Chasin' You

by K. R. Reese

  Chasin’ You

  K.R. Reese

  Chasin’ You

  Copyright © 2020 by K.R. Reese

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, places, or incidents are products of the author’s imagination and used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual people, places, or events is purely coincidental or fictionalized.

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Other Books by K.R. Reese

  About the Author

  Connect with the Author

  Dear Diary,

  I wish I could tell you that I don’t care.

  The truth is, I do care. More than I should. More than I’ll ever get in return.

  This town, these people; all they see is the little rich girl. How could her life be so hard, right? Wrong. They don’t leave me alone. Half of them want to be my friend for their own reputation; I don’t talk to anyone, though. And the other half think I can do something for them because I have money. Not that I ever would.

  I may live in the big fancy house, but that’s the extent of anything perfect in my life.

  Because they don’t see the scars. Physical. Mental. Emotional. They’re buried so deep; I don’t let them show. Except on days like today where it feels like everyone around me knows I’m trying to hide the bruises on my arms, the marks on my legs. As if they can help me. As if they know what I’m going through.

  But they’ll never know. It’ll never matter enough. I’ll never matter enough. This is my life.

  Chapter 1

  Levi

  The beginning of the year is the same as all the others. The only difference is we’re in college, we’re adults. The guys make sure their clothes are perfect, their cologne vomit inducing. The girls wear their tight jeans, their shirts that show too much cleavage. Except, I’m not one of the guys.

  I glance down at my black t-shirt, leather jacket, torn jeans and Converse. I don’t need to impress anyone. I’ll dress how I like, and I don’t need to fit into any crowd.

  When the professor dismisses the class, it’s my lunch break. I drag my ass outside. I’m a senior this year, majoring in business administration, you’d think I would be excited. But honestly, the enthusiasm is dead. I have no idea where I’m going after this, I just know I can’t wait to get out of this place. It’s my own hell on Earth.

  I head to my usual spot – the pavilion at the back of campus – and I stop abruptly when I see an unfamiliar face. She’s writing furiously in a notebook, her brows furrowed in concentration. I clear my throat, and she startles. Her head snaps up, and wide, amber eyes meet mine. She’s definitely new. I don’t recognize her. She’s cute, too.

  “Mind if I join you?”

  Her face flames red and she blinks. Shakes her head.

  I take a seat at the picnic table, leaving space between us. She looks down at the notebook in front of her and then back up at me. “I’m Levi. Are you new around here? I don’t recognize you.”

  She reaches for the brown leather cuff bracelets around her wrists. She ducks her head and starts writing again.

  I stare at her intently. Light freckles are dusted across her upturned nose. Her chestnut hair is pushed onto one shoulder and behind her ear. She hasn’t looked up again, still scribbling wildly across the page. But those bright amber-colored eyes were captivating under dark, long lashes.

  “Today’s my first day,” barely above a whisper, her voice reaches my ears. She shrugs like it’s no big deal.

  “What’s your name?” I ask curiously.

  “Maci Sutton.” She closes the notebook spread out in front of her. “My name is Maci.”

  I stare at her for a few moments. I look from the top of her head, down her too small frame, to her worn shoes.

  An alarm flashes on her phone at the same time as mine. Lunch is over.

  “I have to go,” she mumbles. I watch as Maci quickly shoves her notebook into her backpack and all but runs back toward the main building. I shove to my feet and for no rational reason at all, I follow her.

  Once we’re inside the building, other people mingling around, she slows and keeps her head down. She’s playing with the cuff on her wrist again, twisting and turning, until she spots me, and her eyes widen.

  “Are you following me, Levi?” Maci’s voice is quiet, but there’s a hint of humor in it, too. Instead of answering her, I ignore her completely and walk past. I hear her footsteps behind me before she speaks again. “Wait, wait, okay, that was rude. Can you help me? Please. I…I don’t know where I’m going.”

  I sigh and turn to face her. “Where’s your schedule?” She holds a piece of paper out to me. I look over her schedule, memorizing each one of her classes. Another unfamiliar face, a guy about her age, wraps his arms around her shoulders and laughs when she swats him away.

  “Aren’t you going to say hi?”

  The way he speaks to her sends tension rolling through my body. I don’t like it, but I tamp down the urge to wrap my hands around his throat for even touching her. That is, until she talks.

  “Let go of me, Mitchell.”

  “You’ve ignored me all day, little sister, and I’m starting to think you don’t want people to know we’re related.”

  His eyes flash with hurt when he says it, and Maci’s expression falls. She chews on her lip. Once he removes his arms off her shoulders, she glances at me. Time for introductions.

  “This is my brother, Mitchell,” Maci says, pointing toward the guy who I now realize has the same eyes as her. “He’s arrogant and obnoxious.”

  Mitchell pushes her. “I am not.”

  She scoffs, clearly unamused. “Mitch, this is Levi. He’s helping me find where I need to go next.”

  I watch as he squares his shoulders and the eyes that match his sister’s glare me down. I put my hand out – my mom raised me with manners, if nothing else – and he takes it.

  “Levi Mills,” I boldly state, unflinching.

  “Mitch,” he mumbles. He turns back toward Maci. “Come on, Mace, I’ll help you. We have all our afternoon classes together.”

  Mitchell pulls her arm and they head down the wrong hallway. Maci turns to meet my gaze with a small smile.

  “Bye, Levi.”

  “Maci, that’s not…”

  But they’re gone before I can finish the sentence. I know I’m late for my own class, so I turn the opposite direction and head toward chemistry.

  “She’s just another girl,” I mumble to myself the entire way.

  But the feeling wh
en she’s near tells me I’m full of shit.

  Chapter 2

  Maci

  Mitchell pulls my arm the entire way to our next class. I don’t think he knows where we’re going, but I don’t argue either. He’s in a bad mood. It’s his usual behavior when we aren’t around others. Then he pretends to be happy and boisterous.

  “What the hell were you thinking, Mace? You don’t even know that guy,” he mumbles for only me to hear.

  “We weren’t doing anything, Mitch.” I jerk my arm back and stop in the hallway. We’re already late, but I don’t care. My brother can be overprotective when he wants to be. “I needed help to find my class. He was nice. He didn’t know who I was, and he didn’t ask for anything like everyone else in this God forsaken town.”

  Mitchell’s brows dip low over his eyes, a frown on his face. “I don’t care how nice he is, Mace. I don’t like it.”

  I cross my arms and glare at him. He may be older – by three minutes – but he’s still a pain in the ass. “At some point, you have to let me stand on my own two feet. I know you’re my brother, I get it, but you can’t protect me from everything. I have to learn from my mistakes.” My words are a whisper, barely audible even in the quiet hallway.

  “It isn’t the mistakes I’m trying to protect you from, Mace,” he mumbles and sticks his hands in his pockets.

  I sigh. “We’re already late. Let’s just go. No one’s going to notice or care that we’ve disappeared since it’s the first day. I’m over today. We can try again tomorrow.”

  Mitchell agrees and we leave out the back doors. There’s nowhere to go this time of day without someone ratting us out to our crazy ass uncle, so we sit out at the pavilion where I met Levi.

  We’re quiet for a long time. Mitchell listens to music while I write in my notebook full of half-truths, lies, and desperation. My therapist says it’s a way to express myself. She isn’t wrong, but it’s also more than that. At least to me.

  It’s a cry for help. A longing. A need to be accepted and wanted and loved.

  Mitchell doesn’t understand. No one does. Because they haven’t lived through what I have. I side eye my brother who’s oblivious to the rest of the world around him. He tries to understand what I went through in that house. He lived there, too; he protected me when no one else could. And he suffered his own horrors and has his own demons to face now.

  We both live behind these facades that we let everyone else see. But when it’s just us, the masks fall away, and we know.

  We know who we are.

  We know who we’ll always be.

  Lost in time, neither of us notice others emerging from the surrounding buildings, and the parking lot clear out. Mitchell’s immersed in music, leaned back on the table with his hat low over his eyes and his music so loud I can hear the lyrics sitting across from him.

  “And we meet again, Scribbles,” a familiar voice comes from in front of me. “Skipping class already?” He clucks his tongue.

  I gaze up into soft, blue eyes. The brightest I’ve ever seen. There’s a small smirk playing at the corner of his lips, a dimple showing slightly in his cheek that I hadn’t noticed earlier.

  “We couldn’t find our class. It’s been a long day, and no one would have noticed we were missing anyway.” It isn’t me who answers Levi. Mitchell has pulled his hat back, flipped it backward, and is now glaring at the intruder.

  “Hey, man, I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just taunting Maci.”

  I watch as they stare each other down, Mitchell’s nostrils flare at Levi’s stance.

  “Well, don’t taunt her. We have enough problems in this town. I don’t need a bully roaming around to torment my sister.”

  Levi doesn’t flinch and meets my gaze. He sends me a nod. He’s asking if I’m alright. I nod in return. Mitchell notices the exchange and is off the bench. I jump up from my side, but I’m not fast enough to get between them before my brother is shoving Levi to the ground and trying to pound at his face.

  “Mitchell! Stop it! He didn’t do anything wrong!”

  I jerk on my brother’s arm and he stops. He breathes heavily and closes his eyes, still sitting on top of Levi who perfectly blocked every punch thrown.

  Mitchell gets to his feet and offers Levi his hand. “Listen, Levi,” he says. “I’m sorry, dude, I just don’t like jabs at Maci. Nothing personal.”

  Levi raises a brow then takes Mitchell’s hand to get up from the ground. “No problem. If I had a sister, I would do the same thing. I don’t mean anything by it, though.” He’s silent for a moment. “Hey, what are you guys doing now?”

  I eye Mitchell, a question in my eyes. We’ve never had to speak what we’re thinking, we just know. Our mom used to call it a twin thing, but we knew that wasn’t it. We’ve always been best friends, only have had each other. We’re comfortable and know what the other is thinking before any words are spoken.

  “We aren’t doing anything,” we say in unison.

  Levi laughs, low and deep, and something stirs in my chest. “That’s creepy weird.” He points between the two of us. “There’s some people hanging out down at the beach tonight for the fireworks. Want to go?”

  Mitchell and I exchange looks, his wry and mine hopeful. Levi is the first person that hasn’t wanted something from me in some way. My brother stares at me long and hard, contemplating if we should trust someone we just met. I nod slightly, an indication that everything will be okay.

  Mitchell sighs before he faces Levi’s questioning stare. “Sure, we’ll go. But we may not stay too long. We have to get home later.”

  I slowly follow them to the parking lot. They’re talking about random things they both enjoy, namely music and football. While I had hoped to spend more time with Levi because he makes me feel comfortable, it seems Mitchell may have a new friend, too.

  Chapter 3

  Maci

  The pier is illuminated by string lights and makeshift lanterns. A small portion is brightened by area lamps and there are booths set up all around.

  Mitchell attacks the snack bar, buying more than I could ever eat and offering me the Kit Kat he bought. They’re my favorite and he knows it. My one guilty pleasure in a world full of pain.

  A few guys recognize Levi and he takes off after them while Mitchell and I sit in the sand.

  “You really think we can trust him, Mace?” His voice is low, unsure of our surroundings and prying ears who want to know about the two new people in town.

  I sigh and gather sand in my hand, letting it fall through my fingers. “He isn’t like everyone else. Levi hasn’t asked questions, he hasn’t pried for information, and he hasn’t asked for anything.” I shrug. “I think he’s the closest we’ll get to a real friend in this place.”

  My brother looks at me with matching eyes. The sincerity on his face slays my composure and I put my face in my hands. Mitchell pulls me into his side and strokes my hair.

  “It’ll be okay, Mace, everything will be okay. One day, we’ll get out of here and do our own thing, on our own terms.”

  I wipe at my eyes and stand. I wish I could believe him, but my enthusiasm ran out a long time ago. Mitchell stares out over the water, unflinching from the sudden tension in the air.

  “I’m going to find a restroom. I’ll be back.” He nods in acknowledgement.

  I leave Mitchell on the beach and scoop my shoes from the ground. I jog barefoot toward the pier, my toes sinking in the sand beneath my feet. As I reach the sidewalk and slip my shoes back on my feet, I hear my name. I know it’s Levi before I turn around. Before I can see him.

  I look around, the string lights around the pier illuminating small amounts of the beach. I spot him underneath the pier, a small lamp highlighting his features.

  “Hey, Scribbles,” he says. His voice is lazy, light, and slightly slurred. His hair’s a lot messier than it was earlier, his hands in his jacket pocket.

  “Come with me, Maci,” Levi says. He’s right in front of me. An awful s
mell permeates the air surrounding us, and I lean in to inhale. His lips are above my ear before he pulls back and I meet his eyes. “It’s just some pot, Maci.” The blue is dulled, the red surrounding them impossible to ignore. “Come on.”

  Mitchell would freak out if he knew I wandered off alone with practically a stranger, but I’m comfortable around Levi. He makes me feel safe, not threatened. I follow silently underneath the pier, the water lapping at our feet. The slight breeze coming off the ocean causes a shiver to course through my entire body, and Levi notices. He slips his jacket off and hands it to me.

  I shake my head, but he’s persistent. I slip my arms into the too big sleeves. The jacket is warm from his body heat. He pulls me against his side and remains silent. The jacket smells of pot, freshly cut grass and Levi…just Levi.

  “You smell like trouble wrapped in a pretty bow,” I say, arching my brow at him.

  Levi looks down at me through heavy eyelids and twirls my ponytail with his fingers. “I know I should stay away from you. But since I saw you earlier, I can’t seem to get you out of my head.” He leans in and gently places a kiss on my forehead. I shiver, and this time it has nothing to do with the cooler air. “We should head back before your brother starts looking for you.” I know he’s right, but I don’t want to break our little bubble either.

  We walk back up the beach along the shore closest to the water. I spot Mitchell walking toward us, a scowl on his face. I jog toward him, realization of what’s about to happen forcing my legs to move faster.

  It’s too late, though. Mitchell is in Levi’s face, pushing him back away from me. I look around, but there’s no one to intervene in the fight that’s going to happen except me. I place my hand over Mitchell’s arm. He immediately loosens, his face still unwavering, and then he let’s go of Levi. Mitchell’s nostrils flare, anger and something else warring on his face. I’m not sure if he’s upset with me or Levi.

  “Keep your hands off my sister.” There’s a threat in his voice. I keep hold of his arm, if only to keep him from throwing a punch.