I know she’s drunk, but her words hurt. Tears well up in my eyes and I work hard to blink them away. I grind my teeth the rest of the way to the fire, shaking Lisa off my arm as soon as we stop. She goes over to Rob, throwing her arms around his shoulders.
“Sierra,” Chase says, smiling disappearing. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I lie the same moment a renegade tear falls from my eye.
“I don’t believe you,” he whispers, wiping my tear away. “Did something happen?”
I shake my head. “Just my drunk best friend saying stupid shit.” Chase steps in, wrapping one arm around me. I rest my head against his chest and gather my composure. Chase cups my face, gently moving my chin up so he can kiss me. The guilt intensifies for a brief second before vanishing completely. Chase kisses me harder, tongue slipping past my lips. He slides his hand back into my hair, closing his fingers into a fist. If I weren’t holding my wine, I’d throw my arms around Chase and completely surrender to him.
“Better?” he asks, breaking away.
“Yes.” I take a few big gulps of my wine, mostly because I want to finish it and not carry a cup around all night. It takes me a while to feel like myself again, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t squish the ball of fear that starts to form every time I run into an old friend. Are they thinking the same thing Lisa is?
“Those are the girls you went out with the first night I saw you, right?” Chase asks, watching Katie, Bella, and Heather draw near.
“Yeah, they are. I’m surprised you remember.”
“I’m good with remembering faces.”
“I’m not. At all.”
Katie catches my eye and waves. “Sierra! Oh my God, it’s good to see you again!”
She hugs me and then looks at Chase, doing a terrible job hiding her smile. There’s no need to introduce Chase to them. They know who he is and that we’ve been spending time together. Not because I told them, but because this town talks. I go through a formal introduction regardless, for Chase’s sake. We talk to my old friends for a while then refill our drinks and go back by the fire. It’s already hot out, but the smoke keeps the mosquitos away.
“I feel like I’m in a country music video,” Chase quips as we sit on a hay bale.
I laugh. “Nah, all the girls would be wearing cowboy boots and cut-off jeans if we were. And we’d be sitting on a tailgate.”
“We’re missing drunken fights and someone passing out in the barn, too.”
“I’m sure one of those two will happen tonight.”
“I think you just jinxed it.” Chase sits up straighter, looking over the fire. “Looks like a fight’s about to break out.”
We stand and see three guys, fists clenched, staring down another guy. The leader of the offensive pack is Justin, a guy I’ve known since childhood. Behind the guys, who are exchanging heated words, is Francine, who’s the world’s fakest friend. Her arms are crossed and lips pursed, watching the men shout. Justin lurches forward, shoving the other guy in the chest. He stumbles back but takes a swing, fist colliding with Justin’s temple. Justin’s friends jump in on the guy, and another joins in on the fight, going against Justin and his crew.
“I’ll get Rob,” I say but Chase shakes his head.
“I got this.” He strides over and shouts, “Hey!” The brawl comes to a temporary halt and all five guys look at Chase. “What the fuck are you doing?” Chase goes on.
“He touched my girl,” Justin sneers, pointing to the guy he shoved, that I recognize now as Daniel, who moved to Summer Hill not that long ago and has never quite fit in.
“Take it somewhere else.” Chase goes right up to them.
“Stay out of it, fucking Yankee,” Justin snarls and I shake my head. Way to further the southern stereotype. I turn, hoping to find Rob. He’s a cop in this town, after all. People listen to him. In that split second that I turn away, all hell breaks loose. I look back just in time to see Justin taking a swing at Chase.
Horrified, I stand rooted to the spot, watching everything unfold. Chase ducks out of the way, catches Justin’s fist and twists his arm before popping him quickly in the face. Justin goes down and one of his friends moves in at the same time the other jumps on Chase from behind.
Chase flips him over with ease and takes out the other friend in two seconds flat. Daniel and his friend stand there, arms out to their sides, looking at Chase and not knowing if they should fight him or not. Justin scrambles to his feet and pulls out a pocket knife. He flips open the blade and charges at Chase. My eyes widen in horror and my mouth falls open, but no words come out.
Chase turns, grabs Justin’s wrist and has him disarmed in the blink of an eye. He twists Justin’s arm behind his back, apprehending him until Rob and one of his police officer friends run over. There’s a gleam in Chase’s eyes, and I can’t deny that he looks almost disappointed the fight is not only over but was easy. For him at least.
“What the fuck?” Rob exclaims, seeing the knife on the ground.
“That guy’s fucking psycho!” Justin yells, pulling away from Chase and mopping blood from his bleeding nose with the back of his hand. “He just attacked us!”
“Give it a break,” Rob says. “We saw the whole thing. You charged at him with a knife. That’s assault, Justin. If he presses charges against you, I’m hauling your ass to the county jail.”
Chase holds up his hands. “I’m not pressing charges. Just don’t be a dumbass anymore.”
Justin spits blood onto the ground and glares at Chase. Francine stares daggers at me from across the yard, and now I know why she was standing there so smugly, watching the fight take place. It was about her.
“Why didn’t you tell me your boyfriend is Jason Bourne?” Lisa asks, coming up behind me, unable to look away from the guys.
I’m just as shocked as she is. “He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Close enough. I wanna learn how to do that,” she goes on. “That was badass. God, it’s not fair you get to go home with him tonight.”
“Yeah…it’s not.”
“Why don’t you have a drink in your hand?” Lisa asks, just now realizing it. “We gotta fix this.”
Fights happen at these types of parties all the time. It’s a running joke that there’s nothing else to do but beat each other up. The spats are broken up, no one is seriously hurt, and we go on with the night. I can’t get over the look in Chase’s eye, the way he enjoyed fighting.
“Right.”
“What do you want?”
“Surprise me.”
“I will!” Lisa skips off to the cooler in the threshold of the barn. The guys disperse and Chase comes back to me.
“Are you okay?” I ask him.
“I’m fine. That guy’s an idiot.”
“He’s always been one. You handled that well.”
Chase gives me his signature shrug. “I taught a self-defense class in college.”
“Really?” I tip my head. It’s the first time he’s mentioned that he even went to college.
“Yeah. And I’ve been into martial arts since I was a kid. It was one of the few things my dad did for me. If you can call it that. He sent money for classes. He thought it would make me disciplined. He wasn’t there to do shit, so he hoped someone else could.”
“Did it work?”
Chase gives me a devilish smirk. “No.” His hands land on my ass and he pulls me in. “I lack self-control. Especially when it comes to you.”
I bite my lip, grinning right back. “You’re a bad influence.”
With a swift movement, he picks me up and kisses me. “The worst.”
“Get a room,” Lisa calls, making her way back with two hard lemonades. “Or at least go in the barn.”
“I’m kinda ready to go home,” I admit.
“So you two can fuck?” Lisa blurts, handing me my drink.
“That is part of why.” I make a face. “You know I’m not much of a party person.”
“You’re so lame,
Si. But fine. Go home and have fun with that piece of man-meat.”
“I’m standing right here,” Chase says dryly.
Lisa looks him up and down and then winks. “I know.”
We laugh and I take Lisa’s hand, guiding her across the yard to Rob before Chase and I leave.
“Where do you want to go?” Chase asks, opening the car door for me. “Home or the apartment?”
“We can go to your house.” I get in, taking note that Chase never refers to his house as ‘home’. He said he’s never been anywhere long enough for it to feel that way. “It’s closer.”
The bar is still packed when we pull up, and we sneak around back and up the stairs before anyone can see us.
“I forgot about that,” I say when we step through the door. “How do you sleep with all the noise?”
“I don’t. Not well at least until the bar closes. But I’m a night person anyway, so I’m up until two or three most nights.”
“I could be the same, but I have to get up for work.”
“Why do you work at The Book Bag?” He takes off his shoes and goes to the couch. I set my purse down and unbuckle my sandals, and join him.
“I have to have a job.”
“I know, but you said you own part of the farm. Maybe it’s presumptuous to assume you’d make more money doing that than working at a small bookstore.”
“I would, but I like The Book Bag. And the biggest thing is not wanting a handout from my parents. I already don’t fit in the best and the last thing I want is them holding the fact that they gave me money or a job over my head. I want to be successful in life because I earned it. Not because someone gave it to me.”
Chase looks at me for a minute, admirably. “And that’s exactly why you’d be a terrible farmer’s wife.”
“I’d be the worst.”
“Always telling him what to do and not taking your rightful place in the kitchen. And I just know you’d have an opinion you’d want to share.”
“The nerve of me, right?”
“It’s borderline disgraceful.”
We both laugh and Chase takes me in his arms. My head rests against his chest and I close my eyes, just breathing it all in. Noise from the bar thumps on below us, yet it’s still peaceful sitting here with Chase. I start to doze off until a loud cheer from the patrons below startles me.
“It’s quieter in the bedroom,” Chase says, then gives me a smirk. “Though if I’m talking about us, it’s far from quiet.”
“You wanna give them a run for their money?” I ask, biting my lip.
Chase scoops me up and carries me into the bedroom. “Hell, yes.”
18
Chase
The sound of metal rubbing on metal reverberates through the quiet room, waking me from my sleep. The sound is unfamiliar, and I immediately go on the defense, looking for whoever caused the noise. The stakes are higher this time because it’s not just me to worry about. Sierra is next to me, and if anyone lays a finger on her, I’ll kill them.
The glowing screen of my phone catches my eye, and it takes not even a second to realize the sound was a text coming through, causing the phone to vibrate up against a metal bowl full of change. Sierra didn’t stir. She did tell me she’s a sound sleeper and doesn’t wake easily once she’s passed out.
It’s my old phone, which sounds weird to say since this one is actually a newer model than the one I got from the Summer Hill electronic store. The text is from Jax, and I know I should read it. I unlock the phone and internally groan at the number of texts, missed calls, and messages.
I go to the voicemails first. There are fewer of them than texts, and Jax would call instead of text if it were actually important. It’s like I’m listening to Sierra’s messages all over again, except my mystery woman is naked in bed next to me, fast asleep and none the wiser to the shit I’m about to listen to. I press play on Jax’s first message and bring the phone to my ear.
“I got a job for us,” he starts. “Fifty-grand easy. Call me.”
The next message is from over a week later. “Where the fuck are you, Henson? I got fucking arrested and need you to bail me out. I know I flaked on you last time, but I had a good fucking reason. I’m at Stark County.”
The next message comes three days after the last. I hit play. “Fuck you, man. Fuck. You. I had to get Weston to bail me out. But really, where the hell are you? No one’s heard from you in weeks. If you’re fucking dead I’m going to kill you. Don’t you fucking force me to ask Beth what happened to you.”
I know he did because the next message is from Beth, who was more than a fuck buddy but far from my girlfriend.
“What the fucking hell, Chase?” she starts. “Jax just left and said he hasn’t seen or heard from you either. I’m worried. Really fucking worried.” Her voice is raspy and I can tell she’s sucking on a cigarette as she talks. “Last I heard you were going down south to handle some family shit. Call me, asshole.”
The last message is from Jax again, and it was left last night while Sierra and I were at the bonfire. “I’m in trouble and need a place to lay low. You know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t serious. And I’m serious. Beth said something about Mississippi. I’m headed south now to stay out of dodge. If you’re not dead, call me back, motherfucker.”
“Shit,” I mumble, bringing the phone away from my face. Jax has helped me out more than once. I can’t walk away from this.
I run my hand through my hair and open the texts. The majority are from Jax, telling me about jobs, then asking where I am. Three texts are from Beth, with the first being a photo of her new nipple piercing, the second inviting me to come over for the night, and the third asking where I am as well. The rest are from clients, seeing if I’m available for hire. The most recent text is from Jax, asking if I’m alive.
I let the phone drop onto the bed and lay back down, curling my body around Sierra’s. In her sleep, she arches her back and moves closer. The sound of the river surrounds us, and my chest tightens when I think about how bad I want this.
Sierra.
A simple life here in Summer Hill.
Together.
Living happily together for the rest of our days.
They say nice guys finish last. What the hell happens to the bad ones?
“You work tonight, right?” Sierra asks over breakfast. We’re at Suzy’s Cafe, and we’re both well aware of the stares we’re getting from the other customers. I can only assume half of them are jealous. I’m the one walking hand in hand with someone as beautiful as Sierra, after all. And the other half are probably wondering what the fuck Sierra is doing with me.
“Yeah. I’m closing down the bar.”
She makes a face, looking down at her phone. “My mom keeps pestering me to go spend the day shopping with her and Sam.”
“Go with them,” I tell her, reaching for my coffee. We’d talked about walking the deer path I’ve been running. Sierra told me she likes to hike, but gets a little freaked out to go alone, which she should. My mind goes to all the bad things that can happen and it makes my stomach hurt. “If you want to, that is.”
“I haven’t hung out with them in a while.”
“It’s nice you guys do things together.”
“Yeah, it is. My sister and I are total opposites, but we get along for the most part. Same with my mom. I’m way more free-spirited than the rest of my family, and it makes me stick out.”
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that,” I say and Sierra smiles. “This might be a dumb question, but when you say you’re going to spend the day shopping, you can’t mean you’re going to be around here, can you?”
“No. They want to drive to Eastmont, which is almost two hours away. They have good stores there.”
Our food comes, and we talk throughout breakfast. On our way out, an elderly woman comes up to Sierra, smiling as she eyes me up and down.
“Good morning,” she says with a thick southern accent. “To both of you.” She
brings her eyebrows up and smiles again.
“Good morning, Mrs. Williams. This is Chase.” Sierra turns, introducing me. “And Chase, this is Mrs. Williams. She owns The Book Bag.”
“Nice to meet you,” I say and shake her hand.
“I knew Sierra was seeing someone new. I just didn’t know he was this handsome.” Mrs. Williams winks at me and squeezes my hand. “It’s nice seeing her happy again,” she whispers to me, loud enough for Sierra to hear. “I hope to keep seeing you around.”
“I plan to be here,” I tell her, and out of the corner of my eye, I see Sierra smile. I take her hand the rest of the way to the car. We go back to my place so she can get her stuff, needing to hurry home to shower and change in time to meet her mom and sister. She’s stuffing her clothes from last night into her oversized purse when she gets a text.
“Lisa’s at work,” she tells me with a laugh. “She’s begging for coffee. I didn’t know she had to work this morning.”
“She has to feel like shit.”
“Yeah. Total shit.”
“The bank isn’t open long on Saturday, at least.”
“Right. She’s there until noon. And it’s nine-thirty now…yeah. She’s gonna need that coffee.” Sierra makes a face. “I’m already running late, but I feel bad. I’ll get her coffee. And food. I doubt she ate.”
Watching Sierra, I remember how I felt last night lying in bed next to her. How I want to start over. Make this place my home.
With her.
“I’ll take it to her,” I offer. “I need to go to the bank anyway. Tell me what to get.”
“You don’t have to do that, Chase.”
“I’m going to the bank today. It’s no big deal.”
Sierra looks at me as if it is. “Thank you. She likes black coffee. Easy.”
“That is. What to eat?”
One Call Away Page 18
