friendship. I mean, yes, I think you’re attractive, but I don’t like you likethat.’ The lie tastes like poison on my tongue. ‘I can’t lose what we have.’
It’s too much. Chase just admitted he doesn’t have feelings for me, and it hurts like a bitch. For months I hoped he felt the same. I knew I was crap at hiding my own feelings, and I thought that maybe him knowing that would make him view me in a different regard.
But hope can also break you.
And I don’t even know what part of me breaks.
Chase’s chest rises and falls heavily. He lusts after me in the same way Archer does, and I can’t help but be disappointed.
Will men want me for anything other than sex?
