by Weil, J. L.
I might not be all that comfortable with her dating Devin, but he seemed to make her happy. I guess I needed to learn to come to terms with her having a boyfriend, but right now it was kind of hard. Chase was seated beside me, distracting me with his little touches. They looked innocent enough to everyone else, but to me they were unnerving. Numerous times when I was sure no one was looking, I swatted his hand or scowled in his general direction.
Toward the end of dinner, he caught my hand in his under the table. We were squished into our dining room table, putting us leg-to-leg. He laid my hand on his thigh, tracing lines on my fingers, and sending tendrils of tingles to each of my nerves. I wanted to close my eyes, and lay my head on his shoulder. He twisted my stomach into a ball of need.
The scraping of chairs against the hardwood floors knocked me back into the present. Chase dropped his eyes, hiding the flecks of yellow that had started to spark in his eyes. Devin volunteered to help my mom with the dishes and followed her into the kitchen, leaving just Travis, Lexi, Chase, and I.
Travis took one look across the table before announcing, “I’m out of here before the two of you starting going at it on the table.”
Lexi pushed her chair, grinning. “Me too. See you tomorrow Angel.”
I was left opened-mouthed and alone with Chase and his wandering, skillful hands.
The corners of his mouth lifted. “I’m ready for my payment,” his whispered in my ear.
“I just bet you are.” I shivered. Swallowing, I was afraid to ask, yet intrigued. “What did you have in mind?” I turned in my seat so our legs were intermixed and one of my knees was in-between his legs.
The way he was looking at me, I thought for sure it was going to be something wicked and downright scandalous. “Just a kiss…for now.” His hands gripped either side of my waist, cutting off any plans of escape, not that the thought had entered my mind.
Staring at his lips, I pondered the idea. Did I or didn’t I? The longer I thought on it, the wider his smile grew. “Just one,” I murmured, as I was closing the distance between our lips.
“One is never enough with me,” he said right before his mouth touched mine.
Holy sweet pitchforks.
I swear you had to be part of hell to kiss that mind-blowingly hot. Nothing this tempting, this soul-shattering could be a hundred percent good. It wasn’t even a long kiss, but it didn’t matter. I felt it all the way to the very tips of my toes.
Afterwards, I bit my lip. It was all I could do to keep from going in for seconds. He had warned me. Once was never enough. God I hated when he was right. It was such a deplorable quality.
~*~*~*~
Monday was blah…
But tomorrow was Tuesday. The day I had been anticipating for months – the release of Black Ops II. As any true gamer would know, there was a midnight release. Guess who was going to be first in line? Well probably not, since I had to drag Chase with me. He was picking up Travis’s copy for him. What a guy. I am sure there were ulterior motives, for example, keeping an eye on me.
Whatever.
Nothing was going to spoil this night. Not even douchebag’s negative attitude toward video games.
My mom was at work, as I anxiously awaited Chase. I pulled a Love Pink hoodie over my tee and stuffed my earbuds in the pocket. It was going to be a long, chilly night, and I was going to need something to keep my mind off Chase.
I was pacing the family room in circular patterns, when I heard the crunching of tires on my driveway.
Finally.
Chapter 5
“I can’t believe we are really doing this,” Chase complained as he drove us into the city.
His luxury car hugged the road effortlessly. It was like we were gliding over the pavement, but even with the smooth ride, I was antsy. I just couldn’t seem to sit still and get comfortable. “I can’t believe you are here instead of Travis,” I countered.
The plan had been that Travis and I would go together. I was still a little miffed that he had bailed on me and sent this lug in his place, but I wasn’t going to let it overshadow my exhilaration. I wasn’t sure anything could – not even hell and all its croonies.
Chase stole a glance at me as I uncrossed my legs. Again. “God, you are a bouncing ball of energy tonight. How much coffee did you drink?”
I tucked my dark hair behind my ear and out of the way. “Umm, I don’t know, like six cups with extra shots of espresso. Is there a Starbucks around here?”
The headlights from a passing car glinted off Chase’s eyes. “Are you trying to overdose on caffeine? It would really piss me off if you died after I just saved your butt.” His hand tightened on the wheel, as if the thought angered him.
“Funny. I’m pulling an all-nighter,” I said, to explain the caffeine overkill.
“Why?” he asked, genuinely mystified. “We have school tomorrow,” he added.
“Do you really need to ask? Two words, Chase. Black. Ops.” I always got a weird tingle when I said his name. “Besides, I’m ditching school tomorrow. It’s like a holiday.”
“Let me guess, that was Travis’s idea?”
“No. Maybe. Does it matter? It’s a brilliant idea.”
His brows drew together. Clearly he didn’t think so. We arrived to the game store shortly after, which gave him a whole new onset of things to complain about. This was totally out of Chase’s element, and he hated it. I tried not to let the fact that he came anyway with me, seep into my heart. He made it a little easier by being a complainer.
“Is this really worth waiting in line at midnight for?” Chase asked, falling in line behind me, staring at the long line of about a trillion people in front of us. I might have been exaggerating considering this was the boondocks, but apparently even in the backwoods people play video games.
I didn’t even bat an eye. That question wasn’t even worth answering. “Um yes.”
“There is something wrong with the two of you. With all of these people.” He indicted to the line of fellow gamers (mostly guys I might add) standing in front and behind us.
My geekdom skyrocketed in his eyes. He just didn’t understand. This was like the holy grail of games. This was Black Ops II. Enough said.
I don’t know how long we were standing there before I got a creepy prickle on my neck. The kind that makes all the little hairs stand straight up. It could have been five minutes or an hour. With Chase next to me, I lost all track of time. He was razzing me once again about being here when I felt the first inklings of trouble.
Instinctually Ii huddled closer to him in line, staring out into the dark parking lot. The moon was just a small sliver tonight, illuminating barely any glow. It made the night that much darker and scarier. Chatter of excitement traveled down the shopping center sidewalk, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was out there. Spying. Waiting. For me.
Either fatigue was starting to set in, or this was me being a complete paranoid schitzo. Or maybe I was having a caffeine crash. Right about now, I was wishing for a steamy cup of coffee. Snuggling deeper into my hoodie, I shivered. The temperature had dropped tremendously. Chase came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me, engulfing me with his warmth. If my teeth hadn’t been chattering, I might have protested, but truthful his body offered a blissful heat. He was like a furnace.
“Thanks,” I muttered, leaning the back of my head against his chest. I felt him stiffen, and I knew that eerie feeling was more than just my being paranoid. “Something is watching us,” I said softly, burrowing myself deeper in his arms.
They tightened around me. “Or someone,” he proclaimed, his eyes scanning farther than my human, well mostly human eyes could see.
I was almost afraid to ask what he saw. “You think it’s a hunter?”
“That or you have a secret admirer.” The heat from his breath tickled my neck.
I jabbed him in the gut, unsuccessfully causing him pain. “I’m serious. You’re so impossible sometimes,” I proclaimed exasperated
. Turning in his arms, I looked up at him just as he shook his messy dark hair.
“It’s almost midnight Angel Eyes. This, is my time to shine.”
Only Chase could pull off the whole I-just-got-out-of-bed look and still appear stunning. I hated him. Or so I keep telling myself. “Oh great. That makes me feel loads better. Not only is there someone stalking us, but also you could possibly go on a demon rampage.”
His eyes bore into mine. “I’m fine. Don’t get yourself in a tizzy.” The look on his face was starting to make me self-conscious. I felt like I was an experiment on display that he was studying.
“What? Why are you staring at me like that? Is there something on my face?” I whipped the back of my sleeve across my mouth.
His eyes held mine for a moment longer, and then shook his head. “Nothing. I think whatever is out there has me on edge.”
“You don’t think they’ll try anything, do you?” I couldn’t imagine an ambush with all these people about, but what did I know.
“I doubt it. They wouldn’t risk hurting anyone.” He wasn’t exactly overly convincing.
Luckily, the line started to move. It was finally midnight. I lost all thoughts of hunters as the excitement for Black Ops II, almost at my fingertips, bubbled inside me.
By the time we made it to the register, Chase was clutching his jaw in impatience and annoyance, while I was close to squealing like a little kid on Christmas morning. The people around us gave us a wide berth, wary of Chase, but I was sort of getting used to being secluded.
We approached the counter, and I gave the guy behind it our receipts. Ethan, his shirt had stitched in the right corner, smiled brightly at me. “Wow, we don’t get many girls during a release. Is this for your boyfriend?” he asked.
How cliché. What I really wanted to say was, cut the chitchat and give me the game newb. But instead I said, “No, it’s for me.”
Ethan grinned. “Impressive.”
“You should see my KD ratio,” I bragged.
“We should play together sometime.” He scribbled something on the back of my receipt before handing it back to me.
It was his gamertag. Really? Was I seriously getting hit on by the guy at the video game store? I shoved the little slip of paper in the back of my pocket. “Sure,” I replied, being friendly.
Chase scowled beside me, drawing Ethan’s eyes to him.
“I take it your boyfriend doesn’t play,” Ethan commented at the menacing figure hovering over me.
“He is not my boyfriend,” I declared smartly.
“Yes, I am,” Chase countered, giving him a demon glare. Poor Ethan cowered, fumbling my two copies of the games in his hand. “Let’s go,” Chase growled. Someone was definitely on edge.
I snatched the games from the counter and sent Ethan an apologetic smile. The second we were out of the store I gave into the urge and did a happy dance, right there on the sidewalk.
Chase was staring at me with a lopsided grin. “I think that is the biggest smile I have ever seen on your face.”
I hugged the games to my chest. “I just died and went to heaven. Hurry, we need to get home. Now!”
“No arguments there.” His eyes did a sweep of the parking lot perimeter.
“Are they still out there?” I asked, remembering we weren’t alone.
He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. They won’t be able to catch me,” he said smugly with a devilish grin. His over-confidence was staggering. Someday, he was going to meet his match.
Walking me to the car, he opened the passenger side door. “Hang on,” he said before I had a chance to get in. I turned around and looked up at him with a quizzical glare. This was not the time to stall. Before I even had a chance to figure out what he was plotting, his hand snaked into my back pocket like a thief and grabbed the receipt. “I don’t think you’ll be needing this,” he said right before he tossed the little slip of white paper in the wind.
I watched as it skipped along the blacktop. “Mature,” I replied.
He just grinned and got into the car. “Are you and Travis really staying up all night playing that ridiculous game?” he asked as the car hummed to life. The engine was so quiet, you could barely hear it.
I snapped my seatbelt buckle into place. “I’m going to let that slide because right now, not even you can bring down my fantastic mood. And to answer your question, yes, absolutely. We’ve been planning this for weeks.” I had the game still clutched in my hand as I hoped for an uneventful drive home. I wasn’t deceiving myself into thinking whoever had been watching us was gone. In this world Chase and his family lived in, that theory wasn’t plausible. I just prayed we got home.
My prayer was answered when Chase’s sleek car pulled into my driveway. The porch light I’d left on still shined, casting shadows over the lawn. I exhaled a sigh of relief. There was just something in the cool night’s air that had a spooky ambiance. I was more than ready to get inside to the safety of my house. Kind of ironic since half the time I was convinced my house was haunted.
He walked me inside. “Do you want me to stay? I could find ways to distract you.” His voice went low and did all kinds of funny things to my stomach.
“There is no way you could distract me tonight.”
His silver eyes lit with a challenge.
Oh shit. What have I done?
He stepped forward bumping our bodies. “I promise you Angel Eyes, that game wouldn’t stand a chance against what I could do to you.” A flicker of topaz sparked inside his smoky eyes.
I gulped, knowing that deep down he was right, and that pissed me off. “I’ll take a rain check.”
He trailed a finger over my bottom lip, and it quivered on contact. “If you change your mind, you know where to find me.” His tone left no room for doubt.
I opened the door quickly before I changed my mind. The longer I just stood here, the more certain I was becoming that I didn’t want him to leave. All the more reason he should. “Don’t hold your breath,” I mumbled, and shut the door before he had the chance to suck me in with those unusual eyes and his sultry voice.
I leaned against the door and just breathed. Then I heard his laugh, so I pushed off the door steaming mad. I hated that I’d let him get to me. Worse, that he knew he could. It was like he had some kind of power over me – over my body.
Stomping up the stairs, I flung myself on the bed and immediately tore open the game. I swear a ray of light beamed down and angels started to sing. It was that holy.
I wasted no time inserting the new disc into my Xbox. Time ceased to exist while I played. I had no idea how long I was absorbed or what time I closed my eyes. The last thing I remembered was the sweet sound of gunfire blasting in my surround sound headset.
I must have fallen asleep mid-match, with my turtlebeach headset still on, and the remote clutched in my grasp. Waking up to the theme of Black Ops II in my ears, was a great start to the day. I propped up on a mountain of pillows, thinking a few hours of sleep was just enough. The game was calling me.
From the corner of my eye I spotted something glowing, hidden in the shadows. By the time my brain processed that it was a guy, I started screaming. As the first piercing note hit the air, a hand closed around my mouth, silencing me. Looking up into eyes the color of liquid fire, I swallowed back the rest of my scream, and my stomach fell back into place.
Chase.
Slouching into his body, I smacked him on the chest. “What the hell? You scared me to death. Why the hell are you creeping in my room like some peeping tom watching me sleep?” Now I could feel the mark at my hip prickling, a moment ago I’d been too frightened to feel anything.
He snorted. “Don’t flatter yourself.”
“So you weren’t watching me sleep?”
“And if I was?”
“I don’t know. It’s weird.”
His eyes flirted over me. “It’s hot, and you are totally turned on by it. Admit it.”
I rolled my eyes and tried to ignore that
I was alone in my room with him.
His hand ruffled my hair, reminding me that I’d just woken up. “You are such a she-devil in the morning. Hmm, I like it.”
Good Lord. “You would. Don’t you have someone else to torment?” I tried to hide my morning breath, but there was nothing I could do about the bedhead.
“You are always at the top of my list,” he said, eyes sparking.
I attempted a bored expression. “Is there a point to this conversation because you are costing me valuable game time?”
“You and Travis need to get a life. I don’t think he has moved an inch off the couch since I brought him the game last night.”
The corners of my mouth tilted. “I know. We must have played most of the night together. It was glorious.”
“Sometimes I think he should be the one stuck with you for all eternity,” he grumbled cutely.
A faint smile crossed my lips. “What fun would that be for you?” I teased.
He looked at me in my leggings and tank like he was undressing me with those silvery eyes. “True. I am much more fun than he is.”
I pretended to gag.
He pretended not to notice. “Come one. It’s breakfast time.”
“Wait, I–” The air swooshed out of my lungs as Chase hoisted me over his shoulders. I hadn’t seen that one coming. “Chase put me down!” I demanded.
Of course he ignored me. “I promised Lexi I would invite you over for breakfast. So, this is me inviting you. It is because of you and that damn game that she skipped school as well. She was afraid she would miss out on all the fun.”
That didn’t explain why he wasn’t at school. I squirmed in his arms to no avail, and my efforts only got me a slap on the butt. “Chase!” I growled. “Try that again and I swear…”
Chapter 6
I was still slung over his shoulder when we entered the Winters’ house, but I wasn’t making it easy for him. He dumped me on the couch beside Travis, who was sporting a silly grin. I pushed the hair out of my eyes and mouth. By this point, I was spitting mad. Not only had he yanked me from my bed, he had also deprived me of my Xbox.
