Chase stands in front of Parker with a fierce look on his face.
“Chase! Long time no see,” Parker tries to joke as he attempts to take a step around him. Chase put a hand up to Parker's chest, stopping him cold. “What the hell, bro?”
“Haylee asked you to let go of her,” Chase replies calmly as he looks down to where Parker is squeezing my wrist. Parker looks down then too and quickly releases my wrist. “Why don't you go sober up?”
Parker looks back at me with a sad expression and then continues on, shoving and stumbling his way through the crowd.
“Are you okay?” Chase askes me as he steps closer. I rub my sore wrist with my other hand and shake my head. “Is he like that all the time?”
I shake my head again. “No, not at all. I mean I've seen him high a couple of times before, but not all the time.”
“What about the way he was dragging you like that?”
“He's never done that before. I think he is just messed up,” I reply.
“You don't do that shit with him do you?”
I roll my eyes at him acting all big brother toward me like he used to. “No, Chase, I've never touched drugs and I have no interest. I do need another beer though.” I smile up at him, trying to lighten the mood.
“Come on then,” he smiles back at me and holds his hand out to me. It's nothing at all like what Parker just did to me. I put my hand in his and let him lead me through the bodies toward one of the coolers. My hand feels small and delicate inside of his and I find that I like him holding my hand even if it is just to get me through the crowd. He stops beside a cooler and reaches in to grab a beer, but doesn't release my hand. He hands me the cold bottle, then grabs one for himself.
Still holding my hand, he leads me around to the other side of the fire where I'd seen him standing earlier and over to a black Dakota. He set his beer in the bed of it and pulls open the tailgate.
“Whose truck?” I ask as he lets go of my hand to climb up inside.
“Technically it belongs to Enterprise, but it's mine for the time being,” he says as he grabs a blanket from the corner behind the cab and spreads it out in the bed. “I got sick of the Focus and traded up.”
I laugh, almost choking on a sip of beer, as he leans over and holds his hand out for me again. I give him my hand again and let him help pull me into the bed of the truck. “Besides, I knew the Focus wouldn't make it out here,” he explains and I sit down on the blanket with my knees up in front of me. He sits down beside me and he's so close that I can feel the heat of his body warming the side of mine. He reaches over and takes my hand, weaving his fingers with mine, and I can't help but look down at our entwined hands. Luckily we are just far enough from the fire that I don't think he'll be able to see the way my cheeks flame red. I like holding his hand like this but I wonder if this is something that friends do.
“Griff told me you went over to see Brynn,” I say softly and glance over at him to see his reaction.
He purses his lips and nods his head once. “Yeah. . .she's. . .a pretty angry person these days.” A laugh bursts out of my mouth. That's putting it mildly! “You still dance with her then?”
“Unfortunately,” I sigh.
“I thought for sure you'd have been long done with that,” he replies and I can feel his eyes glued to the side of my face. He's known all along that I never liked dancing. Mom used to plead with me when I would ask her if I could quit. She'd always say something like, “Stick it out for six more months and then we'll see how you feel.”
“I never had the heart to complain about it again after Dad died. It just seemed like it meant so much to Mom, and sometimes it feels like it's all she has. . .”
“Does Brynn talk to you at dance?”
“Not unless she's bitching at me about something.”
We're silent for a few minutes as we watch the craziness going on all around us. Being up here in the bed of the truck sort of makes it feel like we're alone out here despite the music and noise of people everywhere.
I notice that his thumb is rubbing small circles along the back of my hand and I find myself resisting the urge to kiss him. I can easily get addicted to the way that I am feeling right now. No wonder so many songs are written about how people do such crazy things for love.
“So do you have any time to hang out tomorrow? Just you and me?” he asks and I tilt my face up to look at him. His pupils are vast pools of darkness with tiny flecks of the brillant blue that I can see from the flames of the fire flickering in their depths. I'm not sure I can think about tomorrow right now. . .except that he is asking me to hang out with him. . . alone.
“Um. . . I have a make up dance session in the morning and then I'm free,” I say slowly and notice that his gaze seems to have moved down to my mouth. I swear that all the chaos has gone silent around us.
“Can I pick you up at. . . noon, then?” His voice seems lower than normal and kind of husky, and I can feel the sound of it vibrate right down between my legs.
I hope I still have a voice left to answer him because I am not sure anything is functioning correctly inside of me right now. “Sure. What are we doing?”
His lips quirk upward on one side and I feel my heart clench at the sight. “You'll have to wait and see,” he says softly and begins to lean forward just a bit. The only thing I can hear in that moment is my heart hammering inside my chest, and it actually sounds like it is right behind my ear. If it's that loud, he can probably hear it as well. I can just feel the warmth of his breath against my lips when -- damn! -- loud shouts and hollering erupt behind us. We both pull back and turn around to find Griff, Max, and a few other guys running up alongside the Dakota and piling into the bed around us.
I've never wanted to murder Griff more than I do at that very moment.
Seeing Parker putting his hands on Haylee is getting old on a good day, but when I see him wrapping his arms around her from across the fire and her pushing him away, only to have him try again, I just lose it. Seeing that move brings me right back to a game we all went to at the high school.
When Brynn and Haylee were in seventh grade, the four of us had gone to a high school football game together on a Friday night. Haylee had gone down to the concession stand and I saw her making her way back through the hoards of people to the bleachers where we were sitting. She was so small that she could easily get swallowed by a crowd. I happened to be watching her when a guy approached her and the two of them started talking. I'd gotten the strangest feeling in the pit of my stomach as I watched. The guy was a year older than me and I had PE with him. He was a total player and was always talking in the locker room about the girls that he'd 'banged.' The guy wasn't a friend of mine or anything, but at that moment, I realized that I hated him. I hated the fact that he was talking to Haylee.
Since I couldn't pull my eyes away, I noticed when he put his hands on her shoulder and tried to snake his arm around them. My face felt like it was on fire and my heart was slamming inside my chest. The guy tried to turn Haylee in the direction she had just come from, back toward the parking lot, but Haylee slithered away from his grasp. The asshole tried again, and I don't even remember doing it, but I raced down the steps of the bleachers, shoving people out of my way. I finally got to where Haylee and the asshat were, and I could hear her telling him that she had friends to get back to. Asshat wasn't taking 'no' for an answer, and I lost it. I stepped in between him and Haylee, getting right in his face. “She said 'no'! Leave her the fuck alone!” I shouted and his eyes went wide in disbelief. He was one of those guys who'd never heard the word 'no,' but needed to. With both hands raised in the air, he began stepping away backwards. No one at school ever bothered Haylee or Brynn again after that.
While I'd still have been there anyway, that had been the moment that I started to realize that what I felt for Haylee went way beyond friendship. I can't stand the thought of any guy putting his hands on her. Except me.
With that thought, I make my way through the gathered crowd as people who must recognize me call my name and grab my arm along the way. My eyes are locked on Parker, who is now dragging an unhappy Haylee away by the arm.
“Damn it, Parker! Let go of me!” I hear Haylee shouting at him as she struggles to free herself from his grasp. No fucking way am I letting him get even ten steps farther. I shove past someone in an attempt to head them off, and finally Parker looks up to find me standing right in front of him.
As soon as he looks up, I can smell the booze on his breath and I'd have been willing to bet my life by the way his eyes look that he is on something. Come on, Haylee is smarter than this! “Chase! Long time no see,” is his smartass remark. I want to wipe that smug ass grin right off his face. “What the hell, bro?” Parker asks when it becomes obvious to him that I'm not moving and I'm not in the mood to joke around.
“Haylee asked you to let go of her,” I say as calmly as I can. I don't want to start something with him in front of Haylee or in the condition that he seems to be in at the moment, but I'm sure not about to let him past me with her arm in his grip. I tell him to go sober up and he all but stalks away.
I calm down a little bit once I know that Haylee is okay. I don't think I'veever been more relieved when I hear that she isn't into drugs or that douche. I know firsthand how much that shit can mess up your life and I sure don't want that for Haylee. She's cute as hell too when she rolls her eyes at me and tells me she has no interest in drugs but that she can use a beer. I find myself wanting to kiss that smirk off her perfect lips. I never realized before what a turn-on her feistiness is.
After what she's just been through, I make sure to offer her my hand and allow her the choice to take it. That and I would take any opportunity to touch her. I am elated when she smiles and puts her little hand in mine. Nothing has felt so right in a very long time. I grab us each a beer without letting her go and lead her over to my sweet new rental. I'd headed back to the rental place before dropping by Brynn's to see if I could get a truck for tonight, and because, let's face it, I hated the Focus.
We sit on a blanket in the bed of the truck and talk for a while about her still dancing and my encounter with her cousin. I take her hand again and she doesn't pull it away, which I take as a good sign. The skin of her hand is so soft that I can't help but wonder if the skin on the rest of her body is even softer. . .
I have a plan in mind for us, and I need to know if she is free at all tomorrow. I'm thrilled to hear that she'll be free after dance, and we plan to meet up at noon. Of course she wants to know what we are doing.
“You'll have to wait and see,” I smile over at her and I swear I feel like a sixteen-year-old kid again. My heart is racing and I'm nervous, maybe because this is Haylee and I want this to be perfect. And I really want to taste those perfect lips of hers. And have for a long time. She is staring into my eyes and her eyelids are heavy and I can see her chest rising and falling rapidly as I lean down toward her slowly. . .
All of sudden there's a bunch of crazy noise just behind us and we spin around to find a bunch of guys piling into the bed of the truck with us. Griff and I need to have a
very
serious talk. This shit has to stop! His buddies are a bunch of cockblocks. He makes a face and shrugs at me like he has no idea what they are interrupting. I believe him but their timing is just shit. I guess that makes it even better that Haylee and I are going out alone tomorrow. The guys are here to party by the fire, so Haylee and I just go along with them at this point. I catch her eyes as often as I can. I want so badly to tell her how I feel now that I know she's never gotten the letters in which I had poured my heart out to her. It was a chickenshit way to do it, but there had been a certain comfort in doing it via letter, especially at that age.
Haylee doesn't want to stay too late since she has dance early in the morning, so I tell Griff that he can stay and hang out for a while and I take Haylee home in his truck instead. I've planned in my head to walk her up to her door and kiss her good night, but as soon as the truck stops, she bolts out the door and calls out over her shoulder, “Thanks, Chase. See you tomorrow.” Then she disappears inside her house. I sit there dumbstruck, staring after her for a few seconds. That hadn't gone as planned at all. It seemed like she hadn't seen what we did tonight as a date, more like I'd just offered her a ride home. I will have to remedy that tomorrow, make myself a bit more clear.
As I drive Griff's truck down the driveway and across the street, I wonder if she's hesitant to move past friendship because of the last four years or maybe because she's afraid of things changing between us if we cross that line. Or I could I be reading it all wrong and she isn't even interested in anything beyond friendship. I'll have to find a way to ask her tomorrow, because I am way past worrying about it now. My feelings for her have exploded past what I even thought was possible since I've been back and I need her to know that. I know I'll have to be careful not to scare her away though, being too forceful.
Even as I lay in bed at Griff's that night, I can't stop thinking about how close I finally am to Haylee. She is lying in her bed just across the street and I want so badly to run over there and climb in her bedroom window. Being that we are a little older now and I haven't done that in four years, I fight the urge to go. I'd probably scare her to death if I did. I can't fall asleep right away though, and my damn mind starts to think about other guys climbing in that window of hers. That burning feeling in the pit of my stomach returns then. I wonder how many guys she's dated and how many of them have done just that. If seeing Parker put his hands on her has me seeing red, I am positive I could never handle seeing her kiss another guy. Just the thought of that and more has me tossing and turning. I know I certainly have no right to judge but these damn feelings are rooted deep inside of me. She is
my
girl . . . she just doesn't know it yet.
The next morning Griff and I have breakfast at a diner in town before he has to go to work. We sit in a booth with the smells of greasy fried food in the air and I can't order a coffee soon enough.
“You look like hell, man. Didn't you sleep last night?” Griff asks me after the waitress brings our coffees.
“No, I didn't sleep well. Had a lot on my mind,” I reply and take a sip of the steaming coffee even though I know it is still too hot.
“Seems like Haylee has settled down a bit and decided to give you a second chance,” Griff comments as he stretches his arms out across the top of the seat behind him. The diner is bustling this morning, and the sounds of clinking plates and silverware and the din of dozens of different conversations floats around us.
I nod and sip the bitter coffee again. “For now anyway. I haven't had the chance to tell her about my epic fails yet. I fully expect her to run for the hills again when I do, probably later today. . . “
“So you guys made plans to hang out already?” Griff asks. I can tell he is fighting the urge to smile.
“I asked her if I could pick her up after dance. You see, we start having these much needed conversations and then, bam! We keep getting interrupted,” I joke with him and he chuckles. I'm sure he remembers the look on my face in the bed of the truck last night.
“Hey, Griffin!” a girl with curly, brown hair and olive-toned skin calls out as she and a friend with strawberry blond hair come right up to the table. “You free to take us for a boat ride later today?”
I watch Griff as he grins and turns on the charm. “I think I can arrange that. I get out of work at two, so meet me at the dock around three?”
“See you then,” the curly brunette calls out with a huge grin as the two of them sway past a row of benches. Griff's gaze is locked right on their backsides and I raise my eyebrows at him.
“What can I say?” he asks with a smirk.
“A boat ride, huh?” He just shrugs his shoulders.
“So what are you and Haylee Jo up to this afternoon exactly?”
“I'm surprising her,” I reply and leave it at that.
“Any idea how long you're gonna stick around yet?” he asks. “'Cause you're welcome to stay at my place as long as you want. I'm just curious if you've thought about it at all. I'd hate to see you disappear and break her heart again.”
I nod. He is looking out for Haylee and I appreciate that. I haven't thought of much else since being back in Wake Forest. I won't up and leave Haylee like that again, but there are still things I need to get back to LA for. . . eventually.
“I'm gonna spend some time in town this morning checking into a few things, so I might have a better idea then,” I tell him. I have a plan for the first time in a long time, but there is still a lot up in the air, so I'm not ready to tell anyone about it just yet.
“Just take it easy on her, man. I don't want to see her like she was four years ago. You don't know how bad it was.” I kind of do know though. I'd been right there with her, just as shattered, albeit across the country.
We finish breakfast, and the coffee has finally woken me a bit. The morning is already sunny and warm, which is perfect for what I have planned for later.
“Have fun on that boat ride, man!” I call out to Griff as we each climb into our trucks. I can hear him laughing until I turn the key in the ignition.
I spend the next few hours at a couple of different places in town trying to figure out if what I want to do with my future is even a possibility. There are a lot of pieces that need to fall into place, but things are at least looking promising. I head back to Griff's at about eleven to get ready for my date with Haylee. Mrs. Michaels is home and offers to help me out with a few things. I'm nervous about how things will go with Haylee this afternoon, but I have hope for a lot of things. I can't remember the last time I'd felt real hope like this. It's exhilarating.
“I'm really glad you're back, Chase,” Mrs. Michaels tells me with a motherly smile. “And I know that Griffin and Haylee are as well.”
“You have no idea how nice it is to
be
back,” I tell her. And it really is.