Chapter Eleven
Taylor
Chase Maxwell was ridiculous.
And ridiculously hot.
Every time I spoke to him, or touched him, or he made a corny joke, I fell for him a little bit more. If I wasn’t careful, by the time we were finished, there would be nothing left of me when he walked away. And he would, inevitably, walk away.
There was no doubt in my mind about that.
For now, I was going to enjoy having him at my side and do my best to not worry about what came next. I was going to live in the moment, with the boy I’d had a crush on for my whole frigging life at my side, and that was that. I paced in front of my dorm, watching for Chase’s car. He’d said forty-five minutes, and it was pushing an hour.
Maybe he was walking away already. Maybe he got good news at the doctor and was ready to move on. Shaking my head at myself, I sensed someone coming up behind me. Hoping it was Chase, I spun, but it wasn’t. It was a girl I vaguely recognized from my Economics class.
She walked right up to me, clearly intending to talk, so I forced a smile. “Hi.”
“Hey.” She smiled back. “You’re Taylor, right?”
“Yeah.” I tucked my hair behind my ear, glancing over my shoulder. Still no sign of Chase. “You’re in Economics, right?”
She nodded. “Yes. With Chase.”
“Yeah.”
She bit her lip. “I know you don’t know me, but…”
“Yeah?” I asked after she faded off.
“I was wondering if you’d like to be friends,” she blurted out.
I blinked at her.
“That sounded weird.” She laughed nervously, flicking her brown hair over her shoulder. “It’s just, you seem nice, and you’re one of the only people who seems to be able to give Chase a second chance, and I like that about you.”
I swallowed. “Uh, thanks?”
“I mean it. Chase was—is—a nice guy. Everyone deciding to hate him was kind of ridiculous. I mean, we don’t know what happened that night. Only he does.”
Nodding, I looked for him again. “Do you know him? Are you friends with him?”
“I was, once,” she admitted, her cheeks flushing. “We were more than friends, actually. I cheer for the team, and we were a couple, back when it happened.”
“Oh. Oh.” Everything about her screamed of Chase’s type. Her slim frame. Her big breasts. The name brand clothing she wore. Her long hair. Her perfect face. She was drop-dead gorgeous. Totally his type. “Look, I don’t know what—”
“I know you’re with him, and I’m not trying to win him back,” she said quickly. “I lost that chance when I didn’t stand by him like I should have. That’s on me.”
Anger swelled in the pit of my stomach. “You broke up with him after the accident?”
“No, he broke it off with me.” She bit her lip again. “But I let him. I didn’t fight for us. That’s my fault, not his. He was in a dark place.”
He still was, but little by little he was coming into the light. I would like to think I had a big part in that, but to be honest, it was all him. He’d made the choice to come back into the real world, and that was the only way he could heal.
If he wanted to.
“My name’s Amanda.”
I stared at her, hesitating, because she was just so pretty. But I was never the type to dismiss someone out of jealousy, and I wasn’t about to start now because of a boy.
“I’m having a party Friday night. You should come—and bring Chase.”
I lifted my brows. “Will the football team be there?”
“Yes, but don’t let that stop you, or him.” She smiled. “It’s time to show them they don’t run the school, right? What better way than to ignore them and piss them off?”
I laughed. “I like the sound of that.”
“Honestly, though, this hatred of him has gone on long enough. He needs to show them he doesn’t care what they think about him, and he shouldn’t.” She shrugged. “If he did something wrong, he would have been arrested, right?”
I nodded once. “Right.”
“He’s lucky to have you,” she said, a wistful tone to her voice.
To be honest, I really wanted to dislike her, to not trust her, but it was kind of impossible to do when her sincerity was written clearly all over her face. Regret was there, too. I had no doubt in my mind that she still had a thing for Chase, and I wished I could hate her for that, but Chase wasn’t the kind of guy you just got over. He was like one of those worms that burrowed its way into your digestive system. Once he was there, it was next to impossible to get rid of him.
“Why did he break up with you?” I asked quietly.
She smiled sadly. “He said being with him would only drag me down, and he didn’t want to ruin my social reputation, or my life. He said a girl like me, one who was pure and shiny, shouldn’t be with a tarnished guy like him.”
I tried not to let that bother me, I really did.
“You still care about him,” I said.
It wasn’t a question.
“As a friend, sure. I always will.”
Yeah. I knew that feeling all too well.
“But I meant what I said. You seem like a pretty cool person.” She smiled again. “The kind of girl Chase needs by his side right now.”
I tried to smile. “Thanks.”
“Let me give you my number,” she said, perking up again.
I pulled my phone out, and she texted me with her name. Soon she was on her way again, hair swinging perkily with each step she took toward the dining hall.
When my phone started vibrating, I glanced down at it. The screen was cracked really bad, but I could make out enough to know it wasn’t Chase.
It was his father.
Grreeaat.
Wincing, I answered. “Hello?”
“What the hell are you up to? I hired you to make my son pass college, not to have you hanging all over him,” he snarled.
I looked at the phone then put it back to my ear. “I don’t know what you’re—”
“Are you seducing my son instead of tutoring him?” he asked angrily. “Because if you are, our deal is null and void, and you can clear your belongings out of that dorm I’m paying for, and go back to community college or wherever you were before I paid for your goddamn education.”
Stiffening, I tightened my grasp on my phone, dread settling into my stomach like a heavy anvil. He’d never told me if something happened between us that I’d lose my education, but I couldn’t fake surprise that he’d stoop so low. The man was an asshole. A rich asshole who pretty much owned the world, but an ass nonetheless. “Sir—”
“Are you in a relationship with my son?”
I had two options here.
One: honesty.
Two: lies.
I knew which one I preferred, which one I lived my life by, but I also knew if I was honest, I’d be out of this school, and all my life’s dreams would die. It wasn’t that possibility that had me choosing the latter option, though.
It was the fact that if I left, Chase wouldn’t have me around.
While I didn’t think I was the reason he was changing, I did think my being here was having a good effect on his life, and if I left…what if that stopped?
What if he stopped chasing his dreams?
I couldn’t take that risk.
“No, sir. I just got close to him, thinking it would be easier for him to accept my help if I was at his side, instead of strictly tutoring him.” I swallowed hard, the lie choking me up. “I’m just playing a role, sir. His grades are up. His spirits are up even more. It’s working.”
He was silent. “It is?”
“Yes, sir.” I saw his car pull in the parking lot. “It means nothing. It’s not real. I’m just doing the job you sent me here to do, sir, and that’s it. When I’m done, I’ll be out of his life, and yours, and you’ll have your son back. I promise.”
“I better,” he warned. “I put a lot of money into this plan. Do not disappoint me. You won’t like the consequences.”
I stiffened. “Is that a threat?”
“Of course not,” he said, snorting. “But your parents are getting older. I’d hate to see them out of a job and a home before their time. They’ve been very loyal.”
Un-frigging-believable.
He’d actually gone there. Threatened my parents.
Chase was right to hate him. He was a monster with a big bank account.
“Do you understand what I’m saying?” he asked into the silence.
“Oh yeah. I understand.” I swallowed. “But if I told Chase what you’re doing to me—”
“Then I’d be forced to take the same action, and your parents wouldn’t be happy with the outcome of said action.”
I glared toward Chase’s car. “I have to go. He’s here, and I don’t need you blowing my cover and ruining my parents lives…sir.”
He hung up on me, and I slid my broken phone into my purse.
Chase pulled up, grinning and looking blissfully unaware of the fact that I’d just been threatened by his father. It needed to stay that way. If he knew that his dad was holding my parents’ employment and possible impending homeless status over my head, he would explode in his father’s face, and my parents could end up paying the price.
So…I had to keep my mouth shut.
Play my part.
And then, when the time was right, I had to move along like I promised. Chase was great. I liked him a lot. Could probably even love him, if I was stupid enough to do so. But was he really worth the risk he posed to me and my parents? This thing between us wasn’t forever. It wasn’t even serious. We were just having fun.
Could I risk losing everything for a little bit of fun?
He rolled the window down, still grinning at me. He looked so happy. So very different from his father. “Hey, Tay.”
“H-Hey,” I said, forcing a smile.
When I didn’t get in, or move, he frowned and shifted the car into park. “Is something wrong?”
I hesitated. He looked at me with a deep frown, the concern he felt for me shining in his green eyes. There was something about the way he looked at me—like he was terrified that I’d come to my senses and decided not to be with him—that broke me. It was like he expected me to reject him, to stop fighting for him, much like Amanda had.
I couldn’t do that to him.
Couldn’t give up on him.
Shaking my head, I walked toward the passenger door. “Nothing’s wrong.”
As I slid into my seat, he sagged against his for a second, and the relief he showed punched me in the chest. Without a word, he leaned over, cupped my cheek, and kissed me. There was desperation to this kiss, a desperation I felt, too. It was like we were both all too aware of the fact that this kiss, that every kiss, could be our last one.
It was heartbreaking.
He pulled back, running his thumb over my lower lip. Staring deep into my eyes, he took a deep breath. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yep.” I nodded, my heart aching as I pulled away and shut my car door. “Let’s go eat. I’m starving.”
Without another word, he pulled away from the curb, his jaw tight and his grip on the wheel even tighter. It was perfectly clear that he wasn’t buying a word I was selling.
To be honest?
Neither was I.