CHASE (The Heartbreak Club Book 1)

by Elle Harte

It didn’t annoy me because I knew he was just being concerned about me. I ended the call and set my phone down. I started to search in the drawers for the box, and finally found it in one of the drawers on the bedside table. I set it down in front of me and opened the lid.

  Inside, on a sheet of black leather was a stunning object and its dark gray glint was eye-catching. The Gen 4 Glock 19 was truly a thing of beauty. Perfect for conceal carry, and the polymer construction keeps weight down. Not as small and ineffective as small handguns and trigger pressure is lighter than other 9 mm models but all trigger presses feel the same, from the first shot to the last.

  If you’re looking for a weapon that will never disappoint you, this firearm should be your first choice.

  The press of a button, released the magazine and I caught it in my free hand. The standard ten rounds plus one in the chamber. I pushed the magazine back up. I held the Glock in my hand in a firing position and stepped a little farther from the mirror. I used the other hand to support my hold. It was strange holding this thing again. I always felt all weapons have a power, a spirit inside of them. They have a life of their own. This was a brand-new weapon, so it didn’t have much of a history but I remember the Colt hung from the wall of my father’s study. He wouldn’t let me and my brother near it, but the more he tried to stop us, the more fun that gun became to us. My father wasn’t a careless parent, he was the most vigilant person I’d known and we would still find a way to get in his study.

  It was a game to us.

  Until it wasn’t.

  The sound of a gunshot rang in my ear and my headache became worse. I was standing there helpless my hands pressed to my head, waiting for the gunshot to die down. Eventually, it stopped. It always did. But not before bringing tears to my eyes. When it was all over, I set the Glock down, and searched for an aspirin and found it on the floor, next to the shattered glass. I picked up the bottle of aspirin and walked to the mini bar and got myself some bottled water to wash down the pills.

  The empty space mocked me. It made the emptiness inside me worse. I was tired of feeling that way. I wanted to feel the happiness I felt with her.

  She could take any empty space and turn it into home.

  I reached into my pants pocket and my hand touched something papery. I took it out. It was all the four fortunes strips from the Chinese place.

  It gave me an idea.

  I called Stanton and took the phone to the wardrobe. I talked to Stanton while I picked out an outfit. I saw an Armani that was perfect for business casual and set it aside. “Stanton, I need you to do me a favor,” I started telling him everything that was in my mind and if Stanton thought it was idiotic, he didn’t say. “Come pick me up from the hotel when it’s done.”

  The next thing I did was get Blayne’s address from Carl. After that, I went to the bathroom and spent a long time shaving and showering. I wanted to look like something she couldn’t resist. She was shy, and awkward about men but I made her get out of that shell. I knew she wanted me, and I was going to use that to my advantage. If she thought she could get away with ignoring me, then she was going to be disappointed.

  I wasn’t born to take no for an answer. I wasn’t going to let her forget me, no matter how much she tried. She was my destiny and it was about time she realized that. By the time I was done dressing up, Stanton was waiting for me downstairs.

  I took one last approving look in the mirror. If she wanted to be rid of me, she was going to have to try harder.

  We’ll see how long she lasts against my charm. I wasn’t called a Heartbreaker for nothing. Which reminded me to call my friend Stefan. Maybe later. I wanted to have a better story to tell him than one that ended with and then she left me sleeping…

  I was about to leave when I saw the Glock on the nightstand.

  I went over and picked it up, feeling it’s weight in my hand. It belonged to me now. I already felt an attachment to this thing. Guns were not the problem. Their intended use was the real issue. Cops carried it around, and they weren’t all bad. This thing had its uses, plain and simple. If it was just me, I wouldn’t even have considered getting a gun, but it was no longer just about me.

  It was about her.

  I just needed to know that she was safe. This thing could come in handy. There’s only so much Carl and Stanton can do. This was a safety net.

  I thought briefly about the way she looked last night. Unassuming and unpretentious and a little unpredictable. It was a deadly combination. She was smart, and funny and fierce. She ticked all the boxes that I needed ticked, and then some. Her body, her face, and the way she so prettily blushes if you say something dirty…

  Yes, she needed me.

  She needed my protection, even if she didn’t know it. She needed to know that I wasn’t just some guy she had sex with, and that we were destined to be together.

  I knew that when I saw her for the first time, and I knew that when I saw her yesterday without inhibitions.

  I took the Glock and tucked it unseen inside the back of my pants. I took one last glance at the mirror. “I’m sorry, Dad.”

  Blayne

  I still wasn’t used to my phone ringing.

  It was Chase.

  He had sent me a picture of a fortune cookie. STILL WAITING TO BE READ, said the message. Cute, Chase. Do you seriously think that’s going to work? I typed back a stiff response. “DON’T CARE.”

  I glanced at the room. It was less room and more closet space with rank furniture that smelled of cat piss. I wish I knew where that smell was coming from. The shag carpet was bared in places and had holes everywhere.

  Maybe I could somehow live in this room, but there was no way I could eat. The idea of drinking water in this dump made me feel nauseous.

  My phone rang again. I didn’t have to see the name to know who sent me the next picture of a restaurant table with food on it. Steaming hot food, delectable food, just the way I liked. Even if it was our third night eating Chinese food, I wouldn’t get bored.

  And then he texted me again. “It’s just food, Blayne. After tonight, you can refuse to see me and I won’t fight you.”

  That sounded like the best idea. It was just dinner, it wasn’t as though we could have sex anywhere in the bistro. If I brought food anywhere near my motel room, it would probably make me ill.

  Be careful, Blayne.

  You’re treading thin ice here.

  It’s just dinner!

  I was wearing the only clothes I owned. What difference did it make? There was no need to impress him. I didn’t even want to see him again. I did want to know what the fortunes said though.

  “Just dinner,” I wrote back.

  An excited reply came back asking for my address so he could send Stanton to pick me. Since, I didn’t have money for a cab, I agreed and sent him the address. He wouldn’t dare to come himself, I would have murdered him.

  Within ten minutes, Stanton was standing in my doorway. I went with him, and he led me to a parking space near the building. I got in the limo and let Stanton treat me with some champagne.

  He drove me back to the restaurant and when I got there the food was still warm. I could see the beaming smile on Chase’s face and God, was he trying to seduce me?

  I took my seat opposite Chase and I knew how dangerous it was just looking at him, so I kept my eyes downcast.

  “Blayne, what’s wrong? You seem agitated.”

  I looked up at him at last. Be brave now. He’s just a man, nothing more. A man with a beautiful toned body, and gentle eyes and high cheekbones but a man nonetheless. You can’t be that overwhelmed by him.

  “I’m okay,” I said. “How was your day?”

  “Well, some girl left me all alone after a night of incredible passion.”

  “Maybe she doesn’t want you now that she’s done with the one-night stand, Chase. Maybe you are being clingy.” I didn’t truly mean any of that. But it was the most appropriate thing to say if I didn’t want another Nick on my hands.
<
br />   “That’s not fair, Blayne.”

  “Can we please talk about something else?”

  “Sure,” he said, using his chopsticks to lift a piece of shrimp. “What do you want to talk about?”

  I had nothing to say to him. It was good having him around, way too good for me to feel comfortable. But the way he looked in that suit, especially after knowing what he looked like underneath those clothes, it was still making me think about sex. Not just any sex either, but with him.

  You need to stop thinking about him without clothes. “Did you go to work today?” That sounded like a safe thing to discuss without any sexual innuendo.

  “I didn’t do much,” he said. “I woke up late and then…” he was about to say something related to me but he stopped. “I just thought I’d get dressed and get some dinner. How about you?”

  I stayed in a motel that looks like a trashcan for the rest of the city. “I guess I was watching TV.”

  “Why couldn’t you do it in my room?” he said. “Do you think I would have raped you if you stayed back?”

  I didn’t know if I felt more annoyed or saddened by that. “I barely know you.”

  “You knew me well enough to fuck me last night.”

  I banged my fork on the plate. “I knew you were going to pester me,” I said. “That it wasn’t just about the dinner!”

  I realized that I had been too loud and people were looking at us. I wanted to leave but that would have looked worse.

  “You want me,” he said. “I can see it in every word you speak, Blayne. You’re lying to me. Why?”

  I glowered at him. “You want to know why?”

  He was looking at me with confusion. I took out my phone and went to the Internet browser and opened to a previously saved page. I held it up for him to see. He was silent. He wasn’t even touching his food anymore. “Blayne, I know what you’re thinking...”

  “You and your friends, are all part of the Heartbreak Club. You pick a new woman every month just to win a bet!”

  “Do you really believe everything some tabloid tells you?”

  “Stop playing with my head, Chase. I know I’m nothing more than flavor of the month. Which is fine, Chase Cooper, because the only thing you’re good for is a one-night stand. No girl in her right mind would fall in love with a guy like you. You think you’re the one who uses women? Chase, it’s the women who use you.”

  “No one’s born without a past, Blayne. Not even you.”

  “You’re right. I do have a past. I have one because I made the mistake of choosing the wrong man. Rest assured, I will not be doing that again.”

  “Are you going to be a spinster for the rest of your life?”

  “Why not! If I can’t find a guy who is the literal opposite of you, then yes. I would rather be alone.”

  He was smiling and then he pushed the fortune cookie toward me. I had finished eating so I broke the cookie and started reading it. “Your happiness is intertwined with your love. Find your love, find your happiness.”

  “What does it say?” he asked.

  I picked up the strip and stood. “I don’t want to tell you.”

  He looked confused about the whole thing. I was just happy that somehow, I managed to get through this without having to fuck him again. I should be counting my blessings. “I should probably go now,” I said, trying to come up with a reason for him not to mention a next meeting.

  “Let me drop you home,” he said and started walking ahead of me. He stood there holding the door open and he was too close, but I managed to slink past him without trying to get a whiff of that cologne. I got out, and heard my phone ringing. It was a new number so I thought it might be Chloe. outside the bistro I took the call. “Hello?”

  “Did you really think you could hide from me, Blayne?”

  The sound of Nick’s voice was like a hard swing from a heavy bat. I stopped thinking straight and I froze.

  “Blayne, what’s wrong?” Chase asked me and I started hyperventilating. He came up to me and worriedly took my phone. He put it to his ear. “Who is this?”

  But Nick must have ended the call.

  “It was him, wasn’t it?” Chase asked me. “It was Nick. He called you.”

  I shook my head in an affirmative motion. “How… how did he… get my number?”

  “Think about it, did you give your number to anyone?”

  “Just Chloe. But she would never do that.”

  “You trust her that much?”

  I nodded. He thought about it. “Well, if it wasn’t Chloe, then maybe he hacked into your Facebook account and got your number from there. You left a message for Chloe, right?”

  “I guess.” I was still flustered.

  “Blayne. What really happened that night with Nick?”

  Oh God, he picked up on that.

  “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  Yes, keep running Blayne, that’s what you’re good at.

  Stanton drove me back to the motel and Chase said nothing through the ride. It was a good thing because I couldn’t keep lying and circumventing every topic. I hope that silence meant that Chase was finally giving up.

  Just when we were close to the street where the motel was located, Chase started speaking again. “That Heartbreak Club news you read,” he said. “It was a long time ago. Yes, I never took women seriously. I never thought I would need a real relationship but I was fooling myself. Just like you’re fooling yourself now. I told you, I know a thing or two about avoiding my issues. And I know one thing for sure.

  “You can’t run away forever, Blayne.”

  Blayne

  I spent that night in a motel and found myself hating life for a long time, before I could finally bring myself to use that crappy bathroom. I don’t know if I was missing my old bathroom more or Nick. Either way, I knew I had to get over it. But the millions of texts that Nick had been leaving on my phone weren’t exactly making it easy.

  That was the thing with Nick. He always acted like whatever was between us was something special, and he would go on telling me that he loved me more than anything in the world, and then one day unexpectedly I would catch him in bed with someone else. He had lied to me so many times, I could no longer trust a word that came out of his mouth. Besides, Nick wasn’t the only problem I had anymore. Finding an actual job, and a place to live were my major concerns now. And then, I remembered Chloe. She had left me a message last night telling me that she was back from her vacation. Chloe had been my best friend since middle school. In the frenzy of last night, I didn’t even tell her what was going on, so I gave her a call now. The phone kept ringing for a while until she finally picked it up.

  “Sleeping late?” I asked. “That’s not like you Chloe. Is someone there?”

  By the whispered reply I got in return, she was obviously trying not to wake that someone up. “I’m about to do the walk of shame,” she said. “This could get awkward. Give me a minute and I’ll call you right back.”

  “I can hold,” I told her. “Take your time.”

  “Okay,” she said. “Hang on then. I can’t find my fucking pants!”

  Chloe was a consultant at some firm and one of those people who manage to find a balance of work and life. I had known her forever but the first time we really hit it off, was at some birthday party that we both thought was lame. There’s something about sharing inside jokes with someone that instantly turns you into friends. Since then, Chloe and I have always managed to find inside jokes. We may not be the family we were born with but we’re certainly better than most of them. Chloe is about my age, and one of those crazy hot blondes you always hear stories about. But somehow, she manages to do it all with a certain flair. With the pants finally acquired, and Chloe walking outside a building, we started talking.

  “Who was the guy you just ditched?” I asked, a desperate attempt at avoiding my own problems for as long as it was possible.

  “No one you need to remember,” she said. “The sex wasn’t
even that great. There’s nothing to tell really.”

  I almost laughed aloud. “That is so you, Chloe.”

  “What can I say, I got standards okay?” she said. “So, tell me why you’re calling me this early in the day and why are you not lounging at some outdoor café pretending to be interested in other engaged to be married rich women?”

  “Guess I’m taking a day off,” I said. “I’m on a vacation.”

  “What’s wrong, Blayne?”

  So, she noticed.

  “I left him,” I said. “I just got up and walked out on him.”

  Saying it, just made it sound more real.

  “You did?” she said, and I don’t know if she thought it was a good idea or a bad one. “You, finally did it? Oh Blayne! I’m so happy for you!”

  “I should have known,” I said as a joke, relieved to hear these words. “You really do hate men.”

  “We don’t hate men,” she said. “We just hate assholes like Nick who can’t appreciate a good woman.”

  “Pretty sure his friends must be saying the same thing about me.”

  “Well, his friends can suck my proverbial dick.”

  “Seriously though Chloe,” I said. “I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do here.”

  “Oh,” she said, knowingly. “You’re new to single life, huh? Don’t worry about a thing. I’m making you a care package in the evening. Hint: it’ll have plenty of condoms.”

  “Chloe!”

  “What? I’m serious! What’s the point of leaving your stupid fiancé if you’re not going to have some crazy hot single sex?”

  Everything that happened with Chase came back. I didn’t know how to tell her that I’d already lost my second virginity to that Heartbreak Club hotshot.

  “We can discuss this over cheap wine and expensive chocolate. When are you coming over?”

  “Babe, I do have work to get to,” she said. “But I’ll try to get off a little earlier. I’ll see you in the evening. Where are you staying?”

  “In this crappy motel,” I told her, looking around once again at my dismal surroundings. “It stinks in here and there are serious bug problems. I need to find a place, Pen.”