Blitz: An Enemies-to-Lovers Romantic Comedy (Blast Brothers Book 3)

by Sabrina Stark

  What should I do?

  What should I say?

  I had no idea.

  As I watched, Angelique whirled to Chase and demanded, "So who's she? Your latest slut?"

  I gasped, and I wasn't the only one.

  But Chase didn't gasp. With a cold smile, he said, "If that's who I hang with, what does that make you?"

  She drew back. "Did you just call me a slut?"

  He gave a casual shrug. "Hey, if the dress fits."

  Oh, my God. I looked down at the little black dress, the one I'd borrowed against my better judgment. As I did, I had to ask myself a very disturbing question.

  Did he just call me a slut?

  Slowly, I got to my feet. As I did, Angelique turned to me and demanded, "Give it back."

  I swallowed. "Give what back?"

  "You know what," she sneered. "My dress."

  Chase spoke up. "Except it's not yours, is it? You were paid fair and square – and double what it was worth."

  With a brittle laugh, she replied, "Oh, yeah? And how would you know?"

  "Because you cashed my check soon enough."

  By now, my head was reeling. So Chase had purchased the dress? I didn't know why he'd ever do such a thing, but he didn't appear to be lying. In fact, I knew he wasn't lying, because Angelique wasn't disputing that she'd been paid, only that she hadn't been paid enough.

  Regardless, this whole scene was so ugly and embarrassing that I felt a nearly uncontrollable urge to run for the exit. But I didn't.

  I couldn’t.

  And why?

  It was because I recalled all too well that only a few hours ago, I'd been the one confronted by a blast from my past – two blasts if I counted Ginger. I'd been ambushed, plain and simple.

  And Chase had rescued me.

  He hadn't hesitated either. He'd even made me look good at his own expense.

  I was still trying to figure out what – if anything – I should do or say, when Angelique gave Chase the look of death and said loud enough for everyone to hear, "You are such a pig!"

  I spoke up. "Actually, he's a perfect gentleman."

  Slowly, she turned to look. "Excuse me?"

  From beside her, Chase said, "Mina, I've got this."

  "No." I dug deep and summoned up a smile as I looked back to Angelique. "He's very chivalrous, too, as you can see."

  At this, she laughed. It was an ugly sound, devoid of any real humor. "Chase Blastoviak? Chivalrous?" Even though we were standing very close, she towered over me by at least three inches. As I stared up at her, she leaned close and said, "Honey, whatever you're smoking, you should lay off before you O.D."

  With my smile plastered in place, I replied, "Well, Sweetie, if I'm high on anything it's the company of a perfect gentleman. And I'm sorry if he broke your heart, but that only proves what a nice guy he is."

  Okay, even to my own ears, that made no sense. Still, I was too far gone to stop now. After all, Chase hadn't backed down when he'd been challenged.

  With this in mind, I announced, "And just today, he rescued me from two villains."

  This only made her snicker. "Villains, huh?"

  I stiffened my spine. "Yes. Dastardly villains." I glanced at Chase. "And he didn't ask for anything in return either."

  Angelique gave a snort of disbelief. "What'd they do? Rob your fucking stage-coach?"

  I smiled. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

  "Sure, why not?" she said. "I just love a good story."

  Next to her, Chase said, "Angelique, you need to leave. Now."

  Again, she whirled to face him. "I'll leave when I’m good and ready."

  "Terrific," he said. "As long as you're good and ready now."

  "Or what?" she said. "You'll have me tossed out?"

  He shrugged. "I might."

  "Yeah, well good luck with that," she said. "Because I'll have you know, I'm here on assignment."

  Chase looked unimpressed. "Yeah? What kind of assignment?"

  "That little 'festival blitz' you're planning?" Angelique smirked, first at him, and then at me. "I'll be covering it for The National Dirt."

  And with that, she flounced off, leaving me staring after her.

  Chapter 52

  Mina

  The moment his condo door closed behind us, I turned to Chase and said, "I'm just gonna get changed, okay?" I glanced back toward the door. "And then…maybe you can take me home?"

  Chase frowned. "I'll take you home whenever you want, but you don't need to go." His words said one thing, but the anger in his eyes said another.

  I gave a humorless laugh. "Oh, I'm pretty sure I do."

  After Angelique's sudden departure, we'd waited only a few minutes – just long enough for Chase to pay the bill – before we also left. Our departure hadn't been discreet either, considering that nearly everyone in the restaurant had been staring.

  In all fairness, they'd done plenty of staring on our way into the restaurant, too. But where that had been the kind of staring people always did when they spotted a celebrity, the staring on the way out fell more along the lines of, "Oh, look, there's a human swine with a dress-swiping hussy."

  It was the kind of attention that nobody wanted, particularly Chase, judging from how ticked-off he'd looked as we'd left the restaurant.

  He still looked ticked off.

  And unless I was mistaken, the target of his anger wasn't only Angelique. It was me, too.

  If I hadn't suspected this already, his grim silence during our walk back to the condo would have been a dead giveaway.

  He hadn't said a single word.

  Sure, our walk had taken only a few minutes, but it had felt like longer as the silence haunted our steps like a crazed ex-girlfriend.

  To be fair, I hadn't said anything to him either, probably because I was all too aware that the owner of the little black dress might jump out of the bushes at any moment to try to reclaim it.

  I wasn't even sure if I was joking. After all, today had been full of surprises – some of them good, and some of them pretty awful.

  And speaking of surprises, Chase said, "But I doubt your clothes are ready."

  "Wait, what?"

  "So unless you want to wear something else—"

  "But wait, what do you mean they're not ready?"

  "I sent them for cleaning," he said.

  "But you couldn't have," I protested. "I left them right there folded in the bathroom."

  "I know," he said. "I had a service come by and get them."

  "But I didn't see you call a service."

  "Yeah. Because I called while you were in the shower."

  Cripes. He had an answer for everything. And even though he'd been doing me a favor, I was irritated just the same.

  By now, the little black dress, the one I'd loved not too long ago, was itching and scraping like crazy – not at my skin, but at my soul.

  Why on Earth had I worn the thing at all?

  To Chase, I said, "But why would you do that?"

  "What, get your clothes cleaned? Isn't it obvious?"

  "Not to me."

  "Alright. I didn't want your dad to be pissed."

  I was staring now. "At you?"

  "No. At you."

  I studied his face. He looked deadly serious. I asked, "But why would he be mad?"

  "You tell me," he said. "You're the one who was afraid to go home to change."

  Talk about insulting. "I wasn't afraid. I just didn't want an interrogation, that's all."

  "Which you wouldn't get if you lived on your own."

  My jaw clenched. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

  "You're what? Twenty-five? Don't you think that's a little old to be living with your parents?"

  And there he was – the jackass I'd hated from the beginning.

  I told him, "Of course, it is. What? You think I don't know that?"

  "I don't know," he said. "Do you?"

  "Of course, I do. I just told you I do."

  "Yeah? S
o why don't you get your own place?"

  Through gritted teeth, I said, "I don't know. Why don't you mind your own business?"

  His only reply was a tight shrug that told me exactly nothing.

  I glared up at him. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

  He gave me a hard look. "Mind my own business, huh? Like you did in the restaurant?"

  Un-freaking-believable. "If you've got a point, I'd just love to hear it."

  "Alright." His gaze bored into mine. "You lied. Why?"

  I made a sound of disbelief. "Oh, that's rich."

  "Meaning?"

  "Meaning you lied, too."

  "The hell I did."

  "I don't mean with Angelique," I clarified. "I meant with Ginger and Emory. You told them – or at least you gave them the very strong impression – that you were my boyfriend. How is that not lying?"

  His mouth tightened. "So that's a complaint?"

  "No. It's not a 'complaint.' You want the truth? I was stupidly grateful. And I still am."

  "So what's the problem?"

  "I don’t know," I said. "It seems to me, you're the one with a problem. What, you can rescue me, but I can't rescue you?"

  His expression only darkened. "I didn't need a rescue."

  "Alright, fine. Maybe you didn't need it. But so what? There's no way on Earth I was going to let her call you names and not stick up for you."

  "What name?"

  "She called you a pig."

  "Which I never denied."

  "Great," I said. "If I ever rip out anyone's liver, I'll know exactly where to bring it."

  His eyebrows furrowed. "Are pigs and hogs the same?"

  I threw up my hands. "How should I know? I already told you, we don't have any. And as long as we're 'down on the farm,' I'll tell you exactly why I don't have my own place."

  "Great," he said. "I'd love to hear it."

  From the look on his face, he wasn't loving anything. Still, I plunged onward. "I don't have my own place because I did have my own place. But then, when I lost my job, I moved back in with my parents to save money, just for a little while, until I found a new job."

  "Which you now have."

  "If you mean the festival thing, that's not a real job."

  He stiffened. "Is that so?"

  "Okay, yes, I realize I’m being paid for doing work. And yes, I realize it's a lot of money. But the job will end in what, three months?"

  "Give or take."

  "So what happens then?"

  "I assume you'll find a new job."

  "Yeah. Hopefully. But there's no guarantee it will be around here." I sighed. "Even with my job at the bank, do you know how lucky I was to get a job right here in the area?"

  "No. Should I know?"

  "Well, you're a businessman, aren't you? So you must know the job market here isn't so great, at least not compared to a bigger city."

  "So?"

  "So, let's say I do move out now. I'll just have to move again in three months." My stomach clenched as I continued. "I don't even know where. I might have to move across the state. Or even across the country."

  As I said it, I felt an all-too-familiar pang in my heart. Call me old-fashioned, but I still held out hope that I'd find a job right here in the Bayside area, so I could live near my family.

  In front of me, Chase said nothing, but he didn't appear to be any happier with this logic than anything else I'd said over the past few minutes.

  My chin jerked upward. "So…are you satisfied?"

  When he spoke again, his voice was very quiet. "No."

  "Why not?"

  He shoved a hand through his hair. "Hell if I know."

  "Yeah, well I can totally relate, because I don't know why you're so darn unhappy."

  "Who says I'm unhappy?"

  "You don't have to say it. I can see it all over your face." Deliberately, I softened my tone. "But you know what? It's pointless to argue." I glanced toward the guest bathroom. "Do you know when my clothes will be done?"

  Chase glanced at his watch. "Maybe fifteen minutes, give or take."

  With all of the tension between us, it felt like fifteen minutes too long. Still, I tried to look on the bright side. "Perfect. So as long as we've got some time to kill, maybe we should get our story straight."

  "What story?"

  "Here's the thing…" I hesitated. "I didn't want to bring it up, but as long as we're laying it all out there, Ginger and Emory – they obviously think we're together." I paused. "Well, Emory might not think that, but you get the idea. So anyway, I was just wondering…" Gosh, how to put this?

  I was still trying to think of the right way to say it when Chase asked, "Wondering what?"

  "Well…how do we go about correcting that?"

  He shook his head. "Correcting what?"

  Did I seriously need to spell it out? But judging from his expression, I obviously did. "The story of us being together, you know, like a couple. It was a lie, or a joke, or whatever. And I'm not complaining, honest. But I am asking, how do we go about correcting it? Like, should we say we were just teasing? Or say we broke up, or—"

  Chase cut me off. "Who says it has to be a lie?"

  I blinked. Wait, what?

  Chapter 53

  Chase

  Holy hell.

  I meant it.

  The realization hit hard and heavy, like a sucker punch to the gut.

  But it didn't hurt. The only thing that hurt was the thought of Mina moving away.

  Whether to another city or to another state, it was too far for my liking. Here in my condo, we hadn't moved from the entryway, and Mina was still blinking up at me in apparent surprise. "Um…come again?"

  She might not realize it, but I was just as surprised as she was. But unlike her, I knew exactly what I wanted. I said it again. "Who says it has to be a lie?"

  "But…" She bit her lip. "It was a lie."

  "Yeah, but it doesn't have to be."

  "So what are you saying?" She gave a shaky laugh. "You want to go steady?"

  I stared deep into her eyes and told her the God's honest truth. "Mina, I'm not joking."

  "Wait, so you're saying, you weren't acting earlier with Ginger and Emory? I mean, when you pretended to be my boyfriend?"

  "I don’t know what I was doing," I said. "But I do know I didn't like them messing with you."

  She tried for another laugh. "Well, if you didn't like it, imagine how I felt."

  Mina was a nice person. So yeah, it was easy to imagine how she felt. But there was no way she could ever fathom how I felt.

  And why?

  It was because I wasn't nice.

  And if the people hassling her were a couple of guys instead of those two women, my "rescue," as she'd put it, would've played out a lot differently.

  But she didn't need to know that, did she?

  I reached out took her hand in mine. "Listen, I like you, probably more than I've liked anyone." I gave her fingers a tender squeeze. "And I know you like me, too."

  "Yeah, but…" She shook her head. "That really doesn't matter."

  "Why not?"

  "Because…" She paused. "Well, do you want the truth?"

  "Sure, hit me."

  "Well…I guess I'm not into the whole open-relationship thing."

  What the hell? The thought of Mina with another guy – well, I didn't like it. "And who says I am?"

  Again, she hesitated. "Well…I'm just saying, I know you like to play the field."

  I released her hand. "And you know this how?"

  "Oh, come on, Chase. I don't want to be rude or anything, but everyone knows that you're not a one-girl kind of guy."

  I felt my jaw clench. "I'm no Bryce, if that's what you think."

  "I never said you were."

  "The hell you didn't."

  "No. I truly didn't. Just listen, okay? With Bryce, I had no idea he was like that. But with you, I already know, so it's different. See?"

  "No."

  "I just
mean, today was really nice…"

  I gave her a look. "Nice."

  "Yes. Really nice. But I don't want to be an idiot."

  What the hell was she saying? "You're not."

  "I know. And I want to keep it that way. I just mean, I don't want to think we have one thing and then be surprised to learn we have another."

  "So what are saying?" I stared down at her. "That today was a one-time deal?" Shit. Talk about a role-reversal.

  The irony was a real kick to the groin.

  Mina hesitated. "Well, I thought it was a one-time thing."

  "And now?"

  "I don't know."

  "Alright." Working hard to keep my cool, I asked, "So how do you see this playing out?"

  "I have no idea. I just know I don't want to get a nasty surprise down the road."

  A surprise – like me fucking her friend in another state.

  So that's who she thought I was?

  If so, I didn't like it. "Except with me, it wouldn’t be a surprise. That's what you're saying?"

  "Well, if it happened now, it wouldn't be a surprise. But let's say we're together a month or two. And then it happens. I would be surprised, and that's the problem, because by then, I'd be emotionally attached."

  The more she talked, the less I liked what I was hearing. "And you're not now."

  She sighed. "I don't know."

  I studied her face. "You do know life has no guarantees, right?"

  "Of course I know," she said. "I’m just thinking of the odds. That's all."

  "The odds of what? Me cheating? That's what you're telling me?"

  "Just let me ask you this," she said. "Have you ever been loyal? I mean, to any other girl?"

  I refused to lie. "No."

  "See?"

  "Because I haven't been exclusive before."

  Her brow wrinkled in apparent confusion. "What do you mean?"

  "Take Angelique," I said. "She wasn't my girlfriend."

  Mina gave me a skeptical look. "Did she know that?"

  "Hell yeah, she knew." I flicked my head toward the guest room. "You wanna know why I have a closetful of her clothes?"

  "Why?"

  "Because she kept having her stuff delivered to my place. Dresses, undergarments, you name it. And I told her straight-up, it wasn't gonna happen."

  Mina glanced toward the guest room. "That what wasn't going to happen?"

  "That she wasn't moving in, no matter what ended up in my closets."