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

by Sabrina Stark

  Yeah, right.

  What Brody didn't know was that I'd tried to talk to her.

  Maybe two days after our breakup, I'd call her cell phone. When she didn't answer, I'd left a message, asking her to call me back.

  She never did.

  But a few hours later, I did receive a text, telling me that she was still planning to finish her work on the campaign, unless I wanted to fire her.

  I didn't.

  It's not like I was dying to see her. I just knew that no one else would handle the festival stuff as well as she did. I hadn't hired a new spokesperson either, because the way I saw it, the media could fuck off if they wanted to probe any further into my personal life.

  Already, I'd had enough.

  When I explained all of this to Brody, he said, "Are you listening to yourself?"

  "Yeah, why?"

  "Because you're full of shit, and you know it."

  I didn't bother with a reply. Even if I was full of shit, so what? Regardless of the reasons, there was no way on Earth I'd be firing Mina.

  Into my silence, Brody said, "And I've got a message from Cami and Arden."

  Now this I had to hear. "Oh, yeah? What?"

  Looking almost embarrassed, he said, "Mina loves you, too."

  Sure she did.

  Brody continued, "That was from Cami, by the way." He paused. "And you wanna know what Arden said to tell you?"

  "What?"

  "That if you don't go after her, you're a bigger fool than she thought."

  A fool, huh?

  Now that was just plain insulting.

  And yet, those words haunted me for the rest of the night and the following morning, even as I got dressed and cleaned myself up for the Hazelton Tomato Festival, the event that had brought us together in the first place.

  In just a few hours, I'd be seeing Mina in person, and maybe meeting her family, too.

  I could've bowed out, maybe talked Brody or Mason into taking my place. But I didn't, because the truth was, I wanted to see her – a lot more than I was willing to admit.

  But when I did, it didn't go so great.

  Like that was a surprise.

  Chapter 71

  Mina

  When I saw Chase, my breath caught and my stomach twisted. He was standing near the festival entrance, talking to a couple of younger guys in ballcaps. They guys looked thrilled. Chase didn't.

  Oh sure, he was smiling like things were perfectly friendly, but I knew him well enough to know that his smile wasn't real, and his mind wasn't on whatever they were saying.

  Or maybe it was only my imagination. After all, how well did I truly know the guy?

  The answer to that question should have been obvious.

  I didn't know him at all.

  And I sure as heck didn't want to talk to him. With this in mind, I turned away, hoping that he hadn't spotted me in the crowd.

  Today was the first day of the Hazelton Tomato Festival, and this should've been a moment of triumph. After all, if it weren't for my persistence in pursuing Blast Tools, the festival wouldn’t have taken place at all, or at least, not in its current form.

  I should've been happy, right?

  But I wasn't.

  The past few days had been so miserable, it was all I could do to keep smiling when I really wanted to cry.

  At the thought of how well Chase had played me, I felt my eyes fill with new tears even as I strode toward the midway in hopes of getting lost in the crowd.

  It worked, but not forever, because less than an hour later, I nearly collided with Chase near the main ticket booth.

  As the crowd flowed around us, we both stopped dead in our tracks. Our gazes locked, and I almost forgot to breathe. His eyes looked nearly as hungry as mine felt.

  He looked good. And terrible.

  Sure, he was as hot as ever. And yet, I saw dark shadows under his eyes and a new hollowness to his cheeks. Or maybe this, too, was only my imagination. More likely, he'd been partying his pants off, now that he was done pretending to be my boyfriend.

  Asshole.

  Still, I summoned up my best professional smile. "Oh, there you are."

  When his only reply was a cold stare, I added, "I figured you'd want to go over the plans for the demolition derby. I mean, as far as awarding the trophies."

  He moved forward until we were standing so close, I swear, I could feel the energy pulsing between us. I had to crane my neck to stare up at him, but I refused to back away.

  Sure, he could break my heart, but he couldn’t break my spirit.

  In a low voice, he said, "Fuck the trophies."

  I forced a laugh. "Well, you can if you want, but that won't get you the kind of publicity you're looking for."

  "Fuck the publicity."

  My jaw clenched. No. Fuck you, Chase Blastoviak. But I didn’t say it, because unlike him, I wasn't going to throw fuel onto the dumpster fire that had been our fake relationship.

  Summoning all of my self-control, I asked, "Are you done?"

  He replied, "I might ask the same."

  I made a sound of annoyance. "I don't even know what that means." And then, fearful of losing my composure, I made a move to sidestep around him.

  As I did, he asked, "So, are you gonna tell me why?"

  I stopped and slowly turned to look. "Why what?"

  He crossed his arms. "Guess."

  Oh, please. He wasn't the one who'd been wronged. I was. "Do you seriously want to have this conversation?"

  "Hey, I'm up for it if you are."

  "Yeah, well maybe this isn't the time or the place."

  "Why not? You're here. I'm here." He smirked. "We might as well get it over with, right?"

  It wasn't even noon, and already, I was exhausted. But then again, I hadn't been sleeping so great, not since Chase had ripped out my heart and stomped all over it. With as much as nonchalance as I could muster, I said, "But it's already over."

  Just then, Emory Hawthorne of all people happened to pass by, only to stop in her tracks when she saw me and Chase in mid-conversation.

  She turned back and sidled up to Chase. And then, she looked to me and asked, "So, where's your boyfriend?"

  I knew exactly who she meant, and it wasn't Chase Blastoviak. Obviously, she'd seen all those pictures of me with Bryce. But this, like so many other things, was none of her business.

  Chase spoke up. "I'm right here. What of it?"

  Oh, for God's sake. Once upon time in Hazelton Hall, he'd pretended to be my boyfriend in order to save me from embarrassment.

  Or had that been just another ploy?

  Probably.

  I told Emory, "He's joking."

  Chase spoke up. "The hell I am."

  Emory looked from me to Chase and back again. After a long moment, she said, "You know what? You two totally deserve each other."

  She was wrong. There was a time when I’d believed that Chase was way out of my league. Now I knew the truth.

  I was way too good for the likes of him, because unlike Chase Blastoviak, I wasn't a lying, faking, jackwagon.

  But Emory still wasn't leaving. She gave me a smug smile. "So how is Bryce, anyway?"

  My mouth tightened. "Fine." I looked back to Chase. "Are we done?"

  "Not by a longshot." He turned to Emory and said, "Now beat it. We're talking."

  At the stunned look on her face, part of me wanted to cheer. But I refused to be sidetracked. "No, we're not." I gave Chase a no-nonsense look. "We're done."

  He looked at me for a long, tense moment before gritting out, "So you said."

  Yes. I had. Because we were done. The only upside was that purely by dumb luck, I'd gotten the chance to dump him before he dumped me. And yet, it offered zero comfort as I devoured the sight of him.

  From the haunted look in his eyes, I could almost believe that our relationship had been real. In some ways, maybe it had. At least my feelings had been real, even if I had never confessed them.

  Thank God for that at
least.

  Once again, Chase looked to Emory. "You're still here."

  Emory sighed. "Yeah, but so is she."

  Chase stared at Emory for another long moment. And then, he glanced at me before turning back and telling Emory, "Yeah, but she's the girl I love. You're not."

  Chapter 72

  Chase

  Shit.

  I hadn't meant to say it. Or maybe I had. I shoved a hand through my hair and tried to think.

  In front of me, Mina looked first stunned and then horrified. So did Emory, as if it had never occurred to her that I might fall for a girl like Mina Lipinski.

  But didn't Emory get it? A girl like Mina was worth a million of the other kind. And in my heart, I'd come to realize something. Mina wasn't the type to run off with another guy, especially someone who was married.

  That wasn't her. And the fact I'd even entertained such an idea, well, it made me feel like an asshole.

  Or maybe I was going soft and stupid, like countless other guys before me.

  Deliberately, I turned my back on Emory and looked to Mina. I kept my gaze locked on hers. Say something, will you?

  Finally, she did. "Nice try."

  My heart sank. What?

  But already, she'd turned and walked away, leaving me staring after her. The old Chase would have let her go. Her loss, right?

  But it wasn't her loss. It was mine. I strode after her.

  As if sensing me following, she stopped and turned around.

  I moved forward and closed the distance. In a low voice, I asked, "Is that it?"

  "Sure, why not?"

  I stared down at her. In spite of her casual words, there was nothing casual about her demeanor. Her posture was stiff, and her eyes were glassy. She looked on the verge of losing it.

  I couldn't let that happen. I tried again. "Don't you want to talk?"

  "Fine. You wanna talk?" Her eyes narrowed. "Oh, we'll talk, alright." She glanced toward the parking area. "My car or yours?" She paused. "On second thought, let's make it mine."

  I had never been inside her car, but I would've crawled across broken glass to learn what the hell was going on.

  Already, she was heading toward the parking area, moving fast, as if she were hoping to lose me in the crowd. Not a chance.

  With my long legs, it was easy to keep pace. What was difficult was resisting the urge to start the conversation along the way. Unable to stop myself, I said, "I saw the picture."

  I meant the picture of Mina with Bryce. Of course, I probably should have said pictures, as in plural. And even though I'd pretty much decided that Mina hadn't run off with her ex-boyfriend, his arrival at the Buckville Fairgrounds did seem to be important.

  How or why, I didn't know. But I was determined to find out.

  Mina kept on walking, even as she replied, "Yeah, well I saw a picture, too."

  Now that got my attention. "What do you mean?"

  She gave me a quick sideways glance. "It was a picture of you, hugging someone."

  I tried to think. Who the hell had I hugged in Buckville?

  And then it hit me. Now, I couldn’t help but smile with relief. So that was the problem?

  Shit. I should have known it was something simple. With a laugh, I said, "Lemme guess. A girl with long auburn hair, right?

  "Yup. That's her."

  I was grinning now. "Mina, you know who that was, right?" But of course, she wouldn't know, because the two of them had never met. I told her, "That was Cami, my future sister-in-law."

  Mina kept on walking. "What, you think I didn't know that?"

  Huh? Now I was more confused than ever. "But if you knew who she was, why'd you get so mad?"

  By now, we'd reached Mina's car. She unlocked the driver's side door and flicked the switch to the unlock the passenger's side, too. I circled around the front and climbed into the passenger's seat just as Mina settled herself behind the wheel. We closed our doors at virtually the same time.

  Mina turned to me and said, "You told me that you weren't getting along with them."

  "Who?"

  "Your family," she said. "You claimed that's why you didn't want me to meet them. But obviously you were getting along, which means you were lying to me."

  I frowned. "So that's why you dumped me?"

  Okay, I could see where she'd be confused, and maybe angry, too. But to end our relationship? Without even asking me about it?

  It made no sense – unless Mina wasn't the girl I thought she was.

  When she made no reply, I said, "Mina, I don't want to be a dick, but…"

  "But what?" she snapped.

  "Don't you think you overreacted?"

  Just as I said it, I heard a tap at the passenger's side window. When I turned to look, I saw Angelique Delmonico, smiling like she'd caught us fucking in the back seat.

  From the other side of the glass, she called out, "Well, if it isn't the happy couple."

  In the driver's seat, Mina muttered, "I'll give her happy, alright."

  Standing behind Angelique was the same camera guy as before. But this time, his camera wasn't loose at his side. Instead, it was pointed straight in our direction, and filming us, too, from the looks of it.

  With a muttered curse, Mina fired up the engine and shifted her car into reverse. She hit the gas, leaving Angelique, along with the camera guy, staring after us in the parking lot.

  Two minutes later, we were on the road, leaving the fairgrounds behind us.

  Mina kept her gaze straight ahead, looking royally pissed off as we made our escape.

  But hey, I was getting pissed, too.

  I'd confessed my love. I'd followed after her. I'd even tried to be understanding through all of the drama – unnecessary drama, the way I saw it.

  And Mina still hadn't answered my very basic question. Or maybe she had, and I was just having a hard time believing it.

  "Just so we're clear," I said, "you dumped me because you saw me hugging my brother's fiancée? Are you serious?"

  She made a sound, a half-laugh, half-sob. It tore at my heart and made me question the wisdom of letting her drive anywhere.

  Still, I persisted. "So was that the reason?"

  She said nothing. Instead, she stomped on the gas. Her car lurched forward, picking up speed along the lonely country road.

  Soon, I heard a low, but supremely irritating noise – wind noise, but messed up, like it was pummeling my brain.

  I glanced up at her sunroof. "What's that noise?"

  When she replied, her voice dripped with innocence. "What noise?"

  "It's your sunroof."

  She smiled. "Is it?"

  Oh, yeah. She was definitely losing it. But hey, that made two of us, because I was losing it, too. As the noise burrowed its way into my skull, I told her, "If that's why you dumped me, you're even crazier than I thought in the beginning."

  "Oh, I’m crazy, alright," she said. "And you wanna know why?"

  "Why?"

  "Because I thought what we had was real."

  "And it wasn't?"

  Her voice broke. "I heard you."

  By now, I felt like I was losing my mind. "You heard me what?"

  "I heard you telling your brothers you were going to dump me as soon as the campaign ended."

  And just like that, everything clicked into place.

  Fuck.

  Chapter 73

  Mina

  In the passenger's seat, Chase grew utterly still.

  From the corner of my eye, I studied his face in profile.

  Judging from his expression, he looked just as sick as I'd felt when I'd heard him say those awful words.

  Even now, they haunted me like a bad dream. "Because I’m just gonna dump her when the campaign's over."

  He'd said it in Buckville, when I'd been searching all over for him. During my search, I'd happened to wander by the festival office, only to hear him through the open window, bragging about how he was going to ditch me as soon as I was no longer needed.


  In my car, I continued. "So you can imagine how I felt, knowing that none of it was real."

  "Mina—"

  "Don't 'Mina' me," I snapped. "I heard you."

  He turned in his seat to face me. "Yeah, but I was joking."

  "Oh yeah? Then how come nobody laughed?"

  His mouth opened and then slowly shut again. This gesture, as small as it was, told me everything I needed to know.

  So I answered on his behalf. "I'll tell you why. It was because you didn't sound like you were joking."

  "Yeah, because I was pissed."

  Sure he was. "At who?"

  "My family," he said. "They were hassling the shit out of me. You don't know how they've been lately."

  Now that was a joke. "I know I don't know. And you wanna know why?" Before he could even think to respond, I said, "It's because you refused to introduce us. And now I know the reason."

  "You do, huh?"

  "Sure. I mean, why bother, right? I was on my way out, anyway. No need to get the family involved."

  "You're wrong," he said. "I didn't introduce you, because I didn't want you hassled."

  "Oh, so you were doing it for me? That's your story?"

  "It's no story," he said. "Maybe I didn't want to complicate things."

  "Right." With as much sarcasm as I could muster, I said, "Because you wanted to keep it nice and simple."

  "If I wanted things nice and simple," he said, "I wouldn't be here."

  "Oh, get real," I shot back. "You're just mad that I dumped you first. Well, I'm ever so sorry if I deprived you of another month of positive publicity."

  He looked insulted at the mere suggestion. "That's what you think?"

  "Yeah, because I'm not stupid. Do you remember when you asked me to be your girlfriend? It was the night you learned that Angelique was going to be covering the campaign."

  He was staring now. "What?"

  "Yeah," I said. "It was after that scene in the restaurant, when I stuck up for you."

  His jaw clenched. "Which, if you remember, I tried to stop you from doing."

  Yeah, but so what? Stubbornly, I said, "I heard what I heard."

  "Oh yeah?" he said. "And rather than ask me about it, you dump me and hitch a ride with your ex?"

  "Not just him. His wife, too."

  "What?"

  "Yeah. We picked her up along the way. But it doesn't matter. He was a perfect gentleman."