Chapter Sixteen
I exit my human biology unit when I hear the rumble of a motorcycle. I look across and see Chase there, sitting on his Harley. Shit kicker boots, jeans, and a worn leather jacket. He really is too much. He pulls his helmet off as I walk over towards him. I notice girls staring at him, and I can’t help a smug smile. That sexy man is all mine.
“And to what do I owe this visit, Mr. Jackson?” I purr.
He grabs my waist and pulls me against him.
“You’re a distraction. Couldn’t even get any work done, could only think about you,” he rumbles. “You’re taste, you’re smile..” his hands run down my back and grab a hold of my ass. “And other things of course,” he smiles deviously.
I shake my head at him. “You’re incorrigible.”
“I try,” he says as he kisses me on the lips gently.
He lifts me up and puts me on the bike, causing me to squeak out in surprise.
“Let’s get you home my beautiful girl; I have some plans for you.”
I wrap my arms around him as he starts the bike, and we ride home.
It turns out his plans for me, were exactly what I thought they would be.
******
That night we are snuggled in his bed, talking about everything and nothing.
“Come with me to Sydney?” he asks for the third time.
“Chase, I can’t. I told my parents I’d visit them.”
“You saw them recently!” he whines.
“Try telling that to them!”
“Fine, but next time, and every time hereafter, you’re mine.” He decides.
“Fine.” I grumble.
“Baby..”
“Hmmm?”
“Kiss on it.”
“Okay.” And we do.
We make love in the morning, slowly and gently, and then Chase leaves to catch his flight. He kisses me at the door, long and deep and I can sense his reluctance to leave.
“Honey, go!” I laugh as I have to literally push him out the door.
“Fine. Call me and let me know your safe baby.” He demands.
“I will, I will. Bye!” He waves then gets into his cab.
******
After spending time at my parents, and hearing more lectures from my mother, I decided to come home a day early to surprise Chase. I know, I’m a sap, but I miss him like crazy. We have been texting each other nonstop. Chase got back into town this morning, so I thought I’d drive back and get there by evening. My phone beeps with a text from him:
C: Missing you like fucking crazy baby! Can’t wait til tomorrow!
L: Miss you too. I’ll see you soon honey.
Little does he know.
I stop at Nikki’s house on the way back and hang out for a while, showering and changing into some sexy lingerie over a tight black dress. Her parents demand me to stay for dinner, so I do. When she walks me out to my car I ask something I’ve wanted to ask her for a while.
“Nikki what’s the deal with you and Kade?”
She sighs. “No deal, we hooked up. Nothing serious, just a little fun.” She is so not telling me something. “Text me when you get home safe.”
“I will,” I hug her and jump into my car.
When I pull up at the house, my mouth drops open. They are having a party. A certain someone failed to mention that. There are several cars in front of the house, so I park on the grass. I can hear loud music pumping, I believe the song is Hypnotize by Gemini. I love that song, but I didn’t picture the guys listening to that kind of music.
I have a really bad feeling. I pull out my phone and call Chase. No answer. I get out of the car and walk to the front door. I don’t need my key because the door is wide open. I walk in and see a few men I don’t know, walking around the house.
I drag my bag into Chase’s room and dump it on the floor. I turn on the light and get the shock of my life. There is a girl, with long brown hair. Asleep. In our bed. Wearing what appears to be very little clothing. Screw this. This is where shit hits the fan I guess.
I walk out of his room and stomp into the lounge area, there are a few people making out there, but I know none of them. I go to the dining room and see most of the people are partying outside, not inside. And there he is. The bastard of the hour. He’s sitting alone drinking a beer, until some random girl comes and sits on his lap and he laughs, but then he slowly removes her from his lap. Which pisses me off. I walk down the hall, and come face to face with the last person I would have expected to see.
My older cousin, Ryder. Stunned, I freeze when his huge grey eyes land on mine, a harsh scowl appearing on his face. Let me tell you a little about Ryder. My cousin on my father’s side, he’s twenty five, and extremely over protective of his baby sisters and cousins. He is the eldest of all of our cousins, and he takes his responsibility very seriously. He loves all of us dearly, and is extremely overbearing.
“Layla, what the fuck are you doing at a party like this?” he asks stiffly.
“Nice to see you too, Ryder,” I grumble.
He checks me over from head to toe, then barks out, “I’m taking you home, Layla. The men here will eat you alive.”
“Ryder, I am home,” I tell him.
Baffled, he shakes his head slightly.
“I live here, I rent out one of the rooms here,” I tell him simply.
“You live...” he breaks off as realization dawns.
“With Kade and James?” he growls.
“Yes, and Chase,” I say.
“Chase?” he repeats disbelievingly. All of a sudden his face grows angrier, and a storm brews in his eyes. “That fucking piece of shit!” he growls through his teeth. “Go wait in your room a second Layla, can you please do that for me?” his eyes plead with mine.
I nod, and he storms off down the hall. I glance at the hallway to my bedroom door and then back to where Ryder stormed off too. Mind made up, I follow Ryder and stick my head out of the hallway sliding door, just in time to see Ryder punch Chase right in the face.
What. The. Hell.
Chase stands up and pushes Ryder off him, and into the kitchen table. I run over just as Ryder yells, “I told you to stay away from my cousin, you fucking bastard. You will never be good enough for her!” the animosity in his voce stuns me. Kade runs in and stands between the two men, saying something quietly to Chase. Ryder sees me and yells, “I told you to stay in your room, Layla!”
“Don’t you fucking yell at her!” Chase growls at him, moving forward until Kade pulls him back.
Ryder grins evilly “She’s my baby cousin, you asshole. I’ll talk to her however I like. You said you would stay away from her!” he barks.
Chase looks over at me and then sighs. I’d had enough. “What is he talking about Chase?” I grind out.
Ryder looks over at me and frowns, “You don’t remember him? Chase and I were good friends, he came out to our place one time and you were there. You were just seventeen. He wouldn’t keep his fucking eyes off you. The way he used and discarded women, hell no was I going to let him near you. I told him to stay the fuck away from you, and he agreed.” He looks over at Chase, “I guess your word means shit nowadays, right Chase?”
Chase looks at my cousin and says, “Look Ryder, I’m sorry. I just saw her in the club, and fuck; I never thought I would see her again. I knew she was it for me. I’ve known ever since I saw her three years ago, and I couldn’t let her get away twice. She is older now, and I’m sorry you’re pissed, but I’m not gonna fucking give her up. She’s mine, and she’s not going anywhere!”
Ryder is about to charge at Chase again when I call out, “It doesn’t matter, Ryder. Chase and I are done.” I look at Chase as I say it, my eyes showing him how serious I am. I storm to my room, only to be accosted in the hall.
“Hey sexy,” some idiot purrs as he grabs me by the hips. One of his hands reach around to grab my ass and I’m about to demonstrate my self-defense skills, when he is grabbed off me and slammed against the wall. Chase looks pissed; his blue eyes are so cold, I have to stop myself from taking a step back.
“That’s my woman you had your hands on, Joel”
“I had no idea she was yours, Chase, shit!”
He now has Joel by the throat. I suppose I should stop this. Using my ‘listen to me now’ authority voice, I calmly say, “Let him go Chase. Now!”
Chase doesn’t look at me, but I know he hears me because he lets pervy guy go.
“Get the fuck out of here.” He whispers to Joel in a deathly tone. Joel splits straight away. Looks like he had a little bit of common sense after all. Chase takes a few deep breaths, and I know he’s trying to calm down before he deals with me. When he finally glances over, and takes in my short dress, his eyes narrow.
“Where have you been?” he demands.
“You have got to be kidding me! I came here to surprise you!” I say heatedly.
“We aren’t fucking over, Layla, just because Ryder doesn’t approve. That’s his problem. I left you alone when you were seventeen cos you were too young. I’m not backing off of you, ever,” he says seriously. “You should have told me you were coming, I would have told Kade to cancel his party!” he reaches out to touch me, and I move out of his reach. His eyebrows draw down. “Baby..”
“You know what Chase? Fuck. You. We are done. Go fuck one of your whores,” I hiss through clenched teeth.
I try to make a dramatic exit, but he grabs me and picks me up, lifting me over his shoulder. I struggle, so he slaps my ass, kind of hard too. Bastard. Well it’s safe to say Chase has driven me to use profanity as every single adjective. And to think over a week ago I only swore in emergencies. Asshole. Apparently I said the last word out loud because he slapped my ass again. He throws me on my bed, less gently then he could have, and my dress lifts up to reveal the lace thong I wore for him. The heat in his eyes almost makes me forget why I’m mad, but then that heat turns into anger. Why he is angry, I have no idea. I can see his lip and jaw turning red from where Ryder punched him. I knew he could have hit him back, but Chase had refrained. I think they are both evenly matched, who knew who would have won that fight.
“That fucking guy was grabbing you while you were wearing that? What the fuck Layla!” he starts pacing, “You walked through a house that is filled with men, wearing that little piece of scrap! Now please enlighten me as to why you are so mad? Because we had a party and I didn’t tell you? Because your cousin is an asshole who thinks I’m not good enough for you?” He’s fuming. But so am I.
“No that’s not why I’m angry at all Chase. Yes this whole Ryder thing is... I don’t even know what it is. But maybe it’s because I came home early because I missed my man, only to find him throwing a wild party, some whore sitting on his lap. No, that isn’t even the worst part. The worst part would be the girl he has sleeping in his fucking bed!!!” I scream the last part, and tears drip from my eyes.
Chase’s eyes widen, and I think he finally understands just how much damage has been done. His voice is soft and gentle when he speaks, like one would talk to a skittish animal.
“Baby, what..”
“Get out, Chase. If you don’t get out now, I’m packing my shit, and I’m not coming back.”
He curses. “We are going to talk about this, lock the door after me. I’m going to deal with this shit, including your cousin.” He tries to kiss me, but I push him away. The look in his eyes is heartbreaking, but right now I could care less. He leaves and I lock the door, strip, turn out the lights, and put my iPod on full volume and go to sleep.
I wake up before the ass crack of dawn, opening my door slowly so it doesn’t creak. I’m in total stealth mode. I’m wearing a black cat suit (I’ve been looking for an appropriate occasion to wear it, and I figure this is it) and black ballet flats. After spending the night crying and feeling sorry for myself, I decided to suck it up and move on. People break up every day right? Women meet men that they think are perfect for them, then find women sleeping in their beds, right? Well, I’m not moping around anymore. Well I will be, just not where he has the satisfaction of seeing it.
I slip outside the door and find my first problem. Chase is sleeping on the floor outside my door. Either he knew I was going to do a runner or he was just worried about me. He looks so young like this, black locks falling on his face. He looks so hot with the stubble too, damn him. And that dimple. I’m gonna miss that damn dimple. I sneakily step around him, my bag on my back, and tip toe to the front door.
Before I can exit something occurs to me. Is Chase not in his bed because someone else is? New mission accepted. I head to his room and peak inside. The bed is empty.
I turn from his room and come face first into a hard chest. Looking up into curious blue eyes, I thank my lucky stars it’s the easiest going of the group. I wrap my arms around him and watch his eyebrows rise and his eyes widen. He takes in my attire causing his lips to twitch.
“James,” I whisper, “I’m going to Nikki’s, I just need some time alone, away from him.”
James puts his arms around me and sighs. He leads me outside to my car. “What happened last night Layla?”
I jump in my car and he gets in the passenger side.
“Short story is. I came home early, you guys were having your orgy, I see a girl on Chase’s lap and there was a girl in his bed.”
“Aubrey.” James whispers to himself.
“Who is she?” I demand. James plays with his lip ring, and avoids my question. “Oh and Chase is friends with my cousin, Ryder, who is not happy we were together,” I sigh dramatically.
“He’s going to kill me if I just let you drive away, you know. Last night he came storming out of your room, and kicked everyone out. Aubrey included. That was a first, that’s for sure. He and Ryder had a long ass chat, Ryder said he will be back to talk with you tomorrow.” He sighs, “Come home tonight Princess, don’t let him kick you out of your own house.” He gets out of the car, and makes his way back inside, as I’m pulling away from the house.
I decide to check into a hotel, paying with my emergency credit card. If this wasn’t an emergency, I don’t know what was. I text Nikki and let her know what’s going on, avoiding all of Chase’s numerous texts and calls. I have a shit load of calls and messages from Ryder too. I reply to him and let him know I’m perfectly fine.