Brat (2 page)

“You guys should give that a try,” he said to his friends when he joined them at the edge of the water. As we got closer, I could see that the others had a stack of books and notebooks spread out between them. I frowned. If it weren’t for the fact that they seemed more like Kinsley’s kind of guys, I would have lost interest already. They came down here to study something and I’m not with that at all. On the other hand, the delicious piece of man flesh that’d just come up out of that pool was too hot for me to just turn back now. “The water is warm and fresh. I got tons of pictures with the waterproof cam.”

Two of the other guys stripped their shirts off in response and dove in. Both were nice-looking enough, but they didn’t hold a candle to him. He glanced up and saw us heading in their direction, and I noticed his eyes were a light, almost minty green. Nice.

“Hey,” he said, causing his remaining friend to turn toward us as well. He was cute, too; dark chocolate skin, a shaved head, and a body almost as hot as his brunette friend. “Are we in the way of your tour?”

“Of course not,” I replied, stepping toward him. “What are you guys doing?” I asked, indicating the books, papers, and underwater camera encased in its protective shell.

“Research,” he answered, crossing his arms over his broad chest. “We’re part of a graduate program at Texas A&M, Biology majors mostly. We’re studying wildlife.” I could hear it now, the distinctive twang in his voice that marked him as a Texan. This man just got sexier.

“Wow, what a coincidence. We’re UT students!” Kinsley exclaimed, perking up at the mention of school. We couldn’t have picked a better group of dudes for Kinsley to get her groove back with if we tried.

The dark-skinned one flashed a bright, perfect smile at Kinsley. “Texas girls,” he said with a nod. “This island just became way more interesting.”

Kinsley lowered her eyes shyly at that, her gaze drifting over to their equipment. “Wildlife studies, huh? Any particular species?”

Mr. Milk Chocolate bent down to pick up one of the books … which turned out to be an index of rainforest wildlife, complete with colorful pictures. “The endangered ones mostly. But when we found out about the grottos, we couldn’t resist a chance to sneak a peek. There are several species of fish down there, some of which aren’t even in our books!”

Kinsley’s eyes lit up and she stepped closer to the edge of the water, peering down. The other two guys had surfaced and gone back under by then, excited by whatever they found down there. “Wow. That’s amazing,” she whispered. “How many kinds do you think are down there?”

“There are over two thousand species of fish inhabiting tropical rainforests,” Green Eyes answered, “and those are just the ones we know about. I’m Chase, by the way,” he added, “and this is Derek.”

“I’m Chloe,” I answered. “This is my roommate, Kinsley.”

“What brings you to the island, Chloe?” he asked, his eyes sweeping over me once more and taking in my attire.

“Definitely not smelly old caves or the rainforest,” I muttered. “I’m on vacation with my friends.”

He smiled, but it was more of a mocking sort of a smirk. “Not the outdoors type, huh?”

I wrinkled my nose. “Not even.”

“Well then, you probably won’t be too happy about that little guy cozying up to you.”

My reply froze in my throat as I followed Chase’s gaze down to my feet. Twining around one of my ankles—and rubbing his scaly little belly all over my brand new Timberland boots—was a bright green snake.

I jumped about three feet in the air and let out a shrill scream.

A pair of strong hands gripped my waist, lifting me clear off the ground as I kicked, flailed, and screamed my head off.

“Get it away!” I yelped, terror causing my heart to pound at the thought of the snake sinking its fangs into me.

Chase set me down away from the snake. “Calm down, will you? Geez, it’s just a harmless tree snake.”

My jaw dropped and my eyes widened as he turned his back to me and crouched, reaching out toward the slithering green thing. With a flick of its tongue, it wrapped itself around Chase’s wrist and he picked it up, turning toward me with a grin.

“Harmless?” I screeched. This really is just so typical. All the hot guys I meet are nutcases. “It’s a freaking snake!”

Chase laughed, thrusting his arm toward me … and the snake with it. Shrieking, I cringed away from him. “He’s more afraid of you than you are of him. You need to chill.”

Glaring, I inched my way around him and back toward the mouth of the other cave, where Christian, Luke, and Jenn looked on with dropped jaws. “And you need to get that thing away from me before I turn it into a handbag!”

Now that I mention it, that shade of green would make a cute purse.

Pursing his lips in annoyance, Chase set the snake back down and turned on me, hands on his narrow hips as the snake slithered on its merry way. “That sort of mentality is exactly why the rainforests are in danger in the first place. You’re in his habitat, princess, not the other way around. Maybe you should consider that the next time you want to vacation in the rainforest!”

I could feel my face and neck getting red as anger welled up so quickly, I was choking on it. “I didn’t want to come to the stupid rainforest anyway!”

Christian’s hand wrapped around my arm and he tugged gently, trying to get me away from Nature Boy. “That’s enough, Chloe,” he said, his voice low.

“That’s right, princess,” Chase said with another infuriating smirk, “go on back to your little resort.”

A sound like a grunt mixed with a scream escaped my throat as I let Christian pull me away, turning my back on Chase with a flip of my hair. “Asshole!” I threw over my shoulder, before stalking back toward the tunnel leading out of the grottos.

Chapter 1

Peeking my head from behind the door to the bedroom I shared with Kinsley, I looked left to right cautiously. I’d been avoiding our new roommate, Chase, for the past week. It hadn’t exactly been easy, either. He was everywhere, constantly, being all sexy and charming and whatnot. It was a huge shock when I’d found out that he transferred from Texas A&M to The University of Texas to continue on in his graduate program. Of course, since fate has been using me as a punching bag lately, it made sense that he would be the one to answer Christian’s Craigslist ad searching for a new roommate to replace Luke.

I blame him for all of this … he and Jenn both. Last semester, when Jenn and Luke discovered they were head over heels in love with each other, their relationship took off at warp speed. Over the summer, they announced to us their plans to move out of the apartment and into 4D, the smaller unit right next door, so they could bask in their mushy gushy love in private. If it hadn’t been for them, our three-room townhouse would have been too full for Chase, and I wouldn’t have to see him every day and relive my little indiscretion in the rainforest.

Really, there were a lot of people to blame for my little problem.

After Luke, there were my parents who’d insisted I go on a ‘family’ vacation with them. The one time in over a year they decide to get involved in my life—other than depositing my monthly allowance into my bank account and signing the checks for my education—and it leads to me getting knocked up. It really is just so typical. My mom’s decision to put me in a debutant class when I was fourteen ended in a huge, embarrassing ball where I was forced to promenade around on the arm of my annoying cousin in a
Gone with the Wind
style gown complete with bows and frills. Then there was the time my dad decided I needed a sport on my transcript to get into a good college. Of course, we’re too rich and snooty for sports like track or basketball, so I had to play on our country club’s polo team. That debacle ended with me embarrassing myself in front of a bunch of spectators, and a trip to the emergency room to wrap my broken ankle … yes, I fell off the stupid horse, thereby reaffirming my belief that animals are evil. See what I mean about my parents? Their interference always ends in disaster for me.

Thirdly, Christian is to blame. If I hadn’t brought my roommates along on vacation, one of them never would have suggested we go into the stupid rainforest for a nature tour. I was content to stay on the beach and at the Elysium Resort—where there were spa treatments and mimosas—but no, Christian had to drag us along because apparently we all needed to be more adventurous. If we’d never gone on the tour that day, I’d never have even met Chase.

While we’re on the subject, I also blame Kinsley. When Aaron dumped her at the end of last school year, she fell into a slump so bad we never thought she’d come out of it. My attempts at coaxing her back onto the proverbial horse are what caused my meeting with Chase.

Anyway, no matter who I blame, the fact is I’m knocked up and I’m going to have to tell Chase at some point. First comes the hard decision of what to do about a baby I’m not even sure I want. Before I face him with the truth, I need to have some idea of what to say when he asks me what I’m going to do about it, as well as come to terms with whatever reaction he may have. There were several possibilities, none of which I had any idea how to handle.

Opening the door slowly so it didn’t creak, I tiptoed toward the stairs, holding my breath and listening for any sound of movement from the first floor, or the guys’ room. Jenn’s now empty room gaped at me from my left, the door hanging open. We were still looking for a fifth person to take her room and her part of the rent.

Once I made it downstairs, I didn’t even dare glance into the living room or kitchen, completely bypassing them both for the front door. Once out under the blazing Texas-in-August sun, I breathed a sigh of relief. Campus was vibrating with life as cars came and went, dropping students in front of their apartments and dorms with boxes and crates. Others headed for the administration buildings and bookstore, taking care of last minute forms and supplies before the start of classes the following day.

I didn’t spot Chase, but then I had no idea what his plans for the day were. Since I’d taken care of all my registration stuff and bought all my books last week, I decided to kill the day at Jenn and Luke’s place. Knocking first, I opened the door to the adjoining apartment and stepped inside.

“Jenn, are you here?” I called out, as the chorus of Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” blasted from the living room.

“In here!” she yelled over the music. Stepping around boxes and crates, I made my way past the kitchen, stopping short when I realized that Jenn had company.

Standing on a chair, the muscles in his back bunching and rolling beneath a forest green T-shirt as he hammered a nail into the wall, was Chase. My throat constricted until I could barely breathe as my eyes fixated on the beautiful, mahogany hair curling at the nape of his neck.

“Hey, Chloe!” Jenn said cheerily, reaching over to turn down the stereo. She stood just beside Chase’s chair, holding a large, framed poster of Freddy Mercury of Queen—Luke’s idol. “Come on in. Chase was just helping me hang some things for Luke. I wanted to surprise him by having all his posters up by the time he gets home from his audition.”

Chase’s head whipped around at the sound of my name, his brows wrinkling as he found me standing behind him. Lowering my eyes, I fiddled with my thumb ring, twisting it absently.

“Oh, that was today?” I asked conversationally.

Jenn, who is just too damn perceptive, watched Chase and me with a frown. “Yeah,” she said slowly, her eyes darting from me to Chase and back again. “He was really nervous about it, but I think he’ll get the gig.”

Luke was a music major whose band,
Wicked City
, spent the summer playing at a lot of local spots downtown. That afternoon, they had an audition at Hole in the Wall, a bar downtown that featured some of the best live acts in Austin. Unlike the rest of us, Luke had to work to pay for his education. Me and Christian were born with silver spoons in our mouths, Kinsley was getting a full ride on an academic scholarship, and Jenn’s parents, along with a trust fund left by her grandfather, helped her scrape by. Luke’s parents were dirt poor, so he taught guitar between gigs to pay the rent. This job at Hole in the Wall once a week for a few months would be good pay for Luke and his band.

“Of course he will,” I said, trying to break through some of the tense vibes radiating between me and Chase. I was failing miserably. “Place is starting to look great,” I commented as Jenn handed the poster to Chase, who promptly hung it on the nail.

Jenn blew her bangs out of her eyes as she turned to pick up another poster, this one of Mick Jagger. “Let’s hang this one next to Freddy,” she said. Chase nodded and silently went back to work. “Hopefully we can have it all finished today. We have the bedroom and kitchen unpacked, so I guess that’s something.”

I leaned against the wall and tried to determine how much polite conversation I’d have to make before running as far and fast away from Chase as I could. “It’s going to be weird,” I said, “without you two in the apartment.”

Jenn smiled sadly. “Yeah, I know. We’ve been living together for how long now? Three years?”

“Well, just one year for me,” I reminded her. She, Kinsley, Luke, and Christian were already living together when I found their ad on a bulletin board in the cafeteria. They needed another person to help ease the cost of the apartment, and I was looking to move on campus. My parents weren’t too happy about me moving out of the expensive condo they were paying for, but I honestly didn’t care. Living alone, even surrounded by all the money and trappings of wealth, is just how it sounds … lonely. I wanted a real taste of college life, and I wanted friends. Before I moved into 4C, I had none. Another perk was the fact that my allowance more than covered my rent with plenty leftover, leaving money for important things like clothes and shoes.

“Still,” Jenn said, handing Mick off to Chase before reaching for Aerosmith, “you fit in so well, it feels like you’ve been there as long as everyone else. Well, anyway, at least you guys have Chase now, and I’m sure you’ll find someone to take my room. Our little group is just getting bigger that’s all. We’re right next door.”

“Chloe’s done a real good job of making sure I feel welcome,” Chase said sarcastically, hammering another nail. “Haven’t you, Chloe?”

I scowled at his back. “Oh yeah. I’m a regular welcome wagon lady. Hey, Jenn, I’ll see you later, okay? I just stopped by to see if you needed help unpacking, but apparently you and Chase have it handled.”

I started backing toward the door, my eyes flitting to Chase’s back.
Please don’t turn around, please don’t turn around, please don’t turn around.

He turned around. “Actually, we could use some help with those boxes over there,” he said pointedly, nodding his head toward the stack of boxes labeled ‘living room’.

“If you don’t mind,” Jenn added. “It would really help if we could be done unpacking before classes start.”

“Yeah, seriously, I was only offering to be polite. You know I don’t do manual labor.”

“Oh come on!” Jenn begged. “You don’t have to lift anything heavy. Chase can move the boxes where they need to go and you can just open and unpack them.”

There really was no way out of this situation. I was about to spend my afternoon stuck in the room with my baby daddy—who didn’t even know he was my baby daddy—while trying to decide what to do about the baby and how and when to tell him.

“Okay, I’ll help,” I said grudgingly. I was forced to turn to Chase next. “Would you mind grabbing that box off the top of the stack for me? It looks heavy, and you’re taller than me.”

Boy was he ever. Those legs of his seemed to go on forever. My lower lip disappeared between my teeth as I pictured those powerful thighs, the muscles working as he spread my legs and …
Whoa girl! That kind of thinking is why you’re in trouble now.

Clearing my throat, I forced myself to focus. It was hard, though, keeping my eyes off him as he came down from the chair, passing me to get to the boxes. His T-shirt—which read ‘Keep the Earth clean, it isn’t Uranus’ across the front—clung to him in all the right places, his biceps bulging as he pulled down the box. He left it at my feet, and our eyes met and held. I’d forgotten how beautiful his eyes were while trying so hard to avoid looking at him over the past week. Abruptly, he went back to his task, turning his back to me once more.

“Awkward,” Jenn mumbled under her breath before clearing her throat loudly. “You guys want anything to drink? I just went shopping this morning, so the fridge is full. Oh, Chase, I bought some of that organic beer you like. You really turned Luke on to it, he loves the stuff.”

Chase nodded. “Yeah sounds good, Jenn, thanks.”

“You want one, Chloe?”

It was on the tip of my tongue to ask for two, when I remembered the baby. Until I’d decided what I was going to do, it was likely best that I avoided alcohol. “Oh, um, none for me, thanks. I’ll take whatever juice you have.”

Jenn only stared at me, stunned; probably because I usually never turned down booze. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” I said, my voice coming out all scratchy and squeaky. Even my throat was rebelling at the thought of turning down a beer. “OJ is fine.”

Jenn disappeared into the kitchen, leaving me alone with Chase. I found a box-cutter and started on the first package. Finding it full of DVDs, I knelt and started placing them neatly in the stacked crates Jenn and Luke had used to make a TV stand of sorts. It’s not exactly Pottery Barn, but it got the job done, I guess.

A few seconds later, I could feel Chase beside me, his warmth radiating from him and sinking into my skin. He knelt beside me, silently helping me empty the box.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” he said, his voice a low murmur.

Shooting a glance over my shoulder to ensure Jenn was still busy in the kitchen, I hissed back, “Yes, but somehow I get the feeling it’s not exactly working.”

His jaw clenched, the muscles around his mouth tightening. He sighed heavily through his nose and continued helping me stack DVDs. “If you didn’t want me here, you should have said so when I showed up. You know, before I made an ass of myself asking if we could talk about taking our little fling and making it into something more. We’re both adults, Chloe, and I didn’t think you were the type to play games. How hard is it to tell someone you’re not interested?”

As it turns out, very hard. Especially when that someone smells like sandalwood and pine and looks like some kind of sexy lumberjack. The day Chase appeared on my doorstep was one of the most jarring of my life, especially since I thought I’d left him behind after our little one night stand. All it took was a phone call to turn my life upside down …

I was just leaving the bathroom when my phone vibrated in my back pocket. Pulling it out, I frowned at the unknown number. “Hello?”

“Hey, princess,” said the voice on the other end.

I tripped over nothing and almost went tumbling down the stairs. “Chase?” I gripped the rail and took my time on the stairs.

“Did I take too long to call? I should have called sooner, shouldn’t I?”