Blitz: An Enemies-to-Lovers Romantic Comedy (Blast Brothers Book 3)

by Sabrina Stark

  This was the last thing I wanted.

  I sat up, intending to lodge another protest. But then, Chase stopped at the ladder.

  Instead of climbing down, he pulled the ladder upward.

  I smiled. Oh, so that's what he was doing.

  I watched in silent admiration as he backed up, taking the ladder with him as he moved. Soon, the entire ladder was up in the loft.

  Man, he was smart. Or maybe just devious.

  Trying not to laugh out loud, I whispered, "You've done this sort of thing before, haven't you?"

  "Me? Nah." He laid the ladder near the floor's opening and turned back to face me, giving me another glorious view, this time of his front side.

  His body was so spectacular, I couldn’t help but stare as he once again closed the distance between us.

  To think, he'd been all mine, if only for a little while.

  I was still smiling when he returned and gathered me up in his arms. Into my ear, he whispered, "I just know a few tricks, that's all."

  Boy, if that wasn't a massive understatement. Even now, my body was still tingling.

  And in that moment, as I burrowed tighter against him, life felt as blissful as it could be, even in spite of those dreaded voices.

  But it didn't matter. Thanks to Chase, we were safe from discovery.

  Unfortunately, as I learned a few minutes later, I wasn't nearly as safe from humiliation of a different kind.

  Chapter 48

  Chase

  At the sound of the barn doors sliding open, Mina stiffened in my arms.

  Into her ear, I whispered, "Shhh…it's alright."

  And if it wasn’t?

  I'd make it right.

  If it came down to it, I'd throw myself to the she-wolves before I'd ever let them sink their teeth into Mina. The way I saw it, they'd gotten more than enough of her in the kitchen.

  They were done.

  With the doors now open, their conversation became more audible. The mom – Ginger – was saying, "They have to be around here somewhere."

  The daughter scoffed, "So what if they are? He's obviously lost his mind."

  I frowned. Me?

  Maybe I had lost my mind. But with Mina in my arms, I was finding it hard to care. She felt just right nestled against me, and in that moment, I discovered a nearly primal urge to protect her, not just from the two unwanted visitors, but from anyone or anything.

  The sensation was new and surprising.

  What was that about?

  As they moved deeper into the barn, Ginger said, "Of course he's lost his mind. She's a lot prettier than you ever give her credit for."

  "Oh, please," the younger one scoffed. "She's not prettier than I am."

  What the hell? Okay, I'd been called cocky. I'd even been called arrogant. But even I thought this was a bit much. Plus, she was dead wrong.

  Mina wasn't just pretty. She was beautiful – and not only on the outside.

  But the chick in the red dress? Sure, she was pretty enough. Some might call her beautiful. But there was something cold and hard in her eyes that told me her beauty was skin deep at best.

  My frown deepened. Since when did I care?

  Weird.

  The mom said, "Just because you stole one boyfriend, there's no guarantee you can steal another."

  "You mean Bryce? I didn't steal him. I just borrowed him for a while." She gave an ugly little snicker. "Is it my fault she didn't want him back?"

  In my arms, Mina went very still.

  So did I.

  Bryce. I knew that name. He was the ex-boyfriend, the one her dad hated for reasons I hadn't understood until now.

  That fucker.

  I didn’t mean her dad. I meant the guy who'd been dumb enough to cheat on Mina – and with someone who wasn't worth a fraction of the girl in my arms.

  Below us, the younger one was still talking, "And besides, Chase Blastoviak isn't her boyfriend. That whole thing – it was so fake."

  "Say that all you want," the mom said. "That doesn't make it true."

  "But it is true," the daughter insisted. "Did you see the look on Mina's face? She didn’t believe it any more than I did."

  "Yeah, well I saw your face," the mom said. "So don't tell me you didn't believe it."

  "Alright, fine. Maybe I believed it for a little while. But the more I think about it, the more they make no sense. I mean just look at him. And just look at her."

  "I did," the mom said. "And I'm telling you, she's more appealing than you think."

  What the fuck?

  Even though her statement had been a compliment, there was something about it that made me gather Mina tighter against me, as if I could shield her from the ugliness below.

  I didn't say anything, but I sure as hell wanted to.

  Downstairs, the daughter replied, "Well, she can't be too 'appealing' if she was only runner up."

  The mom sighed. "This again?"

  "Hey, I'm just saying, you need to remember who came out on top."

  "And maybe you need to remember that your stepdad was on the committee."

  The daughter snorted, "Which one?"

  "You mean which committee?"

  "No. Which stepdad."

  "Very funny," the mom said. "You know which one."

  "If you mean Chester, he wasn't my stepdad at the time."

  "Yes, but he was close enough."

  "So, what are you saying? That I only won because of him?" The daughter's voice rose. "Because of you?" She gave a loud huff. "That's just like you, trying to take credit for something I did. I'll have you know, I won fair and square."

  "Yeah, well Libby doesn't think so."

  "You mean Mina's mom? Oh, please. Of course she doesn’t think so. Unlike you, she has loyalty for her own daughter."

  "Oh, shut up," the mom said. "If I wasn't loyal, I wouldn't be here." She paused. "And I wouldn’t have told you that Chase Blastoviak would be coming around today."

  "Yeah, except you didn't mention that she'd be here, too."

  She. Meaning Mina.

  "Hey," the mom said, "I just heard that he was getting a tour. I had no idea who'd be giving it."

  "Yeah? Well maybe you should've asked."

  "And maybe you should stop being so ungrateful."

  They were still bickering when they left the barn, slamming the doors shut behind them.

  When their voice receded in the distance, Mina shifted in my arms and blew out a long, trembling breath. "Well…" she said. "That was awkward."

  Chapter 49

  Mina

  Awkward didn't begin to cover it. In the span of just a few short minutes, Chase had learned way more about my history than I'd ever intended.

  The thing with Bryce – it still hurt, not because I missed him, but because it had shaken my faith in relationships, and not only the romantic kind.

  Plus, even though I wasn't the one who'd cheated, I still felt sullied by the whole thing. Of course, it didn't help that Emory hadn't been remotely ashamed of what she'd done.

  No. She'd been proud – so proud, in fact, that she couldn't stop talking about it, even now.

  But that wasn't the reason I was feeling suddenly sick to my stomach. It was because apparently, my humiliation was far from over. Way too late, it was dawning on me that Chase's rescue had come at a price.

  Sure, I'd gotten some terrific short-term satisfaction. But long-term? That was a different story, wasn't it? After all, Chase and I weren't truly together – at least not the way he'd made it look in the kitchen.

  And now, like a total idiot, I wanted to burrow deeper into his arms, as if he could protect me from the embarrassment sure to be coming my way.

  He couldn’t.

  And besides, I'd never ask him to.

  Desperately, I tried to think. Maybe I could just flat-out announce to Emory that Chase had been joking. I mean, she suspected it already, so maybe I could play it off as being no big deal – a joke on her, not on me.

  I bit
my lip. Or maybe I could tell her that we'd broken up.

  No. That would just make her laugh at me.

  Maybe I could say nothing at all and avoid her like I'd been trying to do for years.

  Yeah, right. Her mom was the biggest gossip in the county, which meant there'd be no true escape no matter what I did.

  Regardless, the spell was officially broken. With an awkward laugh, I pulled away from Chase. "Well, I guess we should get dressed, huh?" Technically, I was still mostly dressed, even if I was far from decent.

  I sat up and glanced around, trying to pull myself together.

  But Chase wasn't moving.

  So far, he hadn't said a single word about the conversation we'd just overheard. But there was something in his stillness that was making me a little uneasy, and I was having a hard time meeting his eyes.

  But when several moments passed without him saying or doing anything at all, I took a deep breath and met his gaze head-on.

  I'd expected him to be amused, possibly at my expense.

  But here in the quiet loft, he looked anything but pleased. His eyes were dark and intense as he studied my face, probably exactly like I was studying his.

  What on Earth was he thinking?

  Should I ask?

  As it turned out, I didn't need to.

  He offered on his own. "Wanna know what I think?"

  "What?"

  "I think I’m starving."

  Huh?

  Chapter 50

  Mina

  Ninety minutes later, we were sitting at a prime table for two at Lombardi's, the nicest Italian restaurant in Bayside.

  The restaurant was located downtown along the river bank, and we had a table next to the window, giving us a soothing view of the nearby river, sparkling in the setting sun.

  Chase's condo was located within walking distance, also on the river. I knew this, because I'd seen it with my own two eyes.

  I'd even gone "shopping" in his closet.

  His idea, not mine.

  Up in the hayloft, when I'd balked at the idea of going out to dinner in clothes of questionable cleanliness, he'd offered to take me home to change beforehand. And when I'd informed him – with no small degree of embarrassment – that there was no way on Earth I'd be explaining such a thing to my parents, he'd suggested swinging by his place to see what might be in his closet.

  Turns out, there'd been quite a bit.

  In what appeared to be a guest room, I'd found at least a dozen dresses, along with a small selection of casual clothes like running pants and little cropped T-shirts. I'd even found a decent collection of undergarments, most of them with the tags still attached.

  When I'd asked Chase who the clothes belonged to, he'd claimed they belonged to him and said they were mine for the taking if I wanted them.

  The clothes – even the casual ones – had looked very expensive, and I'd picked the plainest dress of the bunch, a little black number with a flared skirt and long, lacy sleeves. Since my shoes were black, it had seemed the safest bet, even if my basic low-heeled pumps were a whole lot plainer than the dress itself.

  As far as the dress, was I embarrassed to be wearing it?

  Maybe a little.

  But it wasn't enough to stop me.

  In spite of his offer, I fully planned to return it when dinner was done. And, as far as the new underpants, well, I guess they were mine now.

  To my infinite surprise, Chase had said nothing about the conversation we'd overheard in the barn. I wasn't sure why he'd been so silent on the matter, but I'd been incredibly relieved at the lack of interrogation.

  My relief lasted all the way through dinner as we spent most of the time talking about perfectly safe topics, mostly related to the upcoming campaign.

  By the time our dinner dishes were cleared away, I couldn’t help but wonder if we were back to business as usual, even in spite of the fact that I'd just had sex with him, shopped in his closet, and showered in his guest room – alone, by the way.

  So what was this? A dinner meeting?

  I didn't think so. But I couldn’t say for sure either way.

  By the time we declined dessert and ordered another bottle of wine, the sun had already set, and our server had lit the candle on our table, leaving us bathed in soft, soothing light.

  It was then, after Chase refilled my wine glass for the third time, that he leaned across the table and said in a low voice, "So, are you gonna tell me?"

  "Tell you what?"

  "The deal with Bryce."

  The question caught me off guard. "Sorry, what?"

  With a shameless grin, he said, "What, you thought I wasn't gonna ask?"

  "Um, yeah. Actually, I thought if you hadn't asked by now…" With a shrug, I let the sentence trail off as if that were the end of it.

  Apparently not.

  He asked, "So, when'd it happen?"

  I grimaced at the memory. "A really long time ago."

  "It couldn’t have been too long," he said. "You're blushing."

  I tried to laugh. "Yeah, because it's embarrassing."

  "Why?" Chase said. "He's the dumb-ass, not you."

  It was such a sweet thing to say, and not for the first time, I couldn’t help but marvel at how different this Chance was compared to the guy I'd met on the sidewalk all those weeks ago.

  As far as Bryce, I had to be honest. "Actually, he's not that dumb. He was in pre-med, so he's probably almost a doctor by now."

  Chase scoffed, "What, like doctors can't be dumb, too?"

  With a shaky laugh, I replied, "Yeah, I guess."

  His gaze met mine as he asked in a surprisingly gentle tone, "So, you wanna talk about it?"

  I did. And I didn't. The funny thing was, even though I'd been dreading him asking, part of me was touched that he cared enough to want to know.

  With this in mind, I laid out the basics. "There's not much to tell. We dated maybe ten months, and if I'm being totally honest, things were already going downhill when it happened."

  "It," he said. "Meaning him getting with the girl in the red dress?"

  "Yup." I blew out a long, shaky breath. "Good ol' Emory. Get this. He comes home for spring break, supposedly so we can figure things out. And you wanna know where he ends up?"

  His eyebrows lifted. "Is that a trick question?"

  Of course, I knew what he meant. "Okay, yes, he ended up in her 'pants.' But that's not all. He also ended up in Florida. With her."

  "Why Florida?"

  "Because that's where Ginger has a condo."

  "So how'd that happen?"

  "You mean how'd they end up there? According to Bryce, Emory invited him like two days after they met. She called it a surprise vacation." I shook my head. "But the only person surprised was me. And the worst part was, Emory and I were friends at the time."

  "You and her?" Chase gave me a dubious look. "I'm not seeing it."

  "Okay, well, I guess you could say we were more like frenemies, carrying on the family tradition and all."

  "So there's a tradition, huh?"

  "Is there ever," I said. "Her mom and my mom were also frenemies. And they still are." I leaned further across the table. "Do you know, my dad dated Ginger for a while?"

  "Oh, yeah?"

  "Yeah," I said. "And the way I hear it, Ginger and my dad had one heck of a breakup. They were still in high school, but apparently, things got pretty ugly."

  Chase gave a slow nod, as if he finally understood. "So your dad left Ginger for your mom, huh?"

  I drew back. "No. Of course not."

  "Hey, I'm just asking."

  "I know. And I’m just saying, my mom's not like that. And neither is my dad."

  Across the table, Chase looked almost amused. "Good to know."

  "Sorry." I winced. "I guess I'm a little defensive, but the whole thing has been going on forever. And here's the crazy thing. My mom and dad didn't even start dating until after their high school graduation. By then, Ginger was engaged to somebody else
– husband number-one by the way."

  "The first of three, right?"

  I was surprised that he knew this, until I recalled Emory in the commercial kitchen, making some snide remark about Ginger shopping for husband number-four.

  "Right," I said. "And even though Ginger was already engaged, she wasn't happy when my mom and dad got together." I rolled my eyes. "She was even less happy when they got married."

  "And you know this, how?"

  "Trust me," I laughed. "Everyone knows everything."

  Chase gave me a long, penetrating look. "Want to know what I know?"

  "What?"

  He leaned toward me as if preparing to share a secret. But the secret never came, because before he could say a single word, a different voice, this one all-female, practically hissed, "Nice dress."

  With a start, I turned to look. And right there, hovering beside our table, was someone I knew all too well – not because I'd seen her in person, but because I'd seen her face on the cover of a book.

  Yes.

  That book.

  Chapter 51

  Mina

  At the sight of her, my stomach lurched. Unless I was mistaken, I was staring up into the hard gaze of Angelique Delmonico – Chase's ex-girlfriend.

  She was blonde and very beautiful with long, thick hair and a perfect curvaceous body, poured into a silver cocktail dress that was ten times fancier than what I was wearing.

  From my seated position, I stared up at her, marveling at how different she looked in person.

  On the book cover, she'd been smiling warmly for the camera. But she wasn't smiling now, and there was no warmth in her expression as she eyed me like she'd just caught me naked with a farm animal.

  With a little sneer, she said, "So, are you gonna give it back, or what?"

  I stared in stupefied silence. Give what back?

  The dress?

  Oh, God. That had to be what she meant. My mouth opened, but no sound came out.

  Already, Chase was on his feet. In a dangerously low voice, he told her, "Leave her alone, alright?"

  Even though he'd said it quietly, people around us were openly staring. I was staring too as my head filled with questions for which I had no answers.