This time he turns the game off completely. “Is this how it’s going to be from now on with you two?”
“Huh? Wait, did you talk to her? What did she say? Did she say I was a loser?”
Chase lays back with his hand to his forehead. “How is it that two of the most oblivious people in the world decided to be in a relationship?”
“Whoa, no relationship. I don’t do relationships. Does Velyn think we’re in a relationship; because that wasn’t a date? I don’t date. Ever,” I blurt.
My brother stands from the couch. “Dylan, she didn’t say anything. Just that you apologized, and she’s glad that this whole thing with you is over and that there aren’t any more tensions.”
“So, nothing then about what I said?”
“No, Dylan. Now since you’ve monopolized all my downtime, I’m going to bed. I need a ride in the morning, so can you please wait for me?”
“Did she not hear what I said? I mean—"
“Dylan, did you hear me?”
I turn to my brother. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll wait for you.”
Chase walks off, leaving me to overthink the whole conversation with Velyn. I need to know what she thinks of me. Pulling out my phone, I scroll over my contacts then hit the call button.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Garrin, are you still seeing that girl in the school records department?”
There’s a moment of silence before he says anything. “Dylan, bro, you know it’s like eleven at night, right? This couldn’t wait until morning?”
“Sorry, man, I know it’s late, but I could really use your help with this one. I’ll owe you.”
Garrin lets out a sigh. “Yeah, I’m not seeing her anymore, but we still talk. She’s good people. What do you need and I’ll see if she can help out?”
“I need an address for Velyn Adler. She’s a freshman.”
“Okay, I’ll call you back.”
I end the call and sit there waiting. I could’ve asked Chase, but I don’t want to get him involved in this…that, and he’d probably just say no.
About thirty minutes have passed by the time Garrin calls back. “Hey, Gar, were you able to get it?”
“Hey, the only file she could find was an Evelyn Adler out in Pine Valley. That’s like a ways from the school though, man, and not in the best of areas.”
“That’s got to be it. What’s the address?”
“Dylan, when I say not the best of areas, I wasn’t exaggerating. Shit, when did you start slummin’ it?”
I feel a boil of anger run through me, but I keep hold of it. If I'm being honest here, it was only mere days ago that I would’ve made the same comment. Not because I genuinely believed it but because that’s what we do, or should I say…did. I never realized until now just how wrong we were.
“Garrin, can I just have the address?”
“Sorry, yeah, I’ll text it to you. Good luck, bro, in whatever it is you’re doing.”
I end the call, pull on my jacket, and with my
keys and wallet in hand, I head out. I have no idea if I’m about to make the biggest mistake ever, but I need to know.
I pull up to the address Garrin sent me; he wasn’t exaggerating when he said it wasn’t the greatest of areas. An uneasy feeling creeps up when I think of Velyn coming home at night by herself.
When I walk up to the building doors, luckily, an older man is exiting and I slip in before the door closes. I head to the elevators and up to Velyn’s floor. When I get to her door, I raise my hand to knock, but before I do, I realize that after waiting for her address and the time to drive here, it’s now just past midnight.
“What the hell was I thinking? I can’t just show up at her place in the middle of the night.” Realizing this may have been the stupidest thing I almost did, I turn to walk away, but that’s when the door opens.
“Were you seriously just going to leave after you went through the trouble of getting my address and coming all the way here?”
Turning to the door, I see Velyn standing there in just a black tank and a pair of barely-ass-covering sleep shorts.
Damn, she’s beautiful.
“I-I—” Needing to control my nervous stutter, I take a breath then continue, “Honestly, it wasn’t until I got to your door that I realized the time. How did you know I was coming?”
She leans against the doorway with a smile. “A little birdie told me.”
“Chase!”
“He overheard you talking on the phone with your friend and thought I deserved a heads up,” she explains.
I let out a breath. “Yeah, sorry. I was apparently having a moment. Look, I just came here because I said something earlier and I don’t want you thinking—”
“Dylan, let me stop you right there. I’m glad we talked earlier, and there was nothing you said that threw me off. Well, except for that thing about me terrifying you.”
Groaning, I lower my head. “I knew it.”
Velyn’s hand comes to my chin, lifting it so that we’re now eye to eye. “The only reason it threw me off was that it’s the same thing I was thinking about you.” Her hand drops to her side, but our eyes remain connected. “Dylan, there’s something between us. I don’t know how to explain it, but when I’m near you…angry, happy or just talking, I feel like—”
“Everything’s really okay,” I finish.
She nods. “Exactly, but how—”
“Because it’s the same feeling I have right now standing here with you.” I lower my head shaking it. “Shit, Velyn, I shouldn’t have come here.”
I start to walk away again, but she grabs my hand pulling me back.
“Dylan, look at me.” When I look up to her, the only thing I notice is the calmness in her eyes. She steps closer to me, our bodies touching with each breath we take. “Dylan, I want you to kiss me.”
My lips lower, softly brushing with hers. “I want to kiss you.”
“Then what are you still waiting for?”
With no more hesitation. No more doubt about what we feel. No more fighting our desire for one another…our lips connect in a deep soft kiss—our first kiss. The only real kiss I can say I’ve ever felt anything like this. After this, there’s no way that either of us is turning back.
We’re done—I’m done
“Wakey, wakey!”
Velyn wouldn’t let me drive home without some rest. So, when she wakes me at four-thirty in the morning out of a dead sleep, I’m a little thrown off but quickly adjust when I see her bright-eyed face over the top of mine.
“How is it you’re so lively this early in the morning?”
With her voice in a whisper, she replies, “I’m used to it. Now, up and at ‘em. I have to be at work for five. And as much as I’m okay with leaving you here in blissful slumber, I don’t think my father would appreciate waking up to a strange man on his couch.”
I take hold of her waist, pulling her down on top of me. “That wouldn’t have been an issue if you just let me sleep in bed with you.”
“Yeah, not a chance, Casanova. We both agreed that we’re not sure what this is and that neither of us knows what it is we want right now. So, Mr. Dandridge, that means you get to sleep on the couch.”
I let out a soft groan. “But kissing is okay?”
She smiles. “Well, I’m not a nun.”
I wrap my arms tightly around her body and bring my lips up to meet hers. The kiss is soft and innocently sweet. I’m not used to soft and sweet, but her kisses…they’re perfect.
“What happens after we leave here?” I ask.
She pulls out of my arms and sits up, so I pull myself up as well. “Like we said, neither of us knows what we want. I think it’s best for right now that we just go on as nothing has changed.”
I bring my hand up to her face tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “It’s funny for the longest time that’s all I ever wanted in my life. No commitment. No strings. But hearing it from you, I don’t know, it just sounds wrong.”
/> “What are you saying, Dylan?”
I shrug. “Would it really be a bad thing…a commitment that is?”
“I don’t know. But what I do know is that at this point in my life, I can’t add anything more to my plate. Dylan, I just don’t have the time to give a relationship the kind of attention it would need.”
I scan over her face and see it’s eating away at her. “You’re right, and it’s true that neither of us has the time...right now. Maybe one day, but for now, we focus on ourselves. So, friends it is then?”
She gives me a smile shooting out her hand. “Friends it is.”
I want to kiss her lips, not just shake her hand. But, to keep Velyn in my life, this is the compromise I have to make—for now!
I follow Velyn to the diner to give myself peace of mind that she got there okay. Once she’s inside, I make the twenty-minute drive back to my place. Walking through the front door, it’s quiet, not that I was expecting different. However, what I didn’t expect was when walking to my bedroom that my father’s office light would be on.
I don’t knock; just lean in and listen closely, but all I hear is the faint murmur of my father’s voice talking to someone on the phone. He’s angry that’s as much as I can get, but that’s not unusual. It would shock me more if he were to show any kind of happiness or excitement.
I make my way to my room, not caring to have a one on one with dear Dad right now. I slip in and close the door quietly behind me.
“Dyl, is that you?”
“Chase?” I turn on the bedroom light to find my brother lying in my bed. “Why are you in here?”
He sits up, giving his eyes a rub before looking up to me. “Did you see Dad?”
I move to the side chair by the window, drop-down, and lay back. “I heard him in the office but thought better than to go in? You?
“No, when he came home he just went right to his office, and he’s been in there ever since.”
I let out a sigh. “Sounds about right, but that still doesn’t explain why you’re in my room.”
“Oh, I wanted to hear how things went with Velyn, but I must have fallen asleep waiting for you. Did you spend the night?” Chase asks with a little surprise in his voice.
“Yes, but relax, I slept on the couch,” I reply. “Apparently, even I can’t charm the pants off of Velyn Adler.”
Chase frowns. “If that’s the only reason you went there, I could’ve told you that it was a waste of time.”
Taking off one of my socks, I whip it at his head. “Calm down. I honestly did go there to talk to her. And how did you even know what I was up to? She mentioned a little birdie told her I might show up.”
“I overheard you talking to Garrin. I wasn’t going to try and stop you, but I figured I at least owed her a heads up,” he explains.
“Nice to know whose team you’re on—traitor.”
“So, I’m guessing since you slept on her couch, you didn’t piss her off enough to send you packing. Did everything work out like you wanted?” he asks.
I pull off the rest of my clothes, leaving myself only in boxers. “Chase, I’m exhausted. I promise I’ll fill you in on everything in the morning, and if I don’t, I’m sure your little bestie will.”
I could just kick him out of my room so that I could sleep in my bed, but I know to send him out there would be like sending him out into the wild. Who knows what he may encounter in the twenty feet he has to his room? Either way, as soon as I start to nod off, she’s there. Her bright eyes and beautiful smile causing sweet chaos in my head. Then I remember that she friend-zoned me—
Yeah, we’re most definitely going to have to rethink that whole situation, because Dylan Dandridge does not get friend-zoned.
Chapter 16
Velyn
When Chase sees me entering class, I can tell he’s ready to burst at the seams. I make my way over to him and before even letting me take a seat, he starts with the questions.
“Tell me everything. Did Dylan apologize? Did you make him grovel? Was he nice about it? Are you two going to be friends now—or more?”
I let out a chuckle. “Give me a minute to settle in and then I’ll tell you everything?” Chase waits patiently while I pull out my books then sit back. “Okay, so if you must know, there’s not much to tell. It went well and we came to a truce.”
“Nothing more?”
“Nope?”
Chase turns in his chair to face me. “Does that upset you?”
I pinch my brow in confusion. “What do you mean?”
Chase smiles softly. “Velyn, it’s okay to be open here. Hello, it’s me Chase, you know, your bestie…that’s what I’m here for. I see how he affects you. He only needs to be in the same room, and I don’t know…I guess the best way to describe it is that you almost seem like the weight of the world has been lifted off your shoulders. It’s magical, Velyn.”
I let out a slight titter. “You’re an amazing human being; you know that, right?”
“I’m guessing that means I’m on point with this then?” he asks.
“It means that once again, I’m in a place where everything’s out of my control. Chase, he may make me feel those things, but the reality is Dylan’s just not what I need right now. I have too many other things in my life to worry about, and he’d just be a distraction I can’t afford.”
Chase grabs hold of my hand, looking into my eyes. “You can’t afford not to welcome this distraction. Vel, when I said that I notice a change in you when he’s around, that same change, I see in him. Look, I don’t know if it’s a forever thing with you two, but it’s definitely a right-now thing. The chemistry or whatever they call it is there. Take it while you can, because who knows how long it will be before it happens again, or if you’ll ever get another chance.
“Chase, are you suggesting I date your brother?”
He shrugs and sits back in his chair just as the prof enters the room. “More like advising. Consider me the angel on your shoulder.”
“If you’re the angel, who’s the devil?”
Chase looks back to me, a smile on his face. “That’s something you’ll have to find out when you finally decide to start living life again.” The prof begins with the lecture, and Chase’s attention is now on her.
Start living life again—he’s got me there. Who knows, maybe he’s onto something.
After saying our goodbyes and promising to chat later, Chase heads to his next class, and I head to mine.
Walking through the quad, I don’t see Dylan at first, but when I do, he’s alone and almost seems out of place. My next class is on the other side of campus and takes me some time to get there, so I really don’t have time to stop and chat, but there’s something in the way he’s looking around that I just need to know.
I make my way over, standing just a foot away by the time he notices me.
“Velyn, hey.” The greeting sounds genuine and almost like he’s relieved.
I offer him a smile. “Hey, I don’t usually see you out here.”
He shakes his head. “I was hoping to run into you.”
“You were?”
He lets out a breath, looking around. “I know you have class, and normally I’d never ask you to ditch—”
“What were you thinking?” Wow, okay, that just came right out. But you know what, Chase was right. I need to start living again, and apparently, that begins with truancy.
Dylan smiles. “Grab coffees, and then there’s this place I want to show you. How long do you have?”
“I need to be at work for five, but I’m free until then,” I reply.
He rests his hand on the small of my back, nudging me forward. “You know that was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be.”
I shrug. “Maybe you’ve just mastered the skill of persuasion.”
He laughs. “If that were the case, I would’ve slept with you last night instead of on that lumpy couch.”
I smile at that—if only he knew. That had nothing
to do with needing to be persuaded and everything to do with astounding self-control.
I thought at first he was taking me to some hidden hole in the wall, much like his little Gentlemen’s Club, but instead, we pull up to a small cabin sitting back on a fair-sized lot with the most captivating view of the ocean.
“Where are we?”
“The cabin,” he replies.
“Obviously, Dylan, but whose cabin?”
He lets out a laugh opening his door then
turning to me before he steps out. “Come and find out.”
I watch through the windshield as he zips his coat further up his neck. I guess it would be chillier this close to the water. I zip up mine and pull up my hood before getting out and following him up the long path. It’s quite a hike, but it makes for a little more privacy, which is always nice for a getaway.
We reach the front wrap around porch, and Dylan lifts an old tin milk jug filled with sand, picking up the key under it.
“Uh, Dylan, I didn’t really schedule in time for a B & E this afternoon.”
He looks to me and snickers. “Yet here you are at my side. Robin to my Batman.”
“Truly, I’m just more curious to see what it looks like in there. Also, if anyone’s Batman, it’s me.”
“Unlikely, but I’m not one to stomp on someone else's dreams.” He turns back to the door, unlocking it then stepping in before me.
Hesitantly, I follow behind until the lights come on, and that does it; my breath is instantly taken away. “Oh my God, Dylan, this is beautiful.”
He walks in further, tilting his head and looking up as though this is the first time he’s also been here. “Yeah, it’s been so long I almost forgot what it looked like.”
I move in beside him, and without a thought, he takes hold of my hand. The feeling sends a warm tingle through my body, and as natural as it was for him, I also move in tightly to his side.
Looking around, I take it all in. The white walls offset with oversized furniture in creams and aged woods. The feminine touches kissed ever so carefully throughout. Windows covered in flowing top to bottom sheers and lightly colored Persian area rugs spread around. It’s the perfect escape—a paradise within four walls.
Loving Chase: An Enemies-to-Lovers Romance Novel Page 12
