Either way, this had to stop. I toweled myself off and opened the bathroom door, determined to see if this little girl had anything with caffeine. If I was staying here for more than a few days, I really would have to see about stealing a coffeemaker for her.
“Hi.” I heard Lacey’s voice before I saw her. Turning around, I saw a vision of perfection. She stood in the doorway of her room, wearing an oversized t-shirt. Her pale legs stuck out from her and her knees looked knobby. I wanted to bite them. She raised a hand and scratched her back, raising the shirt up and exposing even more of her creamy skin. “Did you sleep okay?”
“Never better,” I said drily. “Now get me some fucking coffee.”
Chapter Eight
Lacey
The first night that Chase slept over, I had weird dreams all night. They weren’t bad, necessarily, but when I woke up, I had a strange taste in my mouth. They weren’t sex dreams, more like… we were running from something, and I was scared, but Chase was protecting me and keeping me safe.
When I woke up, my heart was thudding like a drum. It was the day of my final exam, and I was nervous about telling Chase that I had to go to class, especially since he woke me up demanding coffee.
“I don’t drink coffee,” I told him sincerely. “Sorry.”
Chase had grumbled and swiped all the dishes into the sink, sending a crash that had echoed through the whole apartment. I’d felt bad, but not that bad; after all, he was the one who forced his way into my apartment. And into my life.
The way he’d been looking at me in my nightdress made me feel like he knew what I looked like naked. It was a curious feeling, and if I had to be honest with myself, I didn’t really hate it. When Chase stared at me like that, I felt a tingling between my legs. I realized that I wanted him to want me, and that made me blush more than anything else.
I changed into a sweater and jeans. It was snowing outside, and I thought glumly about walking to class with Chase hulking behind me. I couldn’t even think about my final. I’d studied, but this was days ago. Already the thing with Chase seemed like it had lasted forever. It was hard to believe that three days ago I didn’t know he existed.
Chase knocked on my bedroom door. “Lacey, I need caffeine,” he grunted. “I’m going to buy some coffee.”
“Good!” I chirped brightly. “You can drop me off at school and pick me up after my exam.”
He shook his head. “You’re not fuckin’ leaving my sight, little girl,” he said. “Sorry to disappoint. Didn’t want you get any funny ideas.”
I groaned. “Chase, do you know what the security is like on my campus? They have metal detectors everywhere. And I’m not supposed to bring people into the buildings who aren’t registered as students.”
“Tough shit,” he said in a short breath. I watched as he stretched and rubbed at his back with a pained expression. “You have to deal with me now because you couldn’t keep your cute little nose out of trouble.”
“But this is a final,” I whined. “They’re not going to let you in!”
“Then I guess you don’t get to take it,” he said, grinning at me. I felt my rage boil over; I couldn’t believe that only a few minutes ago I’d been thinking about Chase in a sexy way.
“Fuck off,” I spat, stalking back into my bedroom and collecting my school things. “Just keep your head down and don’t say anything.”
“We’ll see,” he teased as we walked out to his car. “I have a big fuckin’ mouth sometimes.”
“I know,” I said icily. We drove to school in silence. Chase made a huge deal about stopping at a 7-Eleven and buying coffee. He spent the car ride drinking it in tiny sips and talking about how good it was, and I felt my irritation growing with every passing minute. I tried to shove all thoughts of Chase out of my brain and think about the final, and school, but I couldn’t.
“Nice campus,” Chase said when we pulled up. “Looks safe, nice.” He made a visor with one of his hands and gazed around. “Definitely doesn’t look like anything bad could happen here,” he finished sarcastically, glaring at me.
I knew he was fucking with me; the campus of my community college wasn’t very nice at all. It was littered with trash and homeless people always snuck onto the grounds overnight and slept there. There were lazy-looking rent-a-cops at every entrance, and metal detectors at almost every door. As we walked, I kicked at a chunk of loose concrete with the toe of my shoe.
“Okay,” I said breathlessly, watching the condensation fog out into the cold. “Just stay in the back, and don’t bother anyone.”
“Aye, aye,” Chase told me as he gave me a mocking grin. “I’ll be quiet, yassir!”
“Shut up,” I mumbled, pushing open the door to the classroom building. The guards waved me past with the usual indifference. If they noticed Chase, they didn’t say anything about it.
He shot me a cocky grin when we got to the right room.
“Don’t say anything,” I warned again. “I’ll be done as soon as I can.”
Chase nodded, looking serious once again. I took a deep breath and walked to the front of the room, grabbing a bunch of stapled papers, and took a seat. The professor nodded at me. He didn’t acknowledge Chase, and I didn’t volunteer information. Maybe everyone thinks that he’s my boyfriend, I thought. Anne did.
The thought of Dawning Center made me cringe. I had only received a terse message from Anne asking if I was okay. I’d texted her back, saying that I’d explain everything soon, but I hadn’t volunteered yet and she hadn’t called me back. If I was lucky, I’d still have a job when all of this mess was over.
The final was mostly multiple choice, with an essay section at the back. I mechanically moved through each page, checking the appropriate option, and sneaking the occasional glance backwards. Chase appeared to be bored out of his skull; every time I looked at him, he was cleaning his fingernails or picking his teeth. Ugh, I thought, rolling my eyes. This is awful.
But the more I thought about it, the more I felt kind of…special. It was true that I didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t know anything about Chase, but for him to protect me like this was something else. I couldn’t believe that he’d risk his life to save me, a girl he’d only seen a couple of times. I was dying to know what his backstory was, but I had a feeling that he’d never tell me. At least, not for quite some time.
My hand ached by the time I’d finished writing the first essay question and I looked at the rest of the exam with dismay. I’d been in there for over an hour and I still had three essay questions to go. I’d written five pages on the first one, and I turned to Chase with a mopey expression on my face. He was scowling and looking down at his phone, and as he saw me watching, he held up a finger and got up from his seat and walked out of my room. I thought my heart was going to pound through my chest; was it possible Chase had been right? Was I really in danger at school?
***
Chase
I skulked down the hallway of Lacey’s school building, looking for a pay phone. There was a bank of them in the lobby and I grabbed one, dialing the number that Peyton had just texted me. It rang for a long time before anyone answered.
“Hello?” The voice on the other end was gruff and hardened, just like my own.
“It’s me,” I said quietly. “Codename C.”
“Ahhhh, yes, Peyton told me you would be calling,” the voice drawled in a low tone. “And how can I help you on this fine day in Detroit?”
“I’m looking for the leader of The Machetes,” I hissed through gritted teeth. “If he didn’t tell you that, you’re not going to be any help to me at all.”
“Ah, but I can,” the voice purred. “Meet Peyton tomorrow, and he’ll give you some information from me.”
“I can’t wait that long,” I protested. “I have to get it now.”
“Impatience won’t help you, Mr. C,” the voice said in a silky tone. “Bye bye.”
The line went dead and I heard a dial tone in my ear.
&nb
sp; “Fuck!” I yelled out loud, slamming the receiver back down onto the pay phone. It clanged and jangled and made the receptionist a few doors down come out into the hallway. She frowned at me with grandmotherly concern.
“Is everything all right, dear?”
“Sure,” I lied, kicking some dust with my shoe. “Just waiting for my…girlfriend to get out of a final.”
“Oh, how sweet,” she cooed. “Young love!”
I rolled my eyes, not even knowing what to say to that. The idea of calling anyone—even jokingly—my girlfriend was too much to handle. Peyton and the guys would have a shit fit if they saw me now, waiting in the hallway for Lacey like a nervous husband. I swallowed a lump in my throat and swaggered back down the hallway, slipping into the classroom and taking my seat at the back.
When Lacey heard me come in, her head snapped up and I watched with pleasure as her cheeks pinked and flushed. She shot me a quick smile before turning back to her test, her silky dark hair draped over her face.
Chapter Nine
Lacey
“How did it go?” Chase asked gruffly when I finally stood up. My bones ached from sitting in the cramped desk for over two hours, and I rubbed my right fingers with my other hand.
“I’m not sure,” I said, biting my lip. “That was a lot of writing.”
“What are you studying?” Chase asked, narrowing his eyes at me. “I’ve never seen someone write so goddamn much before.”
“Psychology,” I told him after a beat. “With a focus on early childhood education.”
Chase nodded. “You like kids,” he observed.
“I do,” I admitted. “I love them.”
Chase shot me a long, hard look. “Whatever,” he said. “All girls do, right?”
I burst out laughing. “Not even!” Chase looked surprised.
“I thought it was, like, a requirement of being a chick,” he said with wide eyes. “I always worried about having a bunch of little Chases running around out there.”
The thought of “a bunch of little Chases” made me blush. I knew that Chase claimed to have slept with a lot of women, but I didn’t want to think about just how many.
“A lot of women don’t like kids,” I clarified. “Like, for instance, some of the moms who bring their kids to Dawning Center.”
Chase raised his eyebrows. “Why do they have them, then?”
I shook my head. “I’m not sure,” I admitted. “But women’s healthcare is an important issue, and I don’t think a lot of people around here are very educated about it. I volunteered at Planned Parenthood when I was in high school, and I feel like a lot of women don’t even know that options exist.”
Chase narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, because dudes don’t want their bitches aborting their kids, or sleeping around like sluts,” he commented. Anger boiled beneath my skin. It was really incredible the effect that Chase had on my moods; I could be feeling completely happy and content and he would spoil it with a single remark.
“That’s a horrible thing to say,” I told him with a frown. “What if a woman was pregnant, and she got sick? What if she couldn’t take care of the baby?”
Chase shrugged. “Lacey, come on,” he whined in his gruff baritone. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
I stalked straight ahead and tugged at the passenger side door on Chase’s car. “Let in me,” I said stubbornly. “It’s cold.”
Chase leaned his head over the roof of the car. “Not until you accept my apology,” he grunted. “I mean it. I didn’t mean to offend you. I’m sorry, Lacey.”
I felt a hot blush rise up my neck. “It’s fine,” I said after a beat. “It’s really okay. I don’t mind.” I did mind, but I didn’t think this was the time or place to be discussing it with Chase.
“Okay,” he said finally as he got in the car and unlocked both doors. “Do you wanna go home?”
I thought about it. “Probably,” I admitted. “Do you have business to do?”
Chase’s face darkened. “A little,” he said. “But it’s gonna have to wait, unfortunately. I can’t do anything until tomorrow.”
“That sucks,” I said flatly. Suddenly, I remembered something. “Do you want to get food?” I asked. “I don’t really have anything at home. We could get takeout, or we could go grocery shopping.”
“I have a dick, I don’t shop for groceries,” Chase snapped. He drove out of the college so quickly that the back tires skidded on a patch of ice. I clutched the dashboard breathlessly while Chase laughed at me.
In the end, he drove to a McDonalds. We got a few bags of cheeseburgers and fries and took them home. I was pretty disgusted with the idea of eating fast food for a few days, but what else was I supposed to do? Chase wouldn’t let me out of his sight, and he refused to enter the grocery store with me. This was turning out to be a bigger pain in the ass than I’d thought.
“I have to study for my last final,” I told him when we got home. “If you need anything, I’ll be in my bedroom.”
Chase glared at me. “Yeah, you’re real good at giving me what I need,” he said finally. I was confused; I wasn’t exactly sure what he meant. I knew it was possible that he resented me for having to protect me, but there was a part of me that thought he secretly enjoyed it. I could tell he wasn’t used to being around women, but there was still something comforting and safe about him.
I locked myself in my bedroom with a couple of cheeseburgers and nibbled at my dinner when I tried to study. Even when I stared at the textbook in front of me, I couldn’t concentrate at all. The words and phrases swirled in my mind, meaningless, like bird tracks on paper.
When I stood up to stretch and eat my second cheeseburger, I realized it was dark outside. It was only a little after 5:00, but it seemed as dark as midnight. Instinctively, I shivered and pulled my sweater a little more tightly around me. I had a nagging feeling that someone was watching me, even after I closed the blinds in my room.
“Hey,” I said to Chase, walking out into the living room. He was watching reruns of 24 on my laptop, and his focus on the screen was so intent that he didn’t even look up until I’d called his name three more times.
“Hey, yourself,” Chase greeted me, grunting and rubbing his tattooed neck with one of his thick hands. “Study your brain out yet?”
I shook my head. “I had the weirdest feeling that someone was watching me,” I admitted. “I know I’m probably just being paranoid, but…”
In an instant, Chase was on his feet. I watched as he methodically moved from room to room, looking out the windows in every direction. His heavy footsteps pounded against the carpeted floor, making the apartment shake slightly. When he came back to the living room, he shook his head. “I didn’t see anyone,” he told me. “But I’ll keep an extra eye out.”
I sat down on the edge of the couch. It smelled like man, like spicy, sweaty, musky man. I took a deep breath and blushed, imaging Chase laying his head down where I was sitting.
“What’s with you?” Chase demanded, looking at me with narrowed eyes. “You’re acting all jumpy.”
“It’s fine,” I said. “Do you want to watch a movie? I could use some distraction.”
Without saying anything, Chase pulled up Netflix and put on one of The Fast and the Furious movies. I made a face; I hated action movies.
“Do you want me to heat up some fries?” I got up and walked towards the kitchen. Chase didn’t reply, and when I pulled open the fridge I saw that it was empty. “What the fuck, Chase? Did you already eat everything we bought today?”
He gave me a guilty smile. “Yep,” he drawled, using the toothpick from his Swiss army knife to clean his teeth. “Do you want a pizza?”
“Yeah,” I admitted. “I’m starving.”
I sat back down on the couch and Chase scooted over an inch or two. There still wasn’t very much room, and I couldn’t lean back without my side or my back resting against him. I kept sitting up straight and then falling back against him, blushing and apologizing.
After the third or fourth time that happened, Chase clapped a strong hand on my shoulder.
“Just stay there,” he told me, pressing me against his warm torso. I couldn’t believe how much heat was radiating from his body; he was like a human furnace.
Lucky: The Irish MC Page 27