Finding Chase (Chasing Nikki) (22 page)

I stepped forward, and Brett grabbed my arm in warning, but I shrugged him off, knowing there were two DPS officers on fair patrol who were starting to watch our discussion with interest. “If that’s true, then it doesn’t say much for you, does it? If you were any good, she’d still be with you.”

My head snapped back as he punched me hard, and I laughed, grabbing his fist as he came toward me again. The two DPS officers, who’d been eyeing us, came running forward, commanding us to stop. The girls with Matt and Jared held up their hands as they backed away. Jared looked at me furiously.

One of the officers grabbed Matt, pulling his arms behind and cuffing him.

“Do you want to press assault charges?” the cop asked me.

“I most certainly do. These two have been involved in other harassment cases against me.”

“They weren’t my ideas,” Jared said, as the second officer approached him. “They were his!” He pointed to Matt, and I couldn’t help but grin again. They were cooking their own goose.

One of the policemen briefly spoke into his radio, calling for backup before addressing me again. “We’re going to need all of you to come to the security office to give statements.”

“That’s fine with me,” I replied. “And could you please call my football coach? He needs to hear this too.”

“Your football coach?” He squinted his eyes as he studied my face. “Oh my gosh! You’re Chase Walker, aren’t you?”

“That would be me.”

“I’m a huge fan. Man, it sucked you weren’t at the game yesterday. You feeling better?” His whole demeanor changed from wary to warm and friendly.

“Much better,” I said honestly, resisting the urge to laugh when Matt grimaced.

“Well, come on then. Let’s go sort this out and get your eye checked by the medics too. It looks like it’s gonna be a shiner.”

“Okay. Let me grab my things.”

“I’ve got it, Chase,” Brett said, shouldering his sister’s giant pillow pet. “Lead the way.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

“You want me to do what?” I asked, giving her a skeptical look.

“Play paint twister. Come on, it’ll be fun! This is a huge competition one of the sorority houses is putting on. They’ll love being able to boast that the star quarterback is at their party.”

“Explain the rules. How exactly do you play?” I looked across the wide expanse of lawn at the many Twister games spread across the ground.

“It’s easy. It’s like regular twister, but they put the same color paint in each circle, so wherever you touch, that color of paint gets on you.”

“It sounds, messy—and slippery—and wet.”

“Precisely, all while you’re tangled up with a bunch of girls. This is why I told you to wear old clothes you didn’t mind getting ruined.”

Okay, the idea did have some fun merit, but I still felt iffy. “I don’t want to be tangled up with a bunch of girls, just you.”

“I’ll be there too, but the only way you can stay with me, is if the two of us keep on beating everyone else. There will be two couples on each sheet. One of us has to be the last one standing to win the game, then we advance to the next round. They spray off the sheets in between each match and repaint them again.”

“So what’s the prize for winning?”

“A new car! Look, it’s over there. They got one of the big dealerships down here to donate, because the sorority president is his niece or something.”

I glanced in the direction she was pointing, and spotted the cute, maroon compact car with a small Sun Devil logo and thin yellow stripes painted on the side. “Love the paint job.” I grinned. “It’s sick.”

“Wouldn’t I look great driving up to watch you play games in it? It’s like the perfect accessory for your girlfriend. I could
so
use a new car, Chase. I have to borrow or ask for rides from Brett, Tana, or you.”

“This is going to be a disaster,” I replied, shaking my head.

“So you’ll do it?”

“Of course I will. You need a car.” Didn’t she know she had me wrapped around her finger? I’d give in and do anything for her.

“Yay!” she squealed and threw her arms around my neck jumping up and down. “I love you so much! You’re the best boyfriend ever.”

I laughed and kissed her lightly on the mouth. “You might want to wait to thank me. We haven’t actually won yet.”

“We will! I have faith!”

I laughed. “Glad someone does. Where do we need to sign up?”

She bit her lip and blushed. “I already did.”

“What? Without asking me? What if I had said no?”

“I’m fairly confident in my persuasion skills when it comes to you.”

“Hmm. Sounds like I should’ve put up a harder fight.”

“Too late now,” she replied in a singsong voice. “Come here and sit down. Let’s take our shoes off.”

I followed her to a stone bench and sat beside her. “I hope I don’t catch my death of cold from doing this. The breeze tonight is a bit on the chilly side.”

“I heard it was supposed to snow in the mountains tomorrow.” she replied. “I talked to my mom earlier today. She said it’s been really cold and windy up there.”

“I definitely don’t miss that.”

“You don’t like the snow?”

“I don’t mind it so much, I just don’t care for the storm blowing in. I swear that howling wind nearly drove me mad at times.”

“Yeah, I don’t miss the wind either.”

I looked at the massive amount of students gathered on the lawn. “How many couples entered this thing?”

“A bunch! I’m not sure how many.”

“Sounds like a lot of games of Twister to me.”

“As long as we keep winning, yes. I’m thinking the paint will make things go quicker, though, because it’s harder to stay up.”

“True. By the way, how the heck will we get home? We’ll have paint all over us. I don’t want it to get on everything.”

“I brought us extra clothes, and they’ve opened the showers at the pool, so people can clean up. That’s why they’re doing it right here.”

“You’ve had this planned for a while now, haven’t you?”

She nodded guiltily. “I have. I didn’t tell you what was happening, because I was afraid you’d say no. But if I said it was a date—I knew you’d never pass that up.”

“Well, aren’t you the sneaky little devil?” I grinned and gave her a wink.

“Sneaky little Sun Devil to you, and I’m gonna be driving that Sun Devil car too!” She jumped up, grabbing my hand. “Let’s go. People are starting to get in line.”

She dragged me to where a tall girl with glasses was staring at a list
of names, checking them off as people came forward,
and directing them where to go.

“Brittney Dodson and Chase Walker,” Britt told her.

She found us on the list. “You’re at game sheet number ten against Rocky Dane and Robyn Sheraton. Go stand on the end opposite them, and wait for further instructions.”

“Oh, I’m incredibly excited,” Britt said, bouncing along as if she’d eaten a five pound bag of sugar.

“Why?” I asked unable to help my chuckle at how hyper she was.

“Because it’s gonna be so much fun, and I have the best athlete on campus as my partner. There’s no way we can lose!”

“I should probably remind you—rolling in paint isn’t exactly my athletic specialty.”

“Maybe not, but you’re strong, muscular, and probably in better shape than most the people here. That’s gotta count for something.”

“We’ll find out soon, I guess, won’t we?”

“Yes, we will.” She rubbed her hands together with glee.

A sharp whistle blew, and a stylishly dressed brunette climbed on a footstool with a mike in her hand. “Hi, all! My name is Irene Winsor, and I want to welcome everyone to our event this evening! It’s a tad cool tonight, I know, but we still plan on having lots of fun. First off, here are the rules. To make it fair, everyone will be playing the exact same game, which will be called over this microphone. Please pay attention, because we won’t be repeating. When a color and limb are called, you will move your corresponding body part to that color circle. The object of the game is to keep your butt, knees, and elbows from touching the ground as you move to the new spot without pulling any of your other limbs off the spot they’re currently on. If you do, you’re disqualified and must leave the game. If your partner loses too, then you’re out of the competition. If you or your partner wins the game, then you go on to the next round. There will be two judges watching each game to see who falls and is out.

“As you know, we have a tricked out Sun Devil car to give away tonight, sponsored by Hot Vehicles of Tempe. Let’s give them a round of applause for their generous donation.”

Everyone clapped, and there were a few whistles and cheers as well.

“Okay, let’s win a car!”

Another girl stepped beside Irene and spun the board showing her the result. “Left foot, blue!” Irene called, and we stepped onto the mat.

“Hey, how ya doin?” I asked politely, shaking the hands of the other two we were facing, and exchanged pleasant hellos.

“Nothing like getting up close and personal on the first date is there?” Rocky joked, and we laughed.

“No kidding,” I replied. “But I’m used to a team of strangers wanting to tackle me, so I’m okay with this, I guess. It’s gotta be a lot less painful.”

“I’d imagine that would be true.”

“Right foot, yellow,” came the next command, and we easily complied, though I had to say I wasn’t really loving the feel of paint squishing between my toes.

Britt wrinkled her nose. “It’s slimier than I thought it would feel. Kinda icky.”

“Remember, this is all your fault, sweetheart.” I grinned.

“Right hand, yellow.”

Now things were going to start getting tricky. We scrambled for the closest available spot. Robyn was the unlucky person who had to reach the farthest from where she was. She slipped and fell.

“Out!” one of our judges called, and I heard the same echo from a few other mats as well.

“Hang in there, Rocky!” Robyn encouraged as she stood and left the plastic, wiping her hands on her pants as she went.

“Left hand, red!”

I had to contort my body to reach this one, and I could feel myself sliding in the paint, damn stuff. I’d be fine if it wasn’t involved. I gritted my teeth, torn between laughing and growling as I tried to stay up.

“If you fall, it’ll be me knotted up with him for the rest of the game,” Brittney whispered in my ear.

“Are you trying to give me extra incentive? Because while that might normally work, I can’t see how it’s going to keep me from slipping through paint.”

She had the audacity to giggle at my comment. “Aren’t you having fun?”

“Loads,” I replied as I fell to the ground.

“Out,” a judge called, and I got up, pausing first to smack Britt firmly on the butt, so she’d have my handprint there for the rest of the night.

“Ouch!” she said in surprise. “What was that for?”

“Marking my territory,” I said with a laugh. “Pay attention or you’re going to lose on the first round.”

Her face was a mask of determination as I watched her play the rest of the game, and in the end, it paid off. She won, and we were moving on.

Things were quickly reset, and the games continued. Set by set, several couples were eliminated, but somehow, Britt and I managed to keep going. We ran fairly even, both of us being the last one standing many times, and on several occasions, we were left there together. In those cases we didn’t have to finish the match because we’d already won. It was nice to take a break. It might be a silly game, but it was proving to be a strenuous workout all the same. It had been quite a feat to hold myself in some of the jumbled positions I’d ended up in. If I were being truthful, this crazy event had kicked my competitive nature into overdrive. Car or not, I was determined to win this thing—just to prove I could.

Finally, we managed to make it all the way to the last match. Britt and I looked like we’d been cast in a zombie movie or something—we were so splotched and covered in paint. It was everywhere; in my hair, all over my bare skin, and I was fairly certain some of it had managed to creep into my underwear somehow. I couldn’t wait to hit the shower. I hoped this stuff would come off easily.

The two people we were facing didn’t look nearly as bad as we did. This made me nervous because it could only mean they hadn’t fallen as much as we had. Both the guy and the girl were in pretty good shape. Our work was cut out for us.

“Chase,” Britt said, catching my attention.

“Yeah?”

“Kiss me for good luck.”

I grinned and wrapped my painted limbs around her, pulling her close and giving her a resounding, full kiss—one which started the onlookers cheering and catcalling. She wrapped her arms around me and kissed me vigorously, and I couldn’t help my widening smile as the crowd started chanting, “Walker, Walker, Walker,” over and over again.

“I think you’re the crowd favorite to win,” Brittney said as she pulled away, laughing.