Текст книги "Taking Chances"

Автор книги: Molly McAdams

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 14 (всего у книги 27 страниц)

10

“Wake up, wake up, wake up!” Bree shouted the next morning.

“Ugh! Bree, we don't have class for four hours. Go away!”

“No way! It's your birthday you have to get out of bed!”

Oh right. Birthday. “No one cares, go back to sleep.” I grumbled and pulled the comforter over my head.

“We do, now get your ass up!” She ripped the comforter off the bed completely and threw it to the floor.

“Sometimes, I just want to punch you.”

She beamed a smile at me, “I know. You love me!”

“That too.”

I followed her down the stairs and almost peed myself when Mom and Dad yelled, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARPER!” They were putting pancakes, eggs, bacon and presents on the kitchen table when we walked in.

Jeez, could these people be any more wonderful? First Christmas, now this? We ate together and when the dishes were done I opened my presents. Bree got me three shirts that I could wear now, and when I was “ginormously huge”, Mom and Dad got me another pregnancy book as well as a baby names book, a Juicy bracelet and a green Coach baby bag from all three of them.

How would I ever thank them for so much more than just the presents? “Thank you. You guys are so amazing, I love you all.”

I was bombarded by hugs and I couldn't help but wish for Chase's arms too. I smiled when I remembered today was the day. Since Bree and I didn't have school tomorrow, we were all going out to dinner tonight, then coming back to watch movies. I read through the fourteenth week of What To Expect When You're Expecting, bookmarked my spot with the most recent ultrasound picture, thumbed through the baby name book then hopped in the shower to get ready for my day. This was the first time I'd been excited about having a birthday, and I wanted to look cute for it. So I took my time with my hair and make-up, making sure I looked perfect for my day, and for when I told Chase. I dressed in my favorite pair of dark Lucky jeans, flip flops and one of the new shirts Bree got me. It was dark gray v-neck, long and form fitting, but seriously stretchy. Yep, I'd for sure be able to wear this throughout the whole pregnancy. I almost took it back off when I saw my defined bump showing through the stretchy material, but figured it was time to stop hiding it. People may not notice that my boobs were getting even bigger, but if anyone looked down, they'd definitely know what was going on. When I walked into the kitchen Mom and Bree were thrilled at my outfit because they knew this could only mean one thing and Mom came up to pat my baby bump.

“See you tonight girls! Love you!” She had the widest smile I'd seen since we told her Chase was the father, and it was undeniably contagious.

We were almost to our first class and I did a double take to a chair sitting outside the door. I slowly walked up and grabbed the bouquet of orange lilies, tucked into the side was a note with my name on the envelope. I looked at Bree who was looking around confused, and I joined in with her. There were people I vaguely knew all over, but other than Bree and Mom, only two guys knew about these. And neither of them were around. I opened the note and a huge smile spread across my face when I read the masculine handwriting.

'Happy Birthday Princess'

I bit my lip and looked harder for a tall, tan, built, tatted up guy with shaggy blonde hair, bright blue eyes and a killer smile.

“Who are they from?” Bree grabbed the note out of my hands.

“Chase, do you see him?”

“No. That boy I swear, who knew he could be sweet?”

After another quick look, I reluctantly followed her into the classroom. No sooner had we sat down, than my phone chimed.

Chase – 'You look beautiful today.'

Me – 'Were you watching me?'

Chase – 'Maybe. I finally got to give you your lilies.'

Me – 'You already gave me my lilies a few months ago, remember?'

Chase – 'I couldn't forget that day even if I tried.'

Me – 'Well you could have given these to me yourself you know. I would have liked to see you.'

Chase – 'It was worth it to see that smile on your face'

Me – ':) Thank you for my flowers. I love them'

Chase – 'What are you doing for your Birthday?'

Me – 'Dinner with your fam tonight, movies at the house after. You're invited.'

Chase – 'I'll see what I can do.'

Once again, it wasn't exactly a no, but it wasn't a yes either and I tried to not let that disappoint me. Cryptic words were kind of his specialty.

“Gah, look at you Harper.” Bree whispered.

“What?”

“You already totally have that preggo glow, and now your face is lit up like the freaking sun after texting my brother.”

I looked at her confused, “How did you know I was talking to him?”

She narrowed her eyes at me, then raised her eyebrows. “Like I said, your face is lit up like the sun.” Nudging my knee, she turned to listen to the Professor.

I smiled at my flowers one more time, and tried to follow her lead. Class flew by and we went to lunch to meet up with everyone, Chase wasn't there, but a very shocked looking Brandon was. All the guys had given me big bear hugs, and after an uneasy hug from Brandon he froze and backed up slowly, his eyes trained to my stomach. It had finally been real for me at the first ultrasound, but I don't think it'd been real for Brandon until he saw the bump pushing out from my hips. My stomach churned and my heart ached thinking of the love I'd lost, but I knew I had to get over it. I was the one who had messed up, I needed to get over it so I could get on with my life too. None of the girls got to the table until we were already seated, and even with Brandon's wide eyes staring at where my stomach was hidden from the table, no one else saw the evidence. Since the restaurant was just down the street from campus, after lunch Bree and I went to a boba shop close to the school and did most of our homework before we had to leave for dinner.

We met Claire and Robert at the restaurant at six, and tried to have a great time sans Chase. Claire shared funny stories about her two pregnancies and hilarious things Breanna and Chase had done when they were little. We were all cracking up and wiping tears from our eyes by the time the waiter came with the bill. I checked my phone again and my shoulders dropped when there still wasn't anything from Chase. Claire talked to him today to invite him to dinner, and he'd flat out refused to come. I didn't understand. I thought after our few words yesterday that things were going to turn around, and then after the flowers today, I'd been positive they were. My heart sunk but I tried to keep a happy face for the people that loved me. Apparently I wasn't doing a good job, Claire reached over the table and grabbed my hand, her face sad.

“Sweetie don't worry about it, please. This will all work out, I'm sure of it.” But for once, no one looked like they believed it.

I nodded and flashed a smile, “Movie time?”

We looked at each other awkwardly, but left and headed for home. Bree had an arm slung over my shoulders talking about how much of an ass Chase is when we opened the front doors and all sucked in gasps. There were orange and white lilies covering every table and counter. Chase. A smile broke across my face as I looked around the entryway, dining room and living room for him, Robert let out a low whistle of appreciation and shut the door. My smile died as soon as I heard him in the other room.

“Are you fucking kidding me?! How could you guys keep this from me?” Chase's voice boomed from the kitchen as he rounded the bar and stalked towards us through the living room. “Where the hell is he? I swear to God I'm going to kill him!” With his tall muscular build, tattooed arms and outraged face, he definitely looked like he could kill someone. I grabbed Bree's arm and shrank back into Mom, pulling her with me. Until now, I'd never been scared of Chase, even that night he'd given me bruises.

“Chase!” Robert barked and stepped in front of us, “Calm down, what is going on?”

“I saw the books, I saw the effing ultrasound pictures!”

I flinched. Aw hell, it wasn't supposed to happen this way. Since he hadn't come back to the house in months, we'd left everything on the kitchen table ever since that first appointment.

Robert crossed his arms over his chest, “And?”

“And!? DAD! Bree's knocked up and all you can say is 'and'?!”

Bree snorted and took a step away from me, crossing her arms over her chest, “Please. I'm not as stupid as you, I'm not pregnant.”

“Breanna!” Claire hissed through her teeth. She gave me an apologetic look for her daughter but it was true and I know Bree hadn’t meant it as an insult toward me.

Chase shoved one of the ultrasound pictures in Bree's face, “Then what the hell is this?”

I stepped up next to her, took the photo out of his hand and spoke softly, trying to hide my shaking. “It's mine Chase.”

You could have heard a pin drop. Chase's face had softened as soon as he'd seen me, but turned into one of shock when he registered what I'd said. After a few minutes, a grin that reached his eyes spread across his face as he searched mine.

His eyes slowly trailed down to my stomach and grew wide, “You're pregnant Princess?”

“Yes.” I whispered.

He lifted his head to smile at me and dropped it again, gaze fixed on my bump. This time no one stopped me when I let my hand fall to cover it lovingly. “Is it – is it mine?”

“Of course it is.”

“We're going to have a baby?”

“Yes.”

“This is our baby?” He reached for the photo in my hand.

I smiled, “Yes.”

His expression was so beautiful, tears instantly poured down my cheeks. “We're having a baby.”

I laughed through my tears and nodded my head.

Chase ran a hand through his hair and huffed out a laugh. He looked from the picture to my stomach once more, “I love you so much.” he breathed and closed the distance between us, crushing his lips to mine.

I didn't care that his family was watching, I threw my arms around his neck and let him lift me off the ground. After I was good and kissed, he set me back down and dropped to his knees. Running his hand over my gummy bear bump, he lifted my shirt and kissed my bare stomach twice. A sob broke out of my chest and I looked at Claire who was freely crying and leaning into Robert. Even Bree was wiping a few tears away.

Chase stood back up and cupped my face in his hands, “Why didn't you tell me?”

“I was scared,” I shrugged, “I still am.”

“You don't have to be scared,” he whispered and kissed my nose, “I'll take care of us.”

I looked up at the family, “Can you guys excuse us for a minute?”

Grabbing Chase's hand, I led him up the stairs and to his room. I hadn't been in here since that heated night and I was hit with flashes of it when we stepped in. I sat on the edge of the bed, but he pulled me down so I was curled up into his side. He brought my hand up and played with it over his chest, alternating between intertwining our fingers and bringing them down so he could kiss my palm.

“I can't believe we're going to have a baby.”

I blew out a hard breath, this is what I'd been waiting for and secretly hoped I could have skipped altogether. “About that…Chase –”

He groaned, “No, don't do this again, please.”

“Just hear me out, okay? You're twenty two, you're about to graduate college, I don't want to take your life from you. If you want to live your life, I won't stop you. Just because this baby is yours, don't think that means you're forced to be with me...with us.” I pulled myself up so I could look at him, “I want you to be with us, don't get me wrong. But I will let you go if that's what you need.”

“Are you done?” He was smiling.

“Yes.”

“Harper, I love you more than I could ever explain. Meeting you changed my world. Even when I thought you would never be mine, I couldn't continue to live a life I knew you hated. The night you told me you loved me was the best night of my life, up until tonight. I never want to let you go again, I want to be with you for the rest of my life. I want to marry you someday Harper.” He paused and searched my eyes, “I would do anything for you. I don't know what to do to make you believe me, but I'll spend forever trying to show you.”

“You want to marry me?”

“You have no idea how much.” He brought me back so I was half laying his chest.

“Not just because I'm pregnant?”

He kissed me softly, “Not at all. I gotta admit, it’s a little bit of a shock, but I’ve always thought about being with you and starting a family. And even though it’s sooner than I thought it would be, I’m so freaking excited that it’s happening. When should we be expecting him?”

“Him?”

“Yep, it's gonna be a boy.”

I laughed and ran a hand through his hair, “I'm due October fourth.”

He mentally counted the months and smiled widely when he was done. “So six months, huh? Do you want to take next year off from classes?”

“I can't go back to school.”

“Of course you can, I'll help you.”

“No, not that. I know you would.” I bit my lip and laid flat on the bed, “I told Sir that I'm pregnant.”

He squeezed my hand once, “And?”

“He uh – isn't going to pay for school anymore and he said I'm not welcome back home.”

Chase cursed under his breath, “Are you serious? We'll figure it out, if you want to finish school we'll make it happen.”

I could make it happen if I wanted to, but Gummy Bear had changed all my wants in life. “Really, I don't even want to go back after this semester, that's not why I'm sad. I just hate how he is. I hate how he resents me for being born.”

He pulled me back into his side and stroked his hand up and down my side, “It's not your fault. He's a douche and it's his loss for missing out on an amazing daughter.”

“I was afraid you'd resent me too, for getting pregnant. You wanted to stop and I pushed you.”

“It's not like you had to push hard, I wanted you so bad.”

I nodded and ran my fingers over his chest.

“I don't resent you Harper, I never will.”

We sat there for a while longer, just holding each other and sharing sweet kisses. Bree popped her head in to let us know the movie would be starting soon and left right after to give us a few more minutes.

“Harper, I want you to be mine, and not just because we're having a baby, though I'll warn you, I'm about to tell everyone that we are.” He smiled and kissed my nose, “But I want to be able to hold you in public, I want to show everyone that you're taken and you belong to me. That you’ll always belong to me. Are we done torturing each other by staying apart?”

“Are you done leaving me?”

He hovered just above my lips, “I'll never leave you again sweetie.”

“Then I'm yours.” I closed the distance and kissed him hard.

11

Now that Chase knew about the pregnancy, and was completely on board, everything was so much different around the house. Everyone was happy, Chase was there daily and was even able to drag me to his house a few times so I could hang out with the guys, but it had been more than uncomfortable. Brandon had been there twice, and he knew that Chase was now in the know as well. The look on his face when he saw us together the first time almost killed me. Chase had flipped out when I started hyperventilating, but I wouldn't tell him what was going on. The second time, he'd gotten the hint and only took me around when he knew Brandon wouldn't be there. If that upset him, he never once mentioned it, and he definitely didn't show it. I think he was so happy we were finally together, nothing could put him in a bad mood. And I was happy too, I honestly was, I loved Chase and I loved the expecting daddy role he'd already taken on. Every day I fell more in love with him, but it didn't lessen the love I still had for Brandon. Instead, it was like my heart grew to hold both. Well, all three, if you count my Gummy Bear. Chase never asked me how I'd told Brandon what happened, to be frank, I think he didn't want to know. Deep down, he had to know I still loved him, and that was probably the reason for him to pull me in the opposite direction every time we saw Brandon after that second encounter at the house. I wanted to talk to Brandon, alone, to see how he was doing with all of this. But I wasn't sure I'd be able to handle the conversation, so I continued to talk myself out of it.

We were just getting into the ultrasound room and Chase couldn't stop smiling and was practically bouncing up and down. Dr. Lowdry had seemed excited to meet him and updated him on everything that had happened in the first two appointments, as well as what to expect this appointment and the ones following over the next few months. When the lights turned off and the ultrasound started, I finally understood why Mom had told me I'd only want to be here with Chase. This was...an out of body experience. It was magical. You could practically see the love and joy flowing through the two of us. Instead of closing my eyes to listen to the heartbeat, Chase and I stared at each other for a couple minutes just smiling and listening to our baby.

“I can't even believe how perfect of a position your baby is in right now! That is unreal.” Dr. Lowdry laughed as she clicked some keys to snap a few pictures. “Now, did you want to find out the sex of the baby, or do you want it to be a surprise?”

“I already know.” I smiled at the screen, there was no mistaking it.

Chase laughed and squeezed my hand tighter, “I told you baby. I told you it would be a boy.”

We both looked at Dr. Lowdry, “It is a boy, isn't it?” I asked. I mean, it looked like it was a boy, but I wasn't the professional.

“Oh he is definitely a boy.” She laughed again and took a few more pictures as he rolled slightly.

Chase leaned over and kissed me sweetly, whispering against my lips, “I love you,” He glanced down to my stomach and back to me, “and our son so much Harper.” He brushed his thumbs over my cheeks and kissed me again while Dr. Lowdry turned on the lights.

She handed us our new pictures and we walked out of the building. As soon as we reached the parking lot Chase grabbed my hand and pulled me back to him, slamming his mouth against mine. I giggled and wrapped my arms around him as he leaned me against his truck.

“That was...that was absolutely amazing!” He laughed and kissed me again.

“Having you there made it so special, all I could think about the last two times was how I wished you were there to experience it with me. I'm sorry it took me so long to tell you.”

He shook his head and opened the door for me, “No sorrys today, I love you and we're having a son. Today is only allowed to be an I love you day.”

I smiled and got in his truck, completely blissed out. We stopped to grab some lunch and started heading home, so I was confused when we pulled into a Ford dealership. “Uh...?”

“So I've been thinking,” he started and grinned mischievously at me, “you're going to need your own car soon, and I happen to know that you want a blacked out Expedition.”

“Chase...”

“I may have had one brought to this dealership.”

“No you didn't.” My jaw dropped and I looked out the windows.

He shrugged, “I said I may have. Never said I did.”

I smacked his arm and hopped out of his truck, he met me on the passenger side and pulled me into his arms. “Are you being serious?”

“I am.” He pressed a feather light kiss to my neck, “But we can look around and see if there's something else you want.”

“Babe!” I gasped, but reigned in my excitement, “I can't buy a car.” Okay that was entirely untrue. I'd worked at least forty hours a week almost every week for six years and saved everything I'd made until I moved here, and even then Brandon had always been trying to pay for things I'd been about to buy. I still had well over ninety-eight percent of my savings. Even though Sir was cutting me off, I could have easily finished my school with what I still had, but I was having a baby, and I didn't work anymore. I needed to save as much as I could for him and getting a house. Not that Chase knew how much I had, like Brandon I wasn't usually one to talk about my money.

“Maybe not, but we can.”

“You want to split it?” I asked confused.

He laughed and his eyes lit up, “Not exactly. Okay you can tell me if this is moving too fast, but since I plan on marrying you soon,” he raised an eyebrow to make sure I understood what that meant and I inhaled audibly, “I wanted to put you on my bank account so you have access to my money.”

“Chase, I don't need you to do that and I don't need you to buy me a car.”

“I know Princess, but I want you to have access to it. I make decent money at the shop, but Bree and I were also given a lot when Dad's parents died. So I have more than enough in savings to take care of the three of us, and to buy you a car. It's not a big deal.”

I bit my lip and shifted my weight, “I know you want to, and to be honest it kind of excites me that you want to share all that with me. But I'm saying...I really don't need you to. If we're going to share your bank account, then we should share mine too.”

“Harper that isn't necessary.” He smiled and wrapped his arms around me, but blanched when I whispered how much I had in savings. “Are you serious? Just from working on the base?” I nodded and he let out a low whistle, sounding like his dad, “Well damn babe. That's great, and if you want to add it to our accounts that's fine. But I'd rather not touch that money, we can save it for emergencies, just let me take care of you.”

“Okay.” I pressed my lips to his and sighed into his arms.

“You ready to look for a car?”

I grinned and jumped back, “Nope! No need to look, I already know I want the Expedition!”

Chase laughed and pulled me into the showroom, after talking to a couple people they brought my car around and I tried not to squeal. It was black with black rims, black leather seats and completely decked out. I was in love with this car. Chase let me do the test driving and I was bouncing up and down as we did paperwork for over an hour. My jaw about hit the floor when Chase paid for the entire thing right then and there. I mean, I knew he'd had more money than me, but to just pay for something like that seemed crazy to me. Even the guy giving us all the documents to sign raised an eyebrow when Chase said it would all be taken care of then. When we were finally finished, we drove to the bank in our separate cars so Chase could add me to his accounts and I could add my savings to our now-joint savings account. Thankfully I'd already been using the same bank as him, so it didn't take too long, but I thought I was going to have a stroke when I saw how much money we had combined. There was no reason a twenty-two, and nineteen year old couple about to have a baby and still in college should have that kind of money. Hell, most fifty year old married couples didn't have that kind of money. I now understood why Bree bought me Coach purses like it was no big deal. Because apparently, it really wasn't.

We drove back to Mom and Dad's house, and after showing off my new car to everyone, sat down for dinner and told them our exciting news from the baby appointment this morning. They were all ecstatic and we pulled out the names book right then and started going through them, highlighting names we liked, and bursting into laughter at some of the more ridiculous “Hipster Baby Names”. About an hour after dinner, Chase leaned over the back of the couch to wrap his arms around me.

“Can you do me a favor?” He whispered low in my ear, my body instantly covered in goose bumps from his tone.

“Anything.” I breathed and tilted my head away so he could press his lips to my neck.

“Go pack a bag for a few nights, and meet me down here in ten minutes.” His lips left my neck to move to my ear, his voice dropped even lower and went all smooth and sexy, “You won't need many clothes.”

My eyes widened and cheeks flamed. “Are we going to your house?” I was a little disturbed, we hadn't touched each other in that way since the weekend I got pregnant, and I didn't prefer to do anything in a house where my ex-boyfriend was.

“Nope, but it's a surprise, I can't tell you.”

“You and your surprises.” I laughed and rolled my eyes, “Okay ten minutes and I'll be ready.”

I rushed upstairs and grabbed a bag stuffing it full of toiletries, and very few clothes. When I say few, I mean I only brought one extra outfit. And a pair of sleep clothes, though I knew I wouldn't be using them. I was back downstairs and in Chase's truck within seven minutes. We drove for quite a while, but the time passed quickly while we talked about things we had planned for our son's future. My mouth formed a large O when he pulled into a beautiful bed and breakfast in Dana Point.

“Oh my God.” I whispered as I slowly got out of his truck, “Chase, I don't know how you're ever going to be able to top today. Finding out we're having a boy, buying me a car, joining our bank accounts, and this?”

“I promise I'll always try to top this, but I did want today to be perfect.” He grabbed our bags and I followed him in. When we were in our room, he pulled me into his arms and locked his dark blue eyes with mine, “I know what I said earlier, but don't think we have to do anything this weekend. All I wanted was to have three nights of just you and me, I don't expect anything.”

“I know you don't, but I want this too, Chase.” I grabbed the bottom of his shirt and lifted it up, letting him finish taking it off. When it was on the floor I let my fingers glide down his chest and stomach, resting at the top of his jeans. I began unbuttoning them, but his hands stopped me.

“You're sure Harper?”

I laughed and pointed to my stomach, “Um?”

His face went blank, “Just because we're having a baby doesn't mean we have to do anything.”

“Chase. I didn't mean it like that. But yes, I am sure. Now stop trying to stop me and let me love you.”

He chuckled and brought his face to mine for a brief moment, then stepped back to let me finish undressing him. When I was done, he started his slow, torturous undressing of me. I was shuddering in heated anticipation long before he'd even gotten my shorts off. We stood there taking each other in, completely naked, not touching each other until he bent down to kiss my gummy bear bump, then my tattoo and finally standing up to mold his mouth to mine. He picked me up and set me on the bed, climbing on top of me so we could resume exploring each other with our lips and hands until we were both breathing so hard from the intense touches, I was begging him to take me. It was slow and passionate, and just as I'd remembered our first two times.

The rest of the weekend had been amazing, it wasn't just one big love fest, though we did get completely carried away a couple times each day when sweet kisses quickly turned heated, which of course turned into more. But the majority of our days and nights were spent holding each other and talking about everything. From our time apart, before and after the weekend in January, to our time together now, and what we wanted later. By the time Sunday morning came around and we only had a few more hours left, I was pouting, not ready to give up this precious time.

“We can do this every weekend, if you want.” He kissed the top of my head and ran his fingers through my hair.

“Tempting, but then it would lose its appeal. It wouldn't be a perfect romantic weekend getaway; it would just become our weekends.”

“True. I'm not ready to give this up yet though.”

I exhaled softly and crawled up the bed so I could look in his captivating eyes, “Me neither, but we need to go back to real life now.”

“Well not now, we still have a few hours.” He grinned and flipped me onto my back, “I'm sure we can find something to do in that time.”

I sucked in a breath when his lips started making a sensual line from my throat, across my chest and down my stomach. He bent one of my legs, letting his hands slowly trail down the inside of my thigh before doing the same to the other. He kissed his way back up to my lips and pressed himself into me, biting back a groan. His hand wrapped around my back and pulled me closer to him as we moved together, enjoying the last time we'd have privacy for this for some time to come. When we were finished, we lay there holding each other, whispering our love for one another before reluctantly leaving the bed and packing up to leave.

***

“Hey Princess, can you come by the shop?”

I glanced at the clock and pursed my lips, “I'm going to dinner with Bree in a little over an hour, but I can swing by really quick. Did you need me to bring you anything?”

“Just yourself. Brian's mad because you haven't been around. And we have a new artist, she wants to meet you after hearing all our stories about you.”

“I was just there last week!” We both laughed into the phone, Brian was another tattoo artist I hadn't met until after Chase and I became a couple, and he'd decided right then that I was having his baby and that Chase was seriously confused. He was one of Chase's closest friends there, and after meeting his bombshell of a wife Marissa, we'd all hung out several times. Even Marissa asked how Brian's child was doing. “I'm leaving right now, see you in a minute.”

“I love you.”

“Love you too Chase.”

 I stiffened when I saw an older woman sitting on Chase's counter, laughing flirtatiously with him, her hand on his arm, her leg brushing his every time she'd swing it. Chase saw me and his face lit up like he was looking at the most amazing person in the world, and I was confused that he hadn't looked like he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“Come here babe!” When I got closer he wrapped his arms around me and kissed me soundly before turning me to the woman, “Harper this is Trish, Trish this is my beautiful Harper.”

“It's nice to meet you Trish.” I held out my hand and my face fell, eyes narrowing when she refused to say anything back or take my hand. She was blatantly giving me a once over with a nasty smirk on her painted face. “Or not.” I mumbled and dropped my hand. It reminded me of the day Chase had met Carter, except Chase hadn't even noticed what was happening, he was looking behind me talking to Jeff. I looked at Trish quickly again before turning away to join the guy’s conversation.