“Just one more year, Amy. We’re going to have an awesome senior year. After that, we’re out of here.”
“I hope so.”
“I know so. By the way, we still need to get together before school starts. I’ve been so busy with work, I feel like we haven’t hung out at all.”
I had the best job working at Blockbuster. Not difficult, and lots of free rentals. The only downside had been all the extra hours since one of our employees left. The manager was still trying to find a replacement. He’d been going through a stack of applications and had several interviews the previous week. I hoped he picked someone soon.
“Sounds great. Maybe Friday?” Her voice sounded slightly more cheerful.
“Miracle of miracles, I have the day off!”
We made plans for that day, including a special trip to the mall for the perfect first day of school outfits.
We were just getting into a discussion about the upcoming Lord of the Rings movie when her mother came in and told her to get off the phone.
When we hung up, I started thinking about Chase again. Orlando Bloom dressed as a hot elf was a welcome distraction, but without Amy to keep it going, my brain went back to another blond guy. It had been so incredible to talk with him.
Unfortunately, Amy had a point when she asked about whether or not I was offended. I wasn’t then, and I still wasn’t now—not really. If anything, I was embarrassed.
But maybe it was time to get mad.
I should be angry that Mr. Too-Cool-For-School didn’t know my name.
I should have enough self-respect to expect people to call me by my actual name.
Chapter Three
“Hey, John,” I said to my manager as I walked into work a couple days later.
He was an older man—thinning hair and a bulging gut—but he was the coolest manager I’d ever met.
Okay, he was the only manager I’d ever known. I’d gotten the job here when I was sixteen—thanks to my Uncle Mike. But John was seriously so chill. He was a total movie geek and could help anyone find what they were looking for.
It didn’t matter if they didn’t know what they were in the mood for, John would make sure they walked away happy. Not only that, he never shied away from work. He wasn’t the kinda boss who would order you around while he sat on his butt. When there was something to be done, he came alongside you to do it.
It made you want to work all that much harder for him.
“Nicole, I’m so glad you’re early. I wanted to talk to you for a minute before our new employee gets here.”
“You found someone!” I said with a huge grin, as I set my stuff down. No more extra shifts, just in time for school to start.
“I did. He’s a local college student who just graduated from Rosemark.”
My heart started beating a little faster at his words. No reason to freak out, Nicole. More than one guy graduated in 2003. In a town so close to UC Boulder, there was a huge possibility that several guys stayed close to home.
“Okay,” I said, nodding my head in a slightly robotic fashion.
“His name is Chase. Chase Saunders. Do you know him?”
I continued to nod my head, unable to speak.
“And I want you to help train him today.”
My head continued its bobbing, and I hoped it wouldn’t get stuck in a perpetual state of movement. It was like Newton’s First Law of Motion, and I needed a force to stop it.
“Nicole, are you okay?” John looked concerned, and just seeing his reaction was enough for me to slow down and eventually stop.
“Uh, huh,” I said, careful to keep my head freakishly still.
“I kinda thought someone from the same school might be a welcome change for you. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Uh, huh,” I repeated with a forced a smile.
John slapped a hand over his mouth, his eyes wide. “Please tell me I did not just hire an ex-boyfriend or something.”
Not only was he concerned, he actually thought I was the type of girl who had exes.
“No, John, it fine. Not an ex.”
“Bully?”
I shook my head, allowing it to move once more.
At least that wasn’t his first guess, but this was so embarrassing. How did I explain to my boss I didn’t want to work with Chase because I lied to him just a few days ago? No big deal, John, I just pretended to go to college around here because he didn’t recognize me from high school.
A line formed between his brows as I struggled to come up with a response to ease his concern. Mercifully saved by the sound of a bell ringing. It meant a new customer had just walked into the store.
John and I turned toward the front door. “Welcome to Blo–” The word died on my lips as I saw who had stepped inside. It was Chase wearing the standard blue and yellow polo uniform shirt.
He stopped when he saw me. His eyes going back and forth between John and me before he smiled. He was happy to see me, but for how long?
“Nicole. I didn’t know you were going to work here too. I was hoping to see you again.”
I’d seen him and his buddies come in on so many Saturday nights. The fact that he didn’t recognize me before only reinforced how invisible I was to guys like Chase. I cleared my throat, trying to think of something to say.
John beat me to it. “Actually, Nicole has been working here for almost two years now. She’s going to help me train you today.”
John probably thought he was doing me a favor by saying it. Establishing my authority here after seeing my reaction to Chase being hired. He couldn’t know that he’d made things even worse. The smile that touched Chase’s lips fell, and his brows crinkled together as he watched me.
“Awesome,” he said nodding his head, and I fought back the giggle that threatened to spill out as he mirrored my earlier movements.
“Nicole?” John said, pulling my attention to him.
“Yes?”
“Do you mind walking Chase through clocking in and out? And then maybe you can give him a store tour as I check some of these returns in.” His face showed that he was still concerned, and I knew if I asked to check in the movies instead, he would let me.
But I didn’t want to cower. The indignation I’d been feeling the other day was back in full force. I was going to train Chase and be one-hundred percent professional as I did so.
“Of course.”
I spent a couple of minutes showing Chase how to log in using his employee number. I tried to stress the importance of memorizing it quickly. That sucker was used for everything, and I was sure my fingers could type mine in my sleep.
Next, we started on the rest of the store. I showed him the new release wall, where most of the movies people rented came from.
I was just moving to the kids’ section when his hand found my elbow. It stopped me dead in my tracks, but my heart sped up from the contact.
“You’ve worked here for two years?”
I fought the urge to look down at the colorful carpeting that lined the floors of the store and met his eyes. “Yeah.”
“You said you were in town for school.”
“Technically, I am.” I shrugged. “I just happen to be here for high school. And have been my entire life.”
Chase frowned. “Do you go to Pinebrook?”
I slowly shook my head. “Rosemark.”
“Rosemark High?”
“No, the junior high,” I rolled my eyes. Chase didn’t laugh at my lame attempt at a joke, and I felt a knot start to form in my stomach.
“What grade are you in, Nicole?”
I took a deep breath. Better to get it out quickly, like a Band-Aid. “I’m a Senior this year.”
“So, you knew who I was when we met the other day.”
“I thought you were leaving for college.” I tipped my chin slightly, prepared for a counterattack that never came.
He flashed a dazzling smile my way. “Oh, man. And you let me look like an idiot.”
“I tho
ught you were leaving for college.”
He chuckled. To him, this was all a game, but what he didn’t realize was, it was at my expense. He literally didn’t know who I was and thought it was funny how I scrambled the other day to save face.
“I feel like such an idiot.” His voice was still good-natured.
I made a strangled sound. “You feel like an idiot? How do you think I feel? We’ve literally gone to school together for our whole lives. It shouldn’t matter that I’m one grade below you. I know you’ve dated people younger than you.” Way to sound like a stalker, Nicole. I kept going. “You didn’t even recognize me, even though we’ve had classes together. I sat behind you in Spanish, for goodness sake!”
My voice had gotten increasingly louder as I went off on Chase. I looked around quickly to see if we’d caught anyone’s attention. Thankfully, there was only one customer in the store, and he was looking at the video game section on the other end.
“So why don’t I recognize you if we’ve really been going to school together all these years?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “What do you mean, if I’ve really been going to Rosemark all these years? Why would I lie about that?”
“You lied about not knowing me.”
“Touché.” I tilted my head. “But I really go to Rosemark.”
Chase’s eyes narrowed, and his lips pressed together in a straight line, but he didn’t say anything else. I didn’t know what to say either, so I finished giving him the tour. We went through the different sections, I showed him the correct way to put movies back on the shelves and remade our way back to the front.
I continued to train him, but there was no banter, no discussion beyond work and training topics. The pit in my stomach from earlier doubled in size over the course of the evening. If this was what it was going to be like working with Chase, I’d have to ask John to schedule us on different shifts. Even if that meant giving up time with who had been the hottest guy at Rosemark and was now undoubtedly the hottest guy at UC Boulder.
I could only hope John would be able to pull through.
Chapter Four
I didn’t really have an excuse to go to downtown Marlowe Junction that morning. If anything, I should have avoided taking Meatball downtown at any cost. Murphy’s Law meant my dog would be stealing another shoe. And I didn’t want to run into Chase, did I?
I wasn’t sure.
I couldn’t stop thinking about him. He was charming and gorgeous.
I’d put a little extra effort into my appearance that morning, and unfortunately, my mom noticed as I ran down the stairs.
“Where are you going sweetie?” she asked, looking up from her newspaper. It was her Saturday morning ritual.
“Running,” I answered simply.
“Dressed like that?”
I looked down at the fitted athletic tank and short running shorts I was wearing. They were usually stuffed in the back of my drawer, and never saw the light of day. “My t-shirts and soccer shorts are all dirty.”
Her brows lifted. “And the hair?”
“I thought twin braids might help keep this curly mess from getting tangled.”
My mom’s head tilted to the side. “Fair enough. What about the lipstick?”
“It’s not lipstick, it’s lip balm.” I smacked my lips together loudly. “They were feeling a little chapped today.”
“Oh, Nicole, I know this may be hard to believe, but I too was a teenager.” Her eyes looked off into the distance. “It was a long time ago, but I have pictures of my youth that prove it.”
I snorted. “I know that, Mom.”
“And I know you don’t get dressed up for a run unless you’re hoping to run into a cute boy.”
“Trust me, I’m not trying to run into a cute guy. And even if I was, what would I be trying to prove anyway?”
Lies to parents about boys didn’t count as real lies. I was most definitely trying to run into a certain blond-haired, blue-eyed guy. And I was trying to prove a point. I wanted him to wonder why he’d never noticed that “Nicole-girl” sooner.
“I gotta go,” I said, grabbing Meatball’s leash and walking out the front door. My shoe-eating labradoodle was basically nipping at my heels to get out the door.
My mom told me to be safe, but I didn’t like the knowing look on her face.
Meatball started whining as I stretched my calf muscles for the second time. I casually turned my head back and forth, keeping an eye out for Chase. I was being silly. First of all, I wasn’t even sure if he’d be running downtown again. Maybe it was something he did on rare occasions, like me. Second, it was entirely possible he didn’t want to see me again after our shift together at Blockbuster.
This was so not me at all. I’d never been boy crazy, but Chase was probably the most perfect guy I’d ever seen. And he’d been totally rude the day before, reminding me of just how unnoticeable I was. I didn’t think my wallflower status bothered me. But Chase had me questioning everything. That, or I was going crazy.
I eventually gave into Meatball’s protests and started our run. As we found a comfortable pace, my mind started to wander. Thankfully, away from the boy that had been causing me so much grief.
I thought back to the trip Amy and I had made to the mall the day before. We found exactly what we needed, ate way too much Chinese food at the food court, and ended up at my house watching some movies I rented for free from work.
It was the perfect end of summer celebration. It was fun, low key, and just in time for school—which started this week.
With the first day of school just around the corner, I was starting to get anxious. I would need to start narrowing down which colleges I was going to apply to. My SAT and ACT scores were both high enough to get me into almost any college I wanted to go to. I just needed a way to make myself stand out—some kind of extracurricular to make my application more impressive.
When Meatball and I got to the end of one of the blocks, I started to turn left. It would eventually bring us back around to where I parked and give us both a decent workout. I hadn’t seen Chase, but it was probably for the best. What was I, lovesick over a boy I had no shot with? I laughed to myself. I really was crazy.
I tugged the leash harder when my dog refused to turn the way I wanted her to. “Meatball,” I growled. “This way.”
“Nicole?”
I stopped and turned in the direction of the deep male voice. It was Chase. My heartbeat sped up, and I touched the end of one of my braids hoping my hair was still in place.
He was wearing a t-shirt and soccer shorts, the same thing he’d been wearing the first time we’d bumped into each other. He looked so good. His toned arms and legs on display. I tried not to look, but I couldn’t help it.
It was unfair, really, that guys looked even better when they were working out. Something about a light sheen of sweat that came with manly exertion.
Manly exertion?
“Hey, Chase,” I finally responded, after spending an embarrassingly long amount of time checking him out. I felt my face flush even more than it had from running.
And yet, he was the one who looked embarrassed. “I was hoping to bump into you this morning.”
“Really,” I asked, conveniently leaving out the part where I was doing the same thing.
He shrugged. “It’s just, I’ve been thinking about our shift together. Sorry I didn’t notice you before. I was kind of a jerk in high school.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
His hand wrapped around the back of his neck. “I wish you would have just told me. But I should have been embarrassed I didn’t know who you were, instead of joking about it. Wanna try again?”
He was barely three months out of high school and was apologizing for being “that guy”. Maybe he wasn’t a total jerk.
A smile touched my lips. “Okay.”
We stood there quietly for several seconds. I struggled for something cool to say, but my mind had gone completely blank.
I blamed his stupid blue eyes. They were newly stunning every time I saw them.
Finally, Chase spoke up. “Have you been running long?”
“Do you mean today? Or ever?”
He chuckled. “Today.”
“Not really,” I admitted looking down at my shoes. “Meatball and I have been running for about ten minutes. I kinda thought we’d go a little longer before heading home.”
“Want to run together for a little while?”
“Okay,” I answered hesitantly. Sure, I had gotten dressed up in hopes of bumping into Chase. Letting him see me run was a completely different story. What if I breathed too loudly, or got too sweaty?
The first few minutes were strange. I didn’t know what to say to Chase, and he didn’t say anything to me. At least Meatball was much more cooperative. If we turned to the left, she went to the left. If our pace slowed down, she slowed down.
“Do you like running?” Chase asked as he picked up the pace. I wasn’t used to running so quickly for long distances but wasn’t about to let him see how hard it was for me.
“Yeah,” I answered, struggling to keep my voice from sounding too breathy. “It gets me out of the house, and Meatball really enjoys it.”
“Have you ever timed yourself?”
“Timed myself doing what?”
“Running.” He turned his head and looked me up and down. “Do you know fast you can run a mile? Or a 5k?”
I meant to laugh, but it came out as a wheezing sound. “I don’t even know how far a 5k is.”
“It’s a little over three miles. It’s the standard distance for cross country.”
“Cross country?” I knew it had something to do with running, but that was where my knowledge ended.
“It’s like track for long distances.”
My steps slowed until I eventually stopped. I couldn’t keep going. My hands were on my waist as I tried to catch my breath. I wasn’t sure how long or far we’d been running, but I was ready to be done.
Chase stopped beside me. I noticed he had no problem breathing.
Chasing Love (Mountain Creek Drive Book 3) Page 2
