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“Yes.”No.My stomach churns, uneasiness making my scalp prickle. Turning, I reach into my backpack and grab my lip gloss, staring into the mirror as I apply it, my posture rigid.Come on, Jamie. Just rip the band-aid off.
Jamie clears her throat. “Well… Alex told Brady you were a virgin. I heard Chase was in the shower when Alex began running his mouth. You know, cause Coach Miller detained Chase after practice since he stands the best chance of winning?—”
Her words die in her throat at my murderous expression. I’m irrationally seething from Chase intervening in my life yet again. But it’s more than that. Jamie’s acting like she and Chase are besties. Or maybe she has a crush on him? I push aside the jealousy that twists my stomach into knots.Focus.
Of course, I know what the coach said. Chase told my parents and me at dinner the night it happened. My parents gushed over how proud of him they were, and Chase nodded, his smile polite. But his whiskey eyes were locked on me. I looked away, intently studying my plate like it was the most interesting thing in the world, downplaying how proud I was over his news because I’m not supposed to be disloyal to Gavin’s memory.
At my parents’ urging, I smiled and congratulated him. The genuine smile that spread across Chase’s face and the gratitude in his eyes had my heart stuttering inside my chest. The air was trapped inside my lungs as our gazes locked and held before the familiar guilt twisted my guts into knots.
Jamie’s high-pitched, false laughter rings out, pulling me from my internal musings. Clearing her throat, she starts rambling at fifty miles an hour, the guilt eating at her. “Sorry. I got off track there. Alex was saying some vulgar stuff about you when Chase padded into the locker room. Alex was in the midst of betting Brady twenty bucks that if you came to his party as his date, he’d pop your cherry before the end of the night. He barely finished speaking when Chase’s hand clamped around Alex’s throat, slamming him against the locker.”
A shudder runs through me, causing me to blush. Luckily, Jamie doesn’t seem to notice my reaction. She’s busy bitching because the light turned green, but she can’t go because a couple is leisurely crossing the street.
Closing my eyes, I will myself to calm down. But the images of Chase clad only in a towel, his large hand wrapped around Alex’s throat while his chest heaves from anger raises my body temperature. I’ve seen it happen before; only Chase was fully clothed when I witnessed it. Although I tell myself not to revisit the memory, it crashes over me like a freight train barreling down a track.
Alex was flirting with me as we walked down the hallway at Emerson High School. Feeling giddy, I smiled when he threw his arm around me until he leaned in and started nibbling on my ear right in front of the rest of the student body. It made me uncomfortable as hell, and I tried pulling away from his hold, but he refused to loosen his grip. Fear coursed beneath my skin as my face flamed from embarrassment. My eyes darted around, hoping someone would intervene.
The aroma of amber and musk infiltrated my senses before a strong hand wrapped around my arm, pulling me away from Alex. Chase caged me against his hard chest, his hands cupping my chin, analyzing my expression. What he saw there angered him, turning his face red. Alex ran his mouth, bitching about Chase pulling me away from him. Chase strode to where Alex stood, his muscles tense. With one swift movement, he threw Alex against the wall, threatening to beat the shit out of him if he ever touched me again.
My heart pounded furiously inside my chest as I listened to Chase defend me, calling Alex an insensitive jackass for touching me and making me nervous.
When Chase finally released Alex, he stepped back, those intense, probing eyes seeking me out in the small crowd that had gathered around us. “You okay, Kenz?”
I nodded, my mouth dry. Chase’s arm slid protectively around my shoulders. “Come on. Let’s go home.”
“Looks like you’ve got a hard-on for your foster sister,” Alex taunted from behind us.
Chase’s muscles tensed before his head slowly turned, throwing Alex a look that could kill. Alex’s smile disappeared, his eyes bulging from his head as all the color drained from his face.
“Stay the fuck away from Mackenzie. This is your only warning,” Chase seethed before guiding me through the school doors and to the parking lot. Anger radiated off him as he led me to my brother’s SUV, opening the passenger door and gesturing for me to get inside.
I hesitated, wanting to say so much but having no idea if any of it was appropriate. My gaze bored into Chase, but he refused to look at me as I shifted from foot to foot, biting my lip.
I don’t know what the hell came over me, but I raised my hand and gently touched the stubble on Chase’s chin. When his eyes dropped to mine, I whispered, “Thanks for intervening. Alex was embarrassing me.”
The look on Chase’s face, which reminded me of every male lead in love with a female in the rom-coms I loved to watch, affected me in ways it shouldn’t have. It was as if someone threw a lit match inside the pit of my stomach, heat spreading rapidly in all directions, sparking into an inferno.
A lopsided smile spread across his face. “I’ll always protect you, Mackenzie.” His hand caught mine, and when he wound our fingers together and squeezed, a strange longing shot through me. All my nerves fired off like shotguns during a battle as time slowed down and the world fell away.
A beeping noise coming from the vehicle beside me jolted me from my trance. One of the students in my English class was walking to his car. When his eyes met mine, heat flamed through my cheeks. I ripped my hand from Chase’s grip and climbed into the vehicle, pretending to ignore the confusion and hurt on Chase’s face as he stared at me for several beats. Breathing deeply, on the exhale, I told myself what just happened meant nothing, but my rapidly pounding heart told me I was a liar.
After a few beats, Chase closed the door and walked around the front of the vehicle. His posture was slumped in defeat, and his jaw was clenched as though he were berating himself for his behavior. But the blame wasn’t on him. It was me.
A strange longing still coursed beneath my skin as I drank him in, unable to pull my gaze away. My panties were damp, made worse by Chase’s clenched jaw and his tense muscles as they strained against his clothing. I wanted to run my fingers over his jawline until the tension dissolved from his body, drowning in his whiskey eyes before pressing my lips?—
When Jamie slams on the brakes to turn onto Sycamore Grove Road, I’m jolted from my memories of the recent past. Horrified, I realize I’ve been daydreaming about Chase most of the ride to Alex’s house.
“I can’t believe Chase didn’t get suspended for hitting Alex. He probably would’ve been if Coach Mack hadn’t been busy on a phone call.” Jamie has a dreamy expression on her face that makes me want to pull her hair and slap her. “I wish Chase would defend me like that. He’ssogood-looking. And sweet as hell. That’s a rare combo.”
The tube of lip gloss I’d been holding falls from my fingers as I stare at her in dismay. I’m on emotional overload, trying to make sense of the emotions swirling inside of me.Why do I want to punch my best friend for lusting over my foster brother? What the hell is wrong with me?
The second Jamie pulls the car to stop in Alex’s driveway, I remove the seat belt and grab my cell phone from the side pocket of my backpack. Shoving the car door open, I step out of Jamie’s car, sucking in a deep breath of the cool October air, hoping it will calm my wayward emotions.This is nuts, Mackenzie. Get your shit together. Chase is a pain in your ass, remember?
As my heels click across the driveway, Jamie runs up beside me, falling in step with me. “Sorry if I made you upset because of what I said. I know you and Chase don’t get along.”
I nod stiffly, not correcting her. Chase and I get along fine unless I’m a bitch and provoke him. Which I tend to do a lot, trying to push him away. I’ve told myself a million times it’s because of Gavin.
Glancing at my cell phone, disappointment makes my ribs tight, restricting my breathing, when I don’t see any texts or missed calls from Chase.
