Chase (5 page)

I love my best friend.

As I walk down the hallway to my room, I can’t help but overhear Kade and James talking.

“She’s gonna get hurt, Kade. And then it’s going to be awkward as hell, and she’s going to want to move out! I really like her, she’s an amazing girl and I like her living here.”

Kade’s deep rumble replies, “There’s nothing we can do about it bro, it’s his house, and he is adamant to have her. He even made her breakfast, that’s a first. I like her living here too, I feel protective of her, like a little sister.”

I walk into my room and close the door. I decide I’m just going to live in ignorant bliss for a while.

Chase peeps his head into my room and says, “I’m taking you out to dinner tonight. I’ll be home around seven, so be ready beautiful.”

“Bossy much? What if I have plans?” I don’t, but still.

“Cancel them.” He gives me what I’m sure is his most charming smile, the one he uses to always get his way. And it works, damn him.

“Okay, fine.” I acquiesce, but none too gracefully.

He chuckles and gives me a long, deep, wet kiss.

“I can’t wait.” He rumbles, kissing my forehead, then leaves.

An hour or so later, I hear Nikki pull up. Knowing her, she probably sped the whole way here. I open the door to her carrying my overnight bag I left at her place and a bag filled with Chinese. Legend. Nikki looks gorgeous, wearing a loose off the shoulder dress and sparkly sandals. We walk into the lounge room, and make ourselves comfy. She looks a little nervous; I can tell by the way she’s playing with her hair. That’s her nervous gesture. Her face looks slightly paler than usual too. She covers it up quickly, by making me her focus.

“Okay, spill.” She looks ready to question me for the FBI.

“We just made out. I stayed the night at his house.” I hear her gasp.

I wait a moment, keeping her in suspense.

“Which also happens to be my house. This house.”

Nikki’s green eyes widen dramatically, and then she bursts out laughing. I can’t help but laugh a long with her. Before she can demand any more details, Kade walks in.

“Care to share what’s so funny?” his lips twitching. He plops down on the couch next to us, checking out Nikki and not even being discreet about it. Nikki’s eyes widen, almost hysterically so, when she sees Kade. The two of them stare at each other for a few moments before she speaks.

“Where the hell have you been hiding this one, Layla?” Nikki purrs.

Oh boy, here we go. Kade’s eyes narrow on hers for a second, before he smirks and replies, “I was about to ask Layla the same thing.”

“This is Nikki’s first time here!” I laugh. “But Kade meet Nikki. Nikki meet Kade. And feel free to continue to eye screw each other like I’m not even here.”

That got Kade’s attention. “Eye screw?” He laughs. “You can’t even say eye fuck. You are adorable Layla.”

Nikki grins cheekily. “Isn’t she just! So where’s Chase?”

I pout. “At work,” I gesture towards Kade, “that’s his baby bro.”

Nikki’s eyes widen once again. “No shit. Good genes much! So Kade, what do you do with yourself?” Nikki’s questions reminds me that I never asked Chase anything.

I know pretty much nothing about him, except that he’s seriously sexy, intense, and an amazing kisser. So luckily for me, my best friend starts her interrogation.

“I’m a business major. This is my last year until I graduate. James is in his second last year in engineering. And as you know, Chase is an architect.” I really had no idea, but I nod like I might have. They chat some more, and I find out a few more details.

Kade and James go to the same University as me, unlike Nikki who goes to a different one. Chase is pretty damn successful, and owns his own architectural company. I am a little intimidated. It’s a smaller business with two offices, one here and one located in Sydney, which is why he goes away a lot for work. He has definitely done well for himself for someone of his age.

James walks in a little later and takes a seat next to me. We all eat the Chinese and watch old music videos. I only have a few bites, because I am still extremely full from breakfast. As Kade and Nikki talk between themselves, James corners me.

“Layla, about before,’ I try to open my mouth but he gestures with his hand, “please just let me finish what I have to say.” I nod and he continues. “I love my brother, but he doesn’t have the best track record with women. None of us do really. Which is why we had all previously discussed that if our new roomie was female, we would all treat her like family, and no one would hit on her or get involved with her. But then you guys met last night, and now this has happened. I’m sorry about before. You guys both know what you are getting into, so I’m not going to say anything else. It’s really not my business, I just don’t want you hurt, and we really love having you live here with us.”

I didn’t know what to say. I settle for, “Thanks for your honesty James.”

He smiles and nudges me gently with his shoulder.

“So, we cool?” he asks.

“Of course.” I give him a small smile.

We all hang out together, chatting and laughing.

“Fuck, my back hurts.” James mentions.

Nikki looks over at him, “Ask Layla for a massage. She’s qualified.”

Kade and James both swing their heads at me, blue eyes gleaming.

“No shit? And you haven’t mentioned this before why?”

“You never asked,” is my smart ass reply.

Kade pulls Nikki up and drags her out of the room, without even giving any explanation. Nice. I see James stretching out his neck, poor guy.

“Take your shirt off, I’ll give you a massage. But I’m a masseuse, not a chiropractor.”

He looks at me gratefully, “Thanks Layla. I think a relaxing massage will go a long way.”

I get up and go and get my massage oil and when I return James is shirtless and lying on his stomach on the couch. Holy hell he is gorgeous. But he has nothing on my Chase. My Chase? I mentally kick myself. I begin to massage his back, his slight groans telling me he is enjoying it. After ten minutes or so the door opens and Chase walks in, smile on his face. As soon as he sees us his smile turns into a snarl.

“What the fuck is going on here?” he demands, and I can practically see the steam coming out of his ears. I jump up guiltily, even though I’m not.

“I’m giving him a massage?” I make it a question, even though it’s not.

“You are giving him a massage? Fuck. What the fuck! I’m literally gone a couple of hours and I come home to this?” He storms forward and glares at James. James looks at him with a bored expression, but doesn’t say anything.

The staring competition lasts, for what seems like minutes, until Chase barks, “Layla go wait in my room. Now!” The last part is yelled at me, and I don’t appreciate it one bit.

“I think you are overreacting.” I state calmly, causing James to hmmph in obvious agreement.

“Layla. Get.In.The.Fucking.Room!” His voice was laced with rage.

I bristle at being yelled at like that, for doing nothing wrong. I storm off and go into my room, locking the door behind me. I can hear James and Chase yelling at each other, then from the other room, I can hear Nikki giggling loudly. FML! I put on my iPod and crank the music up, allowing ‘Your winter’ by Sister Hazel to block everything out.

About thirty minutes and many songs later, I turn the iPod off, wondering what scene I was going to open the door to. I peep my head out the door, only to see Chase, standing there holding a power drill.

“What the hell are you doing with that?” I manage to gasp, my eyes wide as saucers.

He glances up at me and sighs. “Oh good, you’re out. Saves me from pulling off your door.” My eyebrows hit my hairline.

“You.. you..” I stutter, “You were going to take my door off?”

“Yes. I was banging on it for about ten minutes with no response.” He looks at me with his gentle blue eyes, and I melt.

“I’m pretty sure that’s not normal behavior.” I say to myself.

“Normal is boring. Now come here Layla.” He’s so bossy.

“Where’s James?” His eyes go cold and I regret my question instantly.

“Why, so you two can finish your “massage?” You haven’t even given me a massage before and he gets one?” Yes he even put his hands up to make sarcastic quotation marks. I can’t help but laugh.

“You think this is funny Layla? That you have me so worked up and jealous over my own baby brother?” I stop smiling instantly.

I grab his hand and pull him into my room. “Chase, yes your brothers are good looking,” that causes a scowl, “but they are just friends. And roommates. They have never once come onto me. And I’m a qualified beauty therapist, it was professional.” I kiss him to distract him, and it works. “Plus I’ve known you, what, less than a day? When would I have had time to give you one?”

“Point taken.” Chase says then kisses me again. He is more aggressive than usual, kissing me harder, handling me less gently than he normally does. I find myself loving it, loving that he has let himself go, love that he’s losing control. He lifts me up in his arms; my legs wrapped around his waist, and pushes me against the wall. His hands are on my ass, mine buried in his hair. I gently pull away and watch him fight for his control back.

“Fuck. I’m sorry Layla. I don’t want to push you before we are ready. And I’m fucking sorry for yelling at you before.” He sighs, before carrying me to the bed, and lies down with me still wrapped around him. He waits like that in silence, for a few moments before he speaks. “You drive me crazy, you know that? I don’t think I’ve ever been so crazy over a woman before, and I’m not sure how to handle it. So you are going to have to bear with me Layla.” He says as he rubs a hand over his face. “I don’t want this to go too fast, I want us to take our time, get to know each other. I want this to be more than sex.”

“Okay.” I say softly. I’m good with that. I have to be honest, I’ve only ever had one boyfriend before, we never slept together, but that didn’t stop him from trying every chance he could. In the end we broke up because he couldn’t keep his dick in his pants. Claiming if I wouldn’t put out, he could find it elsewhere. My cousin Ryder found out about it and “took care of it”, which I’m assuming means, kicked his ass.

Chase snuggled me closer into his side, kissed me on the forehead and said “Good. Come on let’s go and mingle.” He pulled me up off the bed, and walking hand in hand, we leave my room and head to the living area, where James is still sitting. He gives me a lopsided grin when he sees me, and Chase tightens his hand on mine and pulls me to sit in his lap. Why would Chase be so insecure about his own brother? There is definitely something I’m not getting here.

Nikki and Kade rejoin us, having no idea what drama they missed. Nikki looks sheepish, whilst Kade looks extremely satisfied. I waggle my eyebrows at Nikki and laugh while her face turns red, not a flattering color on her. Chase raises his eyebrows at the two, probably wondering how the hell that happened. I smile and bury my face into his chest.

Chapter Seven

A few hours later, I’m all dolled up and ready for dinner with Chase. Nikki went home after helping me pick out my outfit. I went with a red off the shoulder top and tight blue skinny jeans. Kade and James both went out, I have no idea where. Chase and I walk out to his car, and he opens the car door for me. Who knew chivalry wasn’t dead? Not me. As we sit in the car I ask him about his job.

“So, you’re a fancy architect?” He glances at me before answering.

“I don’t know about fancy, but yes I’m an architect.” That was all he offered me, so I didn’t pry any further. “What about you, what are you studying?” He takes my hand in his while I talk.

“I’m going to be a nurse.” I say proudly. I’ve wanted to be a nurse since I was a kid. I have always wanted a job where I could make a contribution to society. I want to be useful.

“I think you will be an excellent nurse. And you won’t have to massage any men anymore,” he grumbles.

I laugh.

“What’s your full name?” he asks.

“Layla Jane Crawford. You?”

He purses his lips before replying, “Chase Dean Jackson.” He glances over at me checking my reaction, I have no idea why, so I simply smile at him. He seems satisfied with my response, and I am left completely confused.

He takes me to a nice restaurant, not too fancy for which I am grateful. I hate those posh places. Dinner is delicious and everything is going wonderful, until a girl walks up to our table. I glance up first, to see her eyes solely on Chase. She is blonde, with a stunning figure, lots of makeup and fake boobs. She clears her throat until Chase finally notices her. He doesn’t look too thrilled to see her.

“Hi Chase, haven’t heard from you in a while,” She purrs. Chase glances at me, looking a little sheepish.

“Hi.. uhhh…” Shit, he can’t even remember her name. I’m now looking anywhere but at them. This is just awkward.

“Candy,” she supplies. Of course that’s her name.

“Right, Candy. I’m sorry, but I’m on a date right now,” He rumbles, his voice edging towards anger.

Like she hadn’t already noticed. I can’t believe there are actually girls out there like this, so forward. And apparently they don’t understand social cues.

“Oh, of course. I just wanted to come see you guys. Can I drop by this week?”

You have got to be kidding me.

Chase scowls at her, patience waning. “I don’t think so. Bye Candy.”

“Oh come on, remember how much fun we had? Give me a call when you’ve had enough of this one,” she motions at me, gives me an evil look and struts away before Chase can say anything more.

I stare at my plate like it holds the answers to life’s mysteries.

“Fuck, Layla, I’m sorry,” he says, looking worried.

“It’s fine.” I mumble. Except it wasn’t, but what else am I supposed to say. He stares at me for a little while, he looks like he wants to say more, but he just sighs and calls for the bill. He takes my hand and leads me to the car, opens the door for me, kisses my forehead, then waits for me to get in before closing the door. The drive is silent for a few moments and I can see him gathering his thoughts.