Chase & Chloe

by Simone Elise

  Maybe if my mind wasn't running wild with angry thoughts, I would have heard the bedroom door open, but I hadn't heard it.

  The en-suite door swung open and I was standing in the middle of the room. Naked.

  "SHIT!" Marc's eyes were wide as he was confronted with a naked me. The towel was hanging on the wall next to the door right next to Marc so I couldn't just reach for it.

  My hands went to my breasts then down below. Marc was just standing there, blinking. Frozen to the spot.

  This could not be happening. Why me? Not thinking about the wet floor, I darted for the towel and, because my luck sucked, I slipped on the wet tiles and fell backwards. I squealed as I hit the cold, wet tiled floor.

  This snapped Marc out of his frozen state.

  "Shit Chloe, are you okay?"

  I felt his warm hands grip my arms and he bolstered me up, my naked body now pressed firmly against him. My heart was racing, throbbing outside my chest. This could get worse, right? The more I thought about it. Nope. It couldn't.

  His hands were still wrapped around my arms. His eyes locked on my face, and I was grateful because his eyes could be looking elsewhere, but why look when you can feel?

  "Shit, your head is bleeding." Marc frowned, and one hand that was gripping my arm let go. His fingers ran across my forehead, wiping away some blood.

  I took a steady breath in and didn't step away from him because I didn't want him seeing me again, but I knew it was going to happen. I was dreading stepping away from him, but then he let go of me and reached behind him and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around me.

  "Thanks." I gripped the towel and stepped away from him, wrapping it around the front.

  It was then I noticed that his white t-shirt and jeans were wet. I basically left a water mark on him.

  "Oh my God, I'm so sorry," I muttered while pulling away my wet hair from the side of my face.

  "You're sorry! Shit. I'm the one who walked in on you." Marc looked mortified about it. "Wasn't expecting you to be in here."

  "Why are you in Oliver's bathroom?" I had to ask.

  "I needed to piss and his room was the closest." Marc's eyes ran down me and then focused on the forehead. "Sorry about the head."

  My hand went automatically to my forehead.

  "You weren't the naked fool slipping over." I groaned at my own bad luck. Again, why me?

  "I didn't think anyone would be in here." Marc scratched the back of his neck, still looking embarrassed.

  Again, this was my own fault. Chase had locked the door and I had unlocked it, thinking he was being overbearing. I should have just left it locked.

  "Yeah, kind of crashing in here." I gripped the towel tighter around me. "And now I'll leave you to go to the toilet." I went to walk around him.

  "Not so fast." He gripped my arm and pulled me back, reaching for a face washer off the basin. He rinsed it under the water, and then brought the wet face washer to my head.

  "You don't have to…"

  "I caused it so I do have to." He cut me off while pressing the face washer firmly to my forehead. "I don't think you will need stitches." He pulled the face washer away and had another look and then his eyes settled on mine. They were soft and painted with a sorry.

  "Thanks." I found words and took a steady breath in.

  It was now I took in just how large and strong Marc was. He wasn't as tall as Chase, but he was similarly built. He had bolstered me up like I weighed nothing and was still lightly holding me in place.

  A smirk spread across his face, and I couldn't think of one reason that would make him smirk right now.

  "You know if this wasn't so awkward, it would be funny," Marc said lightly and dropped the face washer in the basin.

  "I'm sure one day I'll see the funny side, maybe when I'm not naked."

  "Yeah, I'll go." Marc turned and walked out of the bathroom, and I followed him into the bedroom.

  "Thanks Marc." I was still holding the towel around me.

  "You should keep this locked." Marc opened the door and gave me a smirk. "By the way, you have one hot body." He winked then closed the door.

  My cheeks went bright red, and I stood there in the bedroom, mortified.

  Chase's Point of View

  I was hung over. I think everyone was hungover from yesterday, although they were hungover from celebrating the football win, I was hungover because of a woman.

  We were sitting at the table, trying to stomach breakfast, when Marc entered the room. He had a stupid grin on his face.

  "What has you in a good mood?" Declan asked as Marc took a seat.

  "Nothing." Marc smirked then looked at me. "Nothing at all."

  "Why you wet?" Dan looked at him oddly and I had to admit I was too hungover to care.

  "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you." Marc reached over to my plate and took my bacon. "Hungover, Chase?"

  "Shut it," I snapped. His voice went up another level just to annoy me.

  "What, don't want to admit you've had too many?" Marc had a big smirk on his face.

  "I told you to shut up." I pointed a finger at him.

  "Wonder if Chloe is coming down for breakfast," Dan said to the table.

  She would be avoiding me, so I wasn't counting on seeing her this morning.

  "I doubt that," Marc coughed.

  "What do you mean?" I looked at him. Something had happened.

  Marc nervously just shook his head. "Nothing."

  "Nah, something is up." Archie looked between us. "What is it?"

  I was just as interested as everyone else. Archie was right, something was up. Marc looked down at the table.

  "I said nothing, now drop it." Marc looked over my shoulder. "Have you spoken to Bones yet?" He smoothly changed the subject.

  Chapter 26

  Chloe's Point of View

  Maybe if I made a beeline for the exit, no one would notice me. At least that was what I was hoping for until I rounded the corner and saw the McKenzies outside.

  Great. I couldn't get past them.

  "Morning, Chloe." Archie was the first to notice me and wasn't the last. Chase spun around, his eyes slightly widening as he spotted me.

  What I wasn't wearing anything special, just shorts and a tank top. It was hot out.

  "Morning, Archie."

  One look from Chase and I knew, he wasn't finished about last night. Great. Something to look forward to.

  "I'm heading to the hospital." I was going to make a run for it. I was positive I could get a taxi but if not, I'd walk.

  "What, are you going to walk?" Dan took a sip from his beer. "Bit hot for that, Chloe."

  "I'll take her."

  Marc had a cigarette in his mouth and a look in his eye I couldn't pinpoint. He was still wearing the white t-shirt and jeans from this morning. I thought he would have changed after I got him wet.

  "I have to go to the hotel to book a room for mom, Sammie and Jess anyway." Marc dropped the cigarette and stomped on it. "Come on, we'll take my bike."

  Chase was glaring at Marc. Did he know about this morning? If he did, I doubted he would be letting Marc and I go anywhere. Nope. He mustn't know, or ever find out. He was already jealous about Oliver and I, and we were only friends. If he found out Marc not only saw me naked but touched me, he would have a fit.

  I dodged Chase's eyes and followed in Marc’s shadow as we weaved in and out of bikes. The bikes were huge and all different colors.

  "How's the head?" Marc looked over his shoulder at me.

  We were out of earshot of the boys now, so he must have felt safe to talk.

  "Um yeah, better." I blushed. I don't think there will be a time where I don't blush when I think of this morning.

  We stopped at a deep red bike and he handed me a helmet. "You know I'm sorry about that, right?"

  "Wasn't your fault. I shouldn't have been in Oliver's room." I clipped the helmet on.

  A sm
irk spread across his lips. "Well, I am sorry and I'm not at the same time if you know what I mean."

  "Can I tell you something?"

  "After this morning, I doubt there is anything that would surprise me." Marc straddled the bike and put a hand out for me to take.

  "You're the first man to ever see me naked." I looked at him with a smile. "Like ever."

  "You're joking." He looked at me, stunned. His confident expression just dropped from his face. He looked at me as if I was lying.

  I shook my head. "Nope." Was I admitting this out loud? Yep, I was a virgin and now one other person on the planet knew it.

  "But you and Chase." He shook his head like it wasn't possible. "Chase is known for bedding women before getting to know them and he has taken more time than usual to get to know you."

  "Like I said. You're the first." I gripped his shoulder and climbed onto the bike.

  "Chase would murder me if he knew." Marc smirked and then looked over his shoulder at me. "Does he know that you're, you know, a virgin?"

  "I don't think so." I threaded my arms around Marc and held on. "Can you not tell him?"

  He laughed and nodded his head. "Yeah, sure." He kicked the bike to life. "Make sure you hold on."

  "I will." I gripped him a bit tighter and then we took off.

  Marc's Point of View

  Chase had a reputation. Out of all us boys, he had the worst reputation when it came to women. He would bed one and then have another in his bed the following night but since he met Chloe, he hadn't slept with anyone that I knew of.

  But we had all counted on him sleeping with Chloe; that he must not be chasing other women because he had one in his bed.

  Until Chloe told me she was a virgin. I believed the same as the rest - that Chloe filled his bed so he was happy at the moment - but now I know the truth.

  He hadn't really made a claim on her. She wasn't sleeping in his room anymore and since I felt her naked body against mine, it was the only thing I could think about. She was perfect, and I was finally seeing what Chase had seen.

  Although I had got a lot further with her than he had.

  The fact she was pressed against me right now wasn't helping, clinging to me as I rode up to the entrance of the hospital.

  I came to a stop, killing the engine.

  "Need me to walk you in?" I held the bike up as she climbed off.

  She wasn't wearing much today and it was showing off her figure. Now I knew what it felt like to have her pressed against me, it was killing me not feeling it right now, or not being able to reach for her and pull her in.

  It was a pure lust connection, and I was going to have to have a conversation with Chase about it.

  "No, I'll be fine." She gave me a smile. "Thanks for the ride."

  "You'll need a lift back. Do you have my number?"

  She chewed on her juicy bottom lip and shook her head.

  "Phone." I put my hand out.

  She pulled it from her shorts pocket and handed it to me.

  I noticed she had three contacts. Chase, Max and Oliver. Not even Sammie and Jess’s numbers were in it. I typed in my number and handed it back to her.

  "Call me when you're done."

  "I might be here a while."

  "I have no plans." I gave her grin while having that mental image of her in the bathroom stuck in my head. "Tell Oliver I said hi."

  "Sure." She gave me a wave, turned and walked into the hospital. Was I checking her out as she walked away? Yes. I wouldn't deny it.

  The woman was good-looking and downright fucking perfect. Chase needed to lay claim, otherwise I was going to.

  I kicked the bike back to life and headed for the hotel.

  ***

  I had booked the hotel for mom and the girls. The receptionist took one look at me and the price went up. I wasn't surprised. In fact, I was used to it.

  I was walking back into the clubhouse when I spotted Chase on one of the picnic tables smoking a cigar, a bottle of water next to him. Someone was still hungover.

  Now was the perfect chance to bring up Chloe. If he had a claim, I'd back off. If he didn't, well then I'd make a move.

  "Chase."

  "Marc." Chase took a gulp of water. "You book the hotel alright?"

  "Yeah, it's all set for them when they arrive later today."

  "Good."

  This was usually where our conversation would end, but I sat down across from him and immediately he gave me a look.

  “Okay, what do you want?" Chase said, blowing out a mouthful of smoke.

  Us McKenzie brothers only had to give each other a look to know if we needed to talk. Chase only had to take one look at my face and he knew something was up.

  "I wanna talk about Chloe." I reached into my vest and pulled out a packet of smokes.

  "What about her? She get to the hospital alright?"

  "Yeah, she did."

  "Then what?"

  "You laying claim on her?"

  Chase started choking on his cigar. "Why do you wanna know?"

  I lit up a cigarette. "Let's just say I'm interested and I've noticed you aren't exactly bedding other women."

  Chase's eyes narrowed at me, and I could tell by the vein in his neck bulging that he was pissed.

  "What, you been watching me?"

  "Come on. We all thought you were sleeping with her." And I shook my head, cutting him off before he could lie. "And don't say you are, because she just told me she is a virgin." Did I just break my promise to Chloe? Yes, but I had to.

  "Why the hell would she tell you that?" Chase was picking my words apart. He wanted to know the reasons behind it.

  He had feelings for her. I wanted to test how strong those feelings were. I leaned in closer to him, lowering my voice.

  "Let's just say something brought us together."

  "What something?" Chase butted the cigar out and reached for my pack of smokes. "Cause I can't think of one thing you two have in common." His eyes were on fire as he stared across the table at me.

  "I walked in on her naked."

  "YOU DID WHAT!"

  "Calm down. Wasn't like I knew she would be naked in the bathroom. Oliver's bathroom, might I add. Seems whatever you two had is over. So you laying claim or not?"

  "Did you touch her?" He was so focused on fighting with me over it he didn't even care that the cigarette was burning in his hand.

  "Yeah, she slipped, so I helped her up." Should I rub salt in the wound? Yeah, why not. "Felt pretty darn good to have her naked and pressed against me."

  I was waiting for a fist to come flying at me. Instead, he sat there deadly still. Most likely thinking of ways he could hurt me.

  I put the cigarette in my mouth and grinned at him. "So you laying claim or not?"

  His body was screaming yes. His eyes were narrowed and I could tell, because I knew him so well. He was wanting to throw a punch my way.

  "She's all yours," he gritted out and got up. "HAVE HER. SEE IF I CARE!" he yelled over his shoulder as he stormed off to the clubhouse.

  I sat back and sucked on my cigarette. He was laying claim. I'd back off, but I'd have some fun while doing it.

  Chloe's Point of View

  It was late. Marc had warned me that there was a party going on, so I wasn't surprised that every biker was out in the bar, drinking, playing pool and playing poker.

  I was expecting to have a conversation with Chase about our fight last night. I was half expecting him to be the one picking me up, but he hadn't.

  Even though I had sworn him off, my heart was still throbbing to be with him. I was walking through the bar, weaving in and out, not really looking for him, when I had to do a double take.

  What. The. Heck.

  Chase had a girl pinned against a wall. His mouth was all over hers and her skirt was up around her waist, her legs wrapped around him.

  My mouth was hanging open. Was this really happening
?

  After he had gone out of his way to be kind to me, he was now making out with another chick basically my age and really, it should be classed as having sex because there wasn't much difference between what they were doing and what sex was.

  I turned around, frustrated and furious. I reminded myself why I had sworn him off. He would take my heart and break in into tiny pieces which was what was basically happening now. I knew I had let him get too close.

  I wiped an angry tear away and headed up the stairs.

  Maybe he was drunk and didn't know what he was doing?

  Was I clinging to strings?"

  Yes.

  Because I couldn't honestly accept that the Chase I knew would do that to me. He knew I didn't trust men for this reason. Yet, here he was doing it.

  Half of me was screaming screw him. The other half was wanting to go back down there and rip them apart.

  So what did I do?

  I went to our bedroom.

  Chase's bedroom. All my stuff was still in there and, after this morning in Oliver's room, I didn't really feel safe being on my own.

  I wondered if he would deny it.

  It felt like he was cheating on me, but then we weren't a couple and he had never made any promises to me.

  My hand was on the door handle. Why would he do this to me? I couldn't think of one reason why he would hurt me like this. It was like he took a knife and stabbed me in my chest and then stood there and watched me bleed out.

  I wiped more angry tears away. I shouldn't have let him get close.

  ***

  I was lying in the bed, trying to sleep, while my mind ran wild with images of Chase and that girl.

  Just as I was going to reach for my phone to message Oliver to have someone to talk to, the door burst open.

  I shielded my eyes when the light was flicked on.

  Chase was walking backwards into the room, carrying the girl from earlier. They were still madly kissing each other when her eyes opened up and she spotted me.

  "Chase, someone is in your bed." Her words were like a whip across my face.

  Chase turned around, still carrying her. His eyes zoned in on mine and all I could read was anger. He wasn't drunk, he was deadly sober.