Chasing McCree (11 page)

Time for another sigh, and this time he
realized why I was doing it, but he didn’t say anything. He merely
shook his head, lips quirking in a grin, and slung his arm around
me.

We said goodbye to his mother, who was
now on the phone, and she waved. It almost seemed like she was
relaying everything we said to the person on the other end of the
line…

“
Can I be your natural
disaster partner?” I was half joking as Chase helped me into his
truck. I’d come back for my car later. Right now I wanted to prop
my feet on the dash and listen to the radio.

Chase pulled out of the drive and
headed for the mall. “Are you serious?”

I nodded, “Why not? It’s good to be
prepared. If we have to rebuild civilization for some crazy reason,
be it an alien invasion or new ice age, I would like dibs on
you.”

He snorted with laughter. “What the
hell, yes you can be my partner.”

“
Great,” I said, laughing
too.

“
Yeah,” He glanced at me
sideways. “But only if you’ll be my dancing partner.”

“
Huh?”

“
You’ve got to promise me I
won’t have to dance with anyone but you, should the situation call
for it.”

“
Oh, you’re talking about
that dance at the Callahan barn.” It had to be better than the
school dance. It was in a barn for one, and I’d always wanted to go
line dancing.

His eyebrows went up. “You remember me
telling you that?”

“
Yes I do,” I said. “What’s
haying season? You’d said something about it.”

“
It’s when we cut the hay
for winter so we have enough feed for the cattle. It falls around
early to mid-June, depending on what the weather does and how the
spring went. And it almost always starts a day or two after the
dance. The Callahan’s are experts at timing it. They’ve been doing
it for fifty years.”

Haying season sounded like fun, even
though I really had no idea what kind of work it entailed. “So, why
will my dancing services be needed? I could have two left feet, you
know. I might step on your toes.”

“
You’re a cheerleader.
Don’t tell me you haven’t got rhythm.” He parked at one of the
larger department stores and we went inside to browse the
racks.

After leaving him hanging for a minute
or two, I smiled. “Fine, but you still have to tell me
why.”

“
I’m selfish Briar.” He
rested his arm on the clothes rack and leaned down so we were nose
to nose. “You’re the only girl I want to dance with.”

I took a good long look into his eyes
and felt my heart flutter like it would fly out of my chest. “Well,
if you’re trying to keep me all to yourself, why not just come out
and say it?”

His eyes filled with humor as he bent,
whispering in my ear. “Maybe I’m a little shy.”

I stepped around him, wanting to squeal
with excitement. “Okay, sure, cowboy.”

“
So do we have a deal?” he
asked, helping me pick out a light jacket that was also water
resistant, good for nighttime in case the temperature dropped. I
liked it, but then I found it in pink. I liked that one even
better.

I put it on and he rolled his eyes at
first, but ended up smiling again. “Maybe.”

“
Dancing and disaster
partners?”

“
Fine,” I said, knowing
that the game we were playing had taken a more serious turn. We
liked each other, the question was, when and who would make the
first move?

I couldn’t wait to find out.

Chapter 10

The next two days flew by. Exams went
easy, since we spent the rest of our time together studying. I was
getting ready for a road trip to Montana and I could barely sleep I
was so excited. I couldn’t wait to see Chase. We would have all of
English to talk, and lunch. I’d found some really cute hiking
accessories with his help, also in cute colors. He’d given up
trying to steer me in the direction of browns and greens and other
things that blended into the landscape. Later on he decided that
the more bright and oddly dressed I was, the easier it would be for
him to find me if I got lost.

I guess there weren’t many cowboys
wearing pink on his ranch.

Friday after lunch I was on my way to
my final exam, English. Well, it wasn’t a real exam. We didn’t have
to be there since they were showing another movie. But I wanted to
know my grade before I left for the summer with him.

Chase went on a head while I stopped by
the bathroom. When I turned, I saw Rachel staring at me. She was
with Nathan, and he was being just as rude.

I walked past, pretending not to see
them.

“
Hey, so we heard your
slumming with the slow poke.” Rachel fell instep beside me on the
right. Nathan took the left.

I didn’t answer them.

“
Yeah, word has it the
dumbass had his arm around you yesterday. You were sitting under
that tree by the band room all cozy.” Nathan said. “Briar, are you
really thinking about this?”

“
Leave me alone.” I kept my
eyes locked on the auditorium door. Fifty feet. No biggie. And we
weren’t staying. I didn’t care what my grade was. It was open
campus today because of exams, and we’d ridden to school together
the last two mornings anyway. Chase wouldn’t mind ditching a few
minutes early.

“
Hey, maybe she’s thinking
about how it would be to raise the kids in a double wide.” Rachel
laughed.

I whirled around. “Shut up.”

Nathan’s mouth dropped open. “Whoa,
chill.”

“
Chase is a good person,
and if you took the time to get to know him you’d realize what
close-minded assholes you’re being. I can’t believe I was ever
friends with you.”

Rachel crossed her arms. “Please Briar,
don’t tell me you really like this guy.”

I glared. “What’s not to like? He’s
trustworthy, smart, nice…he loves my grandmother.”

“
Sounds like you’re
describing a dog.” Nathan smiled, his eyes boring into
me.

I glanced at Rachel, uncomfortable and
a little freaked out by her boyfriend. “Wipe that smile off your
face. I’m not playing around.”

“
Wow Briar, way to be a
bitch.” Rachel pushed past me into a neighboring
classroom.

Nathan didn’t move. “I like that you
speak your mind.”

I rolled my eyes. “Shut up.”

“
No, I really do, Briar.”
Nathan took a step toward me and patted my cheek. “I was hoping we
could get together after you broke up with Alex.”

“
Do I look that easy?” Or
like I was the type to cheat with him when he was dating a friend,
who wasn’t a friend anymore?

He smirked. “I made you that easy. You
remember the party, don’t you?”

I shrugged. “Most of it.”

“
I was the one who spiked
your drink.”

I jerked away from him.
“No.”

He grinned. “Alex did slip a little
vodka in. But I upped the amount.”

My stomach rolled and I wanted to heave
“I hate you.”

“
That’s a shame. After
Rachel passed out I went to find you, but you’d already taken off.
I tried to catch you. I didn’t know you could run that fast. I have
to say,” he lowered his voice, whispering in my ear, “I will never
wipe the image of you falling face first onto the pavement from my
mind. It was priceless.”

Never one to overreact, I went ahead
and let my emotions fly, along with my textbook. His head snapped
back.

“
Fuck!” blood gushed and he
bent forward holding his nose.

I ran for the auditorium. Nathan didn’t
follow me. He was lucky I didn’t do more to his face. Chase was
sitting in the back where he always sat. I didn’t stop running
until I reached our seats.

“
Hey,” he smiled. “You
worried about being late?”

I gasped for air, shaking my head. “Get
me out of here. Now.”

Chase stood, shrugging into his
backpack. “What’s wrong?”

“
I don’t care about grades
or attendance or anything. We passed. Good for us. Let’s go!” I
grabbed his hand, pulling him down the aisle.

“
God damn it!” I heard
Nathan shout. “I’m gonna kill you Briar!”

I suddenly found myself being tugged by
Chase down the aisle for the back entrance. I could barely keep up
with him. We tore down the steps and through the courtyard for the
parking lot. Chase all but tossed me in the truck and floored it
out of the lot.

“
Briar, you want to tell me
what happened to Nathan’s face?” Chase kept his eyes trained on the
rearview mirror.

“
He deserved
it!”

“
What?”

I turned to see if anyone was following
us. Luckily, we were clear. “You think I broke his
nose?”

“
It wouldn’t surprise me.”
Chase took my hand and laced our fingers together. He was trying to
calm me down enough to get a straight answer. I’d never bloodied
anyone’s nose before, so I was pretty much a wreck. “What
happened?”

“
The night we met. It
wasn’t a stranger who chased me. It was Nathan. So I hit him with
volume two of British literature.” I winced, realizing I’d left it
in the hallway on the floor. Oh, well. It would find its way back
to the teacher somehow. “Maybe I should have screamed for help. I
overreacted.”

“
You should have used the
math one. It’s heavier.”

I stared at him, gripping the seat as
he took a corner. “Wait, you’re happy I hit Nathan with the
book?”

“
Yes. Very.” He
smiled.

“
So what are we going to do
now?” I asked. “We can’t go back to school.”

“
Are you finished with your
exams?”

“
Yeah, thank God.” I never
wanted to see another number two pencil again.

“
Great, then we’re not
going back.”

He headed for the beach and parked the
truck next to an outcropping of rocks. We spent the rest of the day
watching the waves roll in and out. Didn’t do much talking. We just
sat in the truck bed, keeping each other company.

It was like this between us sometimes.
Chase wasn’t a chatty person. I’d have to get used to it. Normally
I felt a need to fill the silence, even with my so-called friends.
It had always felt uncomfortable and strained. I had to speak to
keep things moving, to feel less than awkward. I’d never been able
to relax around any of them.

There was no awkwardness in the silence
with Chase. I felt no need to fill the void, because for once there
wasn’t one. For the first time in my life, I let myself
be.

I simply existed.

I kicked off my shoes, rolled my jeans
up, and hopped out of the truck bed, strolling down the beach to
let the warm water rush rhythmically over my feet.

The heat washed over me. The sun beat
down on my head. I titled my head back to feel its rays sink into
me.

“
You look like you’re
enjoying yourself.” Chase said from behind me.

I didn’t turn around as I felt him draw
near. “I am. I feel so calm.”

“
I don’t think I’ve ever
seen you so upset.” He chuckled. “And that’s saying
something.”

“
Shut up,” I swatted my
hands behind me to playfully smack him. He pulled me back against
his chest, resting his chin on top of my head. His arms wrapped
around me, and we stood together in a peaceful silence.

Eventually I opened my eyes, keeping
them on the horizon. Sounds of the gulls overhead were drowned out
by the waves. “You’d think I’d come here all the time. I live ten
minutes away.”

“
When was the last time you
came?”

“
I can’t
remember…”

“
You gonna miss it if you
spend the summer in Montana with me?” he asked.

I turned in his hold and wrapped my
arms around him, resting my head against his chest. “Not even a
little.”

I never wanted to see those people I
had called friends ever again. Once school started back up I would
transfer to a public school for my senior year. I wouldn’t give a
damn what my parents said.

“
Should probably head
home,” the day was getting late, the sun thinking about setting. We
were still on the beach, our feet buried in the sand and our arms
wrapped tight around each other.

With a resigned sigh, I dusted the sand
off my feet and took Chase’s hand to walk back up to the truck. He
drove me to Grandma’s and walked me to the door. “See you
tomorrow.”

I nodded, smiling. “I can’t
wait.”

“
Bright and early. Six
o'clock.”

“
Okay,” I got out of the
truck, and just as he was getting back inside, I stood on my
tiptoes and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. I’d almost lost my
nerve, but he was grinning like a fool as he got back behind the
wheel.

I made sure I had everything ready and
went to bed early. The sun wasn’t up when Chase pulled into the
drive and loaded my things in his truck.