Chapter 7
The next afternoon, Chase knocked on the door of Claire’s townhouse and looked around while he waited. He’d always liked this little student village, but until he met her, he hadn’t known anyone who lived in it.
Up close, he was still impressed. The doors were all painted a cheerful red and everything looked neatly maintained. It was off campus, but not too far away. He still could have walked to his classes from it. It would be a hell of a lot better than the dorm. The door opened and Claire gave him a quick smile.
“How’s it going?” he asked as she ushered him inside.
“Um, fine, I guess.” Claire tucked her hair behind her ear in a slightly nervous gesture. “How about you?”
“I’m...” He trailed off when he stepped into the living room.
Every impression that he’d had of the little townhouse as a quiet and neat environment disappeared as he got his first real look at the interior of the place. It was the messiest room he’d ever been in. At least it was definitely the messiest room he’d ever been in that wasn’t in a frat house.
Claire followed his gaze around the living room. “Yeah...my roommates haven’t cleaned up in a while.” Or ever, really. She’d kept the house pretty neat last year, but she’d avoided the common areas since everything had gone to hell, so she hadn’t kept it up this year.
“And by “awhile” you clearly mean all semester,” Chase said, still staring in disbelief.
“Basically, yes. But since none of it is mine, I’m not going to clean it up.”
“I guess I don’t blame you,” he replied as he looked at the astounding mess surrounding him. Clothes were draped over chairs. Coffee cups and glasses cluttered every flat surface. There were several pairs of heels and boots that had been kicked halfway underneath the couch, and books lying face down and splayed out all over the couch and coffee table.
“You look shocked,” Claire said, fighting back a smile. “It’s not that bad. I promise there’s nothing living in the piles of stuff.”
“It’s just...I thought that girls were neat.”
“Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but girls are people. Some people are neat and some people aren't.”
He rubbed his chin, realizing that he’d forgotten to shave that morning. He wondered what Claire thought of that and then jerked his mind away from it. She probably didn’t think anything about it, and even if she did, it didn’t matter.
“Fair enough. But you people are definitely on the “not” end of the spectrum,” he said lightly.
“This is all my roommates stuff,” Claire informed him. “I’ll have you know that my room is sparkling clean at the moment.”
“Is that where we’re working? Because if we stay out here, we’re going to have to clean.”
Claire looked around. It was pretty messy. But suddenly it seemed that Chase, with his tall frame and broad shoulders, would take up too much space in her small room. And her whole body went a little warm at the thought of him on her bed, where they’d have to sit. He’d take up a lot of room there too.
“We could try the kitchen,” she said instead.
“Sounds good,” he said easily, following her through the living room, being careful not to trip and break any bones.
Claire sighed when she saw the clutter spread on the kitchen table. “Seriously?” she muttered. “I would have thought all the dishes in the house were in the living room.”
He grinned at her. “Looks like we’ve got some work to do. You bring me the dishes from the living room and I’ll start loading up what’s in here.”
“You don’t have to--”
Chase looked at the mess and gave a playful grimace. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but yeah. I kinda do. Otherwise I won’t be able to think. And math is hard enough on my brain.”
Claire shrugged. “I guess I won’t stand in your way. I’m sure my roommates will appreciate it.” Actually she doubted that they would notice, but she would.
She began gathering dishes as Chase shrugged his backpack off and into one of the chairs. She could hear dishes clattering as he began to sort and load what was covering the table. It was sort of nice to share the housework with someone.
Her shoulder brushed against his arm when she stepped up with her hands full of dishes that had come from the living room and she noticed how muscular he was. Not that she hadn’t known before. But she hadn’t expected the shiver that it sent through her. It had been way long since she’d had a date.
“You’re one of those people that has to load the dishwasher a certain way, aren’t you?” she asked to distract herself from the smile he gave her. It was a great smile. Just like his great body and his great voice. She forced herself to focus on what he was saying.
“No,” Chase answered with dignity. “I’m one of those people who has to load the dishwasher the right way.”
“Oh, pardon me. Clearly that’s totally different.” Claire put the stack she’d gathered down on the counter and turned to gather the rest of the coffee mugs.
“Obviously,” he said. “And the dishwasher’s full so we’ll have to wash the rest by hand.”
“No way,” she said bluntly.
“Come on, it won’t take long.”
“I feel like maybe you’re avoiding trig,” Claire said, crossing her arms and staring him down.
“Well...maybe a little. But I’m also trying to prove what a nice guy I am. I figured that doing some of the many chores that need to be done around here couldn’t hurt.”
She continued eying him and he gave her the biggest, most innocent smile he could muster. She worked to hold back a grin as she grabbed a dish towel.
“Fine. I’ll dry, nice guy.”
“You’re a poet--”
“And I know it,” she cut in.
He laughed as he began filling the sink with hot soapy water. “You’re also kind of a dork.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were trying to get on my good side here.”
“Sure, but it doesn’t change the facts.”
Claire couldn’t hold back a laugh at the mischievous glint in his blue eyes. “You’re a dork too, you know.”
“Me?” he asked. “How?”
“I’ve never heard any other jocks bragging about their English grades.”
“That makes me dedicated, not dorky.”
“Uh huh,” she said skeptically, dragging the word out to prove that she wasn’t buying it.
“Are all tutors as rough on their students as you are?”
“Probably. You’ve really never had a tutor before?” she asked, drying the plate he’d handed her and putting it in the cupboard.
“The disbelief is not inspiring,” he informed her.
“I didn’t mean it like that!” Claire said, a little flustered. “I was just...I mean, you said you’ve always had problems with math and--”
“Relax. I’m just teasing you. And no, I really haven’t. At least, not an official one. But I do have a sister who got me through high school math.” He gave a quick huff of laughter and shrugged self-consciously. “And middle school math. And the last half of fifth grade math too.”
“I’m guessing she’s the older sibling?” Claire asked. “Unless she’s some kind of spectacular math prodigy.”
“Syd’s pretty spectacular,” Chase said. “But yeah, she’s actually ten years older than me.”
“Wow. That’s a pretty big age difference.”
“Yep. I took my parents by surprise. Partly because of how awesome I am, but mostly because of how unplanned I was.”
She shook her head and he saw a dimple flash in her cheek as she smiled. “Any other surprise siblings?”
“No, just the two of us. The lawyer and the jock. What about you?”
“I’m not a lawyer or a jock,” she answered.
Chase flicked some soapy water at her. “Smartass.”
“Better than dumbass,” she said, wiping the water off of her face. “And I have a younger sister, Kailey. She’s 17 and she’s also not a lawyer or a jock, but she does play soccer.”
“So you’re an older sister and I’m a younger brother. I guess that explains why you’re the tutor and I’m the student.”
“I don’t think that the ability to do math is exclusive to older siblings,” Claire replied with a smile.
“Is that another one of the things “they” say?”
She nodded seriously. “It certainly seems like “them.” Tell me more about your sister, the lawyer.”
“She works for my parents law firm in family law and she and her husband Eric just had twins.”
“Awww, how old are they?”
Chase squinted upward for a second, calculating. “Six months? Yeah, they were born at the end of March.”
“That’s such a fun age.”
“I guess so,” Chase agreed. “They look happy in the pictures.”
Claire put down the plate she was drying. “You have baby pictures and you’re holding out on me?”
Chase jerked his chin at the table. “The phone’s over there. The code’s 0716.”
“Elway and Montana?”
He did a double take. “Yeah. How did you know?”
“I’m more than math, Chase.” Claire paused in unlocking the phone. “I’m not going to find any weird or dirty pictures in here, am I?”
He pretended to consider the question. “I’m pretty sure that I deleted everything incriminating. Here, let me see it.” He opened up a message thread and two adorable babies grinned out at her. “There they are.”
“Awwwwww!” Claire sighed. “They’re so cute and bald.”
“That’s Thomas,” Chase said, pointing to the one on the right. “And that one is Lucas. And I only know for sure because Sydney tells me which one is which in every picture she sends. She says I better have it under control before I come home for break.”
“Knowing your nephews names does seem like an important part of being a good uncle,” Claire said, scrolling through the pictures.
“It’s pretty much the least I can do,” he agreed. “Now quit gushing over my nephews and get to drying these dishes.”
“Fine, fine.” Claire pushed the last plate he’d handed her into the cabinet. “Speaking of things you can do, we should probably actually get down to tutoring.”
He looked around, hoping for more dishes to appear out of nowhere. “We’re really done already?”
“I’m afraid we make too good a team.” That, she mused, was just the truth. The dishes had gotten done remarkably fast and she hadn’t been at all miserable during the process.
“How about we make a deal?” he asked.
Claire leaned against the sink, her heart beating a bit faster. She didn’t even know why, but she thought that it was probably something about the look in his eyes. It wasn’t quite mischievous anymore, but he was definitely a man with a plan.
“What kind of deal?” she asked warily.
“For every problem I get right, you answer a question about yourself.”
She blinked at him. That wasn’t at all what she’d expected. “Why? What do you want to know?”
He shrugged. “A lot of things. I won’t ask anything weird, I promise. And if you don’t want to answer, you can pass and I’ll think of a different question. And I won’t ask you anything about Logan.”
He’d answered every objection she might have thought of, but she didn’t feel trapped. She actually felt intrigued, wondering what type of things he wanted to know about her. And if maybe she could turn the tables and learn a little more about him too. She chewed her lip in thought. He waited patiently, letting her take her time to make the choice without any added pressure. That realization made her give in.
“Okay, fine.”
Fifteen minutes later, he’d gotten his first correct answer. “Okay. This question is probably the most important thing I’ll ask,” he said. “So I think it’s best if we just get it out of the way.”
She swallowed hard, trying to imagine what he could possibly want to know that would make him look so serious. “Okay.”
“What’s your favorite NFL team?”
Claire laughed. “The Miami Dolphins.”
“Are you joking?” Chase demanded.
“That’s technically two questions, but I’ll let you slide. No, I am not joking. I’ll even give you some additional information and tell you that the Saints are an extremely close second. What about you?”
“I like the bird teams,” he said. “Falcons, Ravens, Eagles.”
“Seahawks?”
He made a face. “Okay, I like most bird teams.”
“What did the Seahawks do to you?”
“Other than break my heart?”
“You took that Super Bowl loss hard, huh?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Then get back to your trig.”
“You are one cold woman.” Chase turned his attention back to the problems at hand. Since she’d started so far back, he was able to ask another question fairly quickly.
“What’s your favorite thing to snack on?”
“Chips and dip,” she answered promptly. “Barbeque and french onion, to be precise.”
“Really? Me too.” It wasn’t the most life changing thing to have in common, but it made him feel good anyway.
“I’m not much of a sweets person,” Claire went on. “I mean, I’ll eat chocolate if it’s around, but for the most part I like salty snacks.”
“I’ll remember that,” he said. “Next time we get together I’ll bring the food.”
“Make sure you bring some paper plates to eat it off of,” she said with a laugh.
He messed up the next problem and they had to work their way through it together. But the one after that, he got.
“What kind of music is your favorite?” To his surprise, her face went red. “Oh, this should be good.”
Claire rubbed the back of her neck. “Super twangy country music is my guilty pleasure.”
“When you say twangy...”
“I mean twangy. I mean, my dog died and my wife left me and took my truck, twangy.”
Chase pulled his phone back out of his pocket and pulled up a playlist. He slid the phone across the table and she stared at the music selection.
“Like that?” he asked.
“Are you kidding me?” she demanded. “You really listen to this stuff too?”
“That information does not leave this table,” he said seriously. “But yes. More often than I like to admit.”
By the time they were done studying, he’d discovered a lot of interesting things about her. And he’d made one more major discovery. He really wanted to kiss her.
Claire’s mouth simply drove him to distraction. And when she caught her lower lip between her teeth as she thought about her answers to his questions, he felt his stomach clench with pure desire. She was smart and funny and sexy as hell, especially in the unguarded moments when she forgot to be wary of him. How could he not want her?
Furthermore, he couldn't see even a hint of the unstable girl Logan had talked about. And wouldn’t he had seen at least a little of that manipulation after he’d treated her so badly when they’d first met? Hell, she probably could have been the final straw with Coach Davis and gotten him thrown right off of the team. But she hadn’t refused to tutor him or done anything other than stand up for herself.
And then she’d given him one more chance and she hadn’t tried to control the situation to her own advantage once. It was almost like Logan was talking about a totally different girl. None of it added up.
“Okay,” she said about an hour later. “I think we’re done for the day.”
“How am I doing?” he asked.
She looked over his worksheet carefully before pronouncing judgement. “You did okay. There are still a few concepts that we really need to focus on, but the foundation is getting a little steadier. Just keep practicing and I’ll see you...”
“Tomorrow?” he asked.
“Oh, that reminds me.” She handed him a new piece of paper. “I made us a new schedule. Go over it really quick and make sure it works for you.”
He skimmed over it. They’d be together a lot. “Tomorrow isn’t on here,” he said after a moment.
“No, I have a meeting with one of my teachers,” Claire said. “So we’ll meet up the day after if that’s okay.”
He agreed, shoved his books into his backpack and left her house, feeling unexpectedly bereft at the idea that he wouldn’t be seeing her the next day. It would have been game day, but now he’d just be sitting in his dorm, praying like hell that the team would keep it together without him. If they lost because of him, he’d never live it down.
He knew that he was going to be tense all day. And if he was going to be tense all day, he’d rather be with Claire. He forced his mind away from her for what felt like the 500th time and walked into his dorm, bypassing the crowd in the common area and heading for his room.
When he got upstairs, he unpacked his backpack and reorganized his desk, trying to think of everything he needed to do. He tacked up the new schedule and looked at how much time he’d be spending with Claire. He’d been right when he’d said that if he wasn’t on the field or in class, he’d be with her. The thought was much more welcome now than it had been.