“You want me to be honest with you?” I asked
“Sure do.”
“Wait, why are you shooting apples off of a fence?”
“I’ve got nothing better to do and sitting in my room is driving me nuts.”
I laughed. “So you’re bored.”
“That about sums it up.” The sound of another arrow whizzing and hitting its target filled my ear. “And you called because?”
“Well, since you want me to be honest, I called because you said you would be my friend. And friends hang out…so I was wondering if you wanted to do something.” I hurriedly added, “I’m not asking you out, like on a date. No pressure. Just two friends being bored together.” I winced. “You know, I’m not usually this inept.”
“You said it a lot better than I ever could.” He chuckled, taking me off speakerphone. “So, what did you have in mind?”
“Food. I haven’t eaten dinner. Have you?”
“Yeah, but I’m always hungry. Where is this dance?”
“In school in the gym.”
“Great, I’ll meet you in the parking lot. Ten minutes.”
I climbed down the bleachers and picked my way across the field. The driver my mother hired was easily called off, and I even told him to double his usual tip, just because I was in such a good mood now. The dance was still going strong, music hyped and practically shaking the windows. I stayed in the shadows, hoping no one saw me. I didn’t need any more problems tonight.
The lights of Chase’s truck lit the parking lot as he pulled up. I slipped down the front steps, smiling. He was wearing a white cowboy hat. It suited him.
“Briar?”
I jerked to a halt, glancing over my shoulder.
It was Alex’s best friend, Nathan.
“Yeah?”
He pushed his shirtsleeves up, nodding at my dress. “That’s nice.”
“Uh, thanks.” I said, glancing back at the truck. Chase parked and sat patiently, watching me.
“Look, I heard what happened between you and Alex.”
I grimaced, thinking at this rate, I’d need to transfer to an out of state school to get away from the gossip. “Who hasn’t?”
“Can I offer you some advice?” really? since when was he the helpful kind?
“I think I’m past the stage of needing it.” I headed for the truck, but Nathan kept on my heels.
“Alex has a lot riding on him…the team, family stuff. Maybe you could work with him.”
My back went ridged. I spun to face him. “Are you kidding me? Is this a sick joke you’re playing?”
“No. You don’t know what it’s like to be under all this pressure. It’s hard.”
“Hmm, sounds excruciating.” I crossed my arms and waited for him to finish what he wanted to say. It was obvious I wasn’t going anywhere until he did.
Nathan seemed to take offense to that, and hit me with a real zinger. “If you would have done what Alex wanted, then he wouldn’t have slept with Rachel.”
“So it’s my fault? Rachel could have told him no.” Nathan was just trying to make himself feel better. I wasn’t the problem, but I was the easiest person to take it out on.
Nathan flinched at that remark. “She’s done with him now.”
“If you say so.”
“Why are you walking away? I’m not done talking.”
“Too bad, I’m done listening.” I ran the rest of the way to the truck. Chase opened the door and slid out so I could get in.
Nathan glared through the windshield. “We will finish this Monday.”
I shook my head and glanced away.
“Maybe if you weren’t such a stuck up, snotty bitch—”
“Hey, watch your mouth.” Chase snapped.
I turned in my seat, realizing he was still outside, and he took a step toward Nathan.
“Can we go, please?” I asked, hoping he wouldn’t confront the quarterback. Not that Chase couldn’t take him. Nathan was all hot air. Still, I didn’t need my new friend fighting with my old one.
Chase got in and shut the door, reluctantly. I watched him watch Nathan stomp back into the gym.
“Wanna tell me what that was about?” Chase asked, curling his fingers around the steering wheel. It wouldn’t surprise me if he imagined the wheel was Nathan’s neck.
“Not right now.”
“Later then.”
I agreed with a stiff nod, wrapping my arms around my middle. It was only so comforting to hug yourself. And I could use a hug right now. I was half tempted to ask Chase to drive me to Grandma’s house. She always knew how to make me feel better. A nice cup of mandarin tea, or a virgin daiquiri, and we’d lounge by her pool keeping each other company while she told me about her adventures with my grandfather before he bought the funny farm.
“You’re awful quiet, Briar.”
It was hard to talk around the big lump in my throat. Chase and I were new friends, and I didn’t need to cry in front of him, again. I’m almost positive I bawled half the time we were together last night. He didn’t need a repeat.
I shrugged.
“Come on, Briar. Talk to me. You look like you’re on the verge of cracking.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I’m trying to keep from crying. I always cry. I cry when I’m happy and sad, angry…pretty much with every emotion I have.” I watched the lights of other cars and businesses flash by the truck in a blur.
He chuckled. “Your tears don’t scare me.”
“Ha!”
“They don’t. You need to cry, have at it. I got a clean sleeve you can soak through.”
I turned, squinting through the tears flooding my eyes in shock. “You’re serious?”
“Yeah, why does that surprise you?”
“So you don’t think I’m an overdramatic, needy, emotional mess?” because that’s how I felt.
“No, I don’t. You’re reacting to a bad situation.”
I took a shaky breath, “I’ve never met anyone like you before.”
“I could say the same about you.” He draped his arm behind me on the seat, not quite touching me. It was meant to be a comforting gesture though. I could tell he was trying to console me, not make a move. “They don’t have manners, those people you called friends. My Aunt Millie would skin me if I ever disrespected you. Hell, I’d help her. Relationships, Millie says, begin with respect. And I say a person doesn’t deserve you telling them the time of day, if they can’t treat anyone decently.”
“How do you know all this?”
“I listen. I watch. But I also come from a different kind of lifestyle. In a lot of ways, we’re behind the times. When you live on a ranch, far away from the cities and trends, you’re not as affected.” He lowered his voice, but it filled with laughter. “I’d never seen a guy wear eyeliner until I moved here. Never been to a mall with a valet and men in suits to cater your every whim. It shocked the hell out of me that a store could charge two hundred dollars for a pair of jeans, faded and ripped.”
“You couldn’t have been that cut off.”
“I had internet and a cell phone. But I never had a reason to go looking for stuff like that. I had other things on my mind. Our TV got local news stations, and the weather. That’s it.”
“But what did you do for fun?”
“Oh, the other ranches would have dances, mostly in old barns. We’d have barbeques, and then the fairs are great. The rodeo. Plenty to do when you’re not running the ranch… I’d go hunting with my friends, camping.”
“I’ve never been camping.”
“Why not?”
“My mother says it isn’t civilized.”
“Your mother must have gotten her wires crossed somewhere.”
“No, more like fried from all the injections.” I laughed. “What do you do when you camp?”
“I like to fish.” He frowned. “Let me guess, you’ve never been fishing either.”
“No.”
“But this is Florida.
You’re surrounded on three sides by water.”
I bounced in the seat, feeling my spirits lift. “The best idea just came to me. What if we take turns doing something that we like to do together?”
“So I take you fishing?”
“Yes, and I can take you to….” I paused. What did I actually like to do outside of shopping? Well, there was something… “Have you ever been to an arcade?”
“No, can’t say that I have.”
“What about laser tag? Putt putt golf?”
He smiled. “Are you pulling my leg?”
I frowned. “No…normally I go shopping with my friends and to the movies. I was just trying to think of something.”
“Hey, it’s not a big deal. Take me shopping, I’ll live through it.”
“I can do more than shop.”
He shot me a sideways glance.
“Fine,” I sighed. “It’s time to broaden my horizons and spice things up.”
“Great, I’ll take you horseback riding.”
By the time we were done making plans, Chase had pulled into an old diner a few blocks from his house. I’d never been inside before. My parents would probably freak out. They didn’t eat at places with burgers and fries on the menu. Considering how much they’d controlled me when I was little, I never ate at paces like this either. But I was looking to broaden my horizons, so I followed Chase inside.
And of course, he held the door for me.
That was unexpected, and it made me smile.
The diner wasn’t much, just old brown tables and booths. The floor was green tile, and the windows covered by heavy white blinds.
I wondered why the place wasn’t condemned.
“Hey, you okay?” Chase asked after we slid into a booth.
I nodded. “I’m guessing this is a hole in the wall.”
His face lit with a grin. “Another first?”
“I can’t help it. Up until a couple years ago, I wasn’t allowed to do anything without strict supervision.” Between my mom and the Nazi nanny, my days were pretty much planned out. “But I’m seventeen now, and I drive, so it’s harder for my mom to keep tabs on me.”
“I’ll have you corrupted in a couple weeks.” He chuckled.
The waitress came to the booth and we ordered burgers, fries, and root beer floats. They came out fast, and I wanted to sing with delight. “Greasy diner food is the best.”
Chase nodded. “Yeah, but have you ever been to a barbeque?”
“Uh, no. Is it fun?” we weren’t paper plate people. We ate off china and drank from crystal stemware. I can’t say that I’ve actually noshed on corn on the cob or barbeque anything.
“Yeah. We’ll have to fix that.”
We were almost finished eating when a bell dangling from the diner door jingled. The last two people I ever expected to see came inside.
“Hadley, Emma?” I called, before I realized they probably were going to treat me the same way Beth did. I shouldn’t have drawn any attention to myself.
The girls went stiff and turned around slowly.
Emma, I noticed, was wearing sneakers with her green mini dress. That was a first.
“Hey, Briar. I never thought you would be here.” Hadley plastered on a smile and glanced nervously back at the door.
“Neither did I.” I said, wondering why they were acting so funny. Both looked ready to bolt.
Emma sighed. “Oh, we thought you’d be with Beth and Rachel. They are staying in a hotel on the beach with the guys.”
“Wait, Rachel and Nathan, and Beth with…Alex?”
“We were shocked.” Hadley nodded, eyes flicking back to the door again. “You and Alex are so made for each other. How could he just go with Beth so soon?”
Emma murmured her agreement, but her brown eyes flitted between Chase and me. She began to fidget with a strand of her brown hair, so I took that as my queue.
“Emma, Hadley, this is my friend Chase.” I said with a smile. I wanted them to know that I was happy, and more than okay. Alex could screw Beth, Rachel, and the entire cheer squad. I did not care.
“Hey.” Chase said in his smooth drawl. It wasn’t southern. He just had a relaxed way of talking. His was the kind of voice that melted the mind. And I could see it affected my friends.
“I know you.” Hadley glanced out the window, looking at the truck. “You’re the new guy. Country poke. My brother said you live in a trailer.”
Now I don’t know how most guys would have reacted to that comment. Mostly I think they would have cursed or come back with some sarcastic remark, but Chase didn’t do anything. He just glanced away, eyeing an old poster on the wall.
“Hadley,” I snapped. “Just because he’s different, doesn’t mean he’s stupid. In fact, he’s probably the smartest person I’ve met. Chase, I’m ready to go now.”
We went to the register to pay, leaving Emma and Hadley standing stupidly by our table.
“You know,” Chase said as we walked to the truck, “I don’t think anyone’s stood up for me before. That’s probably because I’ve never been made fun of before. Thanks, Briar.”
I shrugged. “It’s not that big of a deal.”
“You might not think so, but I do.” He opened the truck door and gave me a hand inside. But he didn’t let go. He pressed a quick kiss to the back of my hand, and then let me have it back. “So, where to?”
“Oh,” I sighed, trying to keep from blushing. “I don’t know.”
“Let me help you narrow it down,” he winked and started the truck. “Where do you not want to go?”
“Home.”
“I knew you would say that.” He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel in time with a country song on the radio. “How about the beach?”
“Sure, it’s a nice night.” I smiled as he started to hum along to one of the songs. He was just so…easy. It was like he didn’t have a care in the world. There wasn’t any tension in him. He wasn’t nervous like I was. This could technically be considered our first date. I was a jumbled mess inside, but Chase was as steady and calm as ever.
I’d honestly never met anyone like him before. His mannerisms were just so foreign to me.
Despite that, I decided I liked him. I liked him because he was everything I wasn’t. He was sure and strong and steady. And Grandma was right. Chase wouldn’t grab my ass unless I asked him too.
As we drove to the pier, it became clear to me. Not only Chase was a guy I could trust, he was someone that I could love. I’d never been in love before, and I wasn’t in love with him now, but I was in like. I liked him, and I could see myself falling for him. It would be easy. But part of me also thought it would be hard.
Chase and I were very different. Would we be too different to be together?
I guess only time would tell.
At the prier we parked in the parking garage and headed for the boardwalk. On the beach at night, especially on weekends, some of the locals set up tables and sold their crafts. A few people were pretty strange, like the lady who printed pictures of cats and glued them to cheap jewelry. Some of it was pretty cool too. One man made nightlights out of seashells, another lady braided hair. Guarding the entrance to the boardwalk was a man dressed as a Star Wars Stormtrooper. Forget the cops. We had the Galactic Empire on our side.
But my favorite part of the beach was the outdoor cinema. A giant inflatable screen placed in a grassy area every Friday and Saturday night, and anyone could lounge outside and watch the movie. It was family friendly, and they were showing a classic Disney movie.
Chase happened to have an old blanket in the bed of his truck, and we spread it out on the grass under the massive screen. It was a little noisy, and the lights from the traffic in the roundabout flashed annoyingly. But we relaxed on the blanket, allowing the speakers to drown out the night.
“This place is fun.” Chase said, lying on his back next to me.
I kicked off my shoes and buried my toes in the grass. “I knew you’d like it.”
“Nope, it’s more than that.” I scooted a little closer to him and lay back, looking up at the movie screen. “You know, this night couldn’t have started any worse.”
“Couldn’t have ended any better either,” he smiled.
We didn’t speak for the rest of the movie, just stayed close to each other. Every so often I’d glance at him. A couple times I caught him watching me. I blushed. He grinned and scooted even closer. By the end of the movie we were shoulder-to-shoulder, smiling and stealing glances. I thought maybe I’d let him kiss me if he wanted, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready yet. I was happy having him beside me, and he seemed just as satisfied with my company too.
As the pier started to close down, Chase grabbed the blanket and we began the long walk back to the public parking garage. There was plenty of light from the street lamps and cars, but the traffic had gotten crazy. I stayed close to his side as we kept to the sidewalk and passed the lifeguard station. After that, the sidewalk ended and we navigated our way through a parking lot. We weren’t in the thick of the traffic until we started to near the garage. He didn’t like it. I didn’t either.
“Why did we come here again?” Chase glanced around us.
I flinched as someone leaned hard on a car horn. “We have a hidden desire to be hood ornaments?”
We got back on to a sidewalk, leaving the parking lot. There was a crosswalk brightly lit ahead.
“Hey,” a man shouted.
Chase stopped and I bumped into his side. I saw a young man walking toward us. He was dressed in baggy clothes and it looked as if his greasy hair hadn’t been washed in forever.
“You smoke?” the man asked.
Chase shook his head, “Sorry, no.”
“What about you?”
I frowned. “No.”
He came closer and lowered his voice. “I’m not talking cigarettes. You got any weed?”
Whoa, really? People just came up to other people and asked that question? I looked up at Chase and he seemed just as stunned as me.
“Man, we can’t help you.” Chase placed his hand on my back and gave me a gentle push to get me walking. But the man kept pace with us.
“Hey, you know this place?” he held up a blue flyer for one of the restaurants in front of me.
Chasing McCree Page 5