argue with him, but he’s right. If Jeff catches Chase here again, it’ll be huge trouble for me.
“This’ll have to last until we see each other again,” Chase declares, then pulls me in for a kiss so thorough I think he’s licked my toes.
As fast as the kiss ends, he’s gone into the night, running toward a small culvert on the edge of Jeff’s property. I reach up and press my fingers to my lips, as if I can hold on to Chase’s kiss a little extra longer by doing that.
I see headlights coming toward the house and sprint back inside, up the stairs, climbing into bed and under the covers before I realize I have filthy feet. Oh, well.
My heart races as Jeff parks his car, the front door to the house creaking open quietly. I’m always asleep when Jeff works the bar this late. I never realized he was quiet. That’s nice of him, trying not to wake me up. It makes me soften a little toward him. Maybe he’s not such a big old jerk after all.
And then I hear a voice that isn’t Jeff’s.
A female voice.
And it’s someone I know.
My eyes go wide in the night as she asks, “Allie here?”
“She’s asleep. Just like all the other times.”
The woman giggles. It’s Heather, one of the barmaids at Jeff’s bar. I’ve known her since, well, forever. I can’t think of a time in my life when I’ve not known her. We don’t work together much because of different shifts.
More giggles. Then Jeff makes a groan that I know, but I only know what that sound is because Chase made a sound an awful lot like that earlier this evening.
Oh, gross.
I shove a pillow over my head as hard as I can, because I don’t want to hear Heather and Jeff having actual sex right now.
Not now.
Not ever .
Jeff’s voice comes through the pillow, though. He’s being nice and talking in a low, smooth voice. The kind of voice men use when they want to get in a woman’s pants.
I reach for my nightstand, hand flailing because I’m blind, still hiding under the pillow. There. Got it!
I grab my old MP3 player and stuff the earbuds in my ears, starting a song as fast as I can. The technobeat booms in my ears, drowning out the rest of the world.
Just like kissing Chase did.
I’d much rather be kissing Chase right now, but with him gone, this will have to do.
Chapter Eight
I call Marissa the next day from the bar while Jeff’s out doing something in Blythe, just across the Arizona and California border. It’s the nearest town, and still a twenty-mile drive. This gives me plenty of time to talk and figure out last night’s nightmare.
Last night’s dream . Chase appeared out of nowhere, coming to my house for me. Me.
“It’s a Halloway trait. We don’t let go of the things we want. Ever.”
His words haunt me.
“Allie!” Marissa sounds so happy to hear from me. Jeff doesn’t let me have a cell phone unless I’m running an errand for him, so I have to use the house phone. “How are you? Getting close?”
“Close to what?”
She chuckles. “Moving out here?”
An image of Chase floats through my mind, his name imprinting in the echo chamber of my heart. “Yes! Soon, I hope.” And maybe I’ll bring someone with me.
The thought makes me smile.
“You okay? You seem a little...off,” she says.
“I’m, well...no. I’m not okay. I have a question. What do you know about motorcycle clubs?”
“You mean biker gangs?”
“That’s another term for it,” I say in a prissy voice.
She laughs. I can hear her confusion. “I watch Sons of Anarchy sometimes with my friends. They pirate it. We can’t afford cable. But that’s about all I know, Allie. Why? Did those bikers start another fight in the bar, or did Charlie Hunnam come to visit you last night and pop your cherry?”
I start choking. Chase doesn’t look anything like Charlie Hunnam, but she’s awfully close to the truth. I want to tell her so badly it aches inside. Something stops me.
“Right. Like I’d ever be that lucky,” I finally
“This’ll have to last until we see each other again,” Chase declares, then pulls me in for a kiss so thorough I think he’s licked my toes.
As fast as the kiss ends, he’s gone into the night, running toward a small culvert on the edge of Jeff’s property. I reach up and press my fingers to my lips, as if I can hold on to Chase’s kiss a little extra longer by doing that.
I see headlights coming toward the house and sprint back inside, up the stairs, climbing into bed and under the covers before I realize I have filthy feet. Oh, well.
My heart races as Jeff parks his car, the front door to the house creaking open quietly. I’m always asleep when Jeff works the bar this late. I never realized he was quiet. That’s nice of him, trying not to wake me up. It makes me soften a little toward him. Maybe he’s not such a big old jerk after all.
And then I hear a voice that isn’t Jeff’s.
A female voice.
And it’s someone I know.
My eyes go wide in the night as she asks, “Allie here?”
“She’s asleep. Just like all the other times.”
The woman giggles. It’s Heather, one of the barmaids at Jeff’s bar. I’ve known her since, well, forever. I can’t think of a time in my life when I’ve not known her. We don’t work together much because of different shifts.
More giggles. Then Jeff makes a groan that I know, but I only know what that sound is because Chase made a sound an awful lot like that earlier this evening.
Oh, gross.
I shove a pillow over my head as hard as I can, because I don’t want to hear Heather and Jeff having actual sex right now.
Not now.
Not ever .
Jeff’s voice comes through the pillow, though. He’s being nice and talking in a low, smooth voice. The kind of voice men use when they want to get in a woman’s pants.
I reach for my nightstand, hand flailing because I’m blind, still hiding under the pillow. There. Got it!
I grab my old MP3 player and stuff the earbuds in my ears, starting a song as fast as I can. The technobeat booms in my ears, drowning out the rest of the world.
Just like kissing Chase did.
I’d much rather be kissing Chase right now, but with him gone, this will have to do.
Chapter Eight
I call Marissa the next day from the bar while Jeff’s out doing something in Blythe, just across the Arizona and California border. It’s the nearest town, and still a twenty-mile drive. This gives me plenty of time to talk and figure out last night’s nightmare.
Last night’s dream . Chase appeared out of nowhere, coming to my house for me. Me.
“It’s a Halloway trait. We don’t let go of the things we want. Ever.”
His words haunt me.
“Allie!” Marissa sounds so happy to hear from me. Jeff doesn’t let me have a cell phone unless I’m running an errand for him, so I have to use the house phone. “How are you? Getting close?”
“Close to what?”
She chuckles. “Moving out here?”
An image of Chase floats through my mind, his name imprinting in the echo chamber of my heart. “Yes! Soon, I hope.” And maybe I’ll bring someone with me.
The thought makes me smile.
“You okay? You seem a little...off,” she says.
“I’m, well...no. I’m not okay. I have a question. What do you know about motorcycle clubs?”
“You mean biker gangs?”
“That’s another term for it,” I say in a prissy voice.
She laughs. I can hear her confusion. “I watch Sons of Anarchy sometimes with my friends. They pirate it. We can’t afford cable. But that’s about all I know, Allie. Why? Did those bikers start another fight in the bar, or did Charlie Hunnam come to visit you last night and pop your cherry?”
I start choking. Chase doesn’t look anything like Charlie Hunnam, but she’s awfully close to the truth. I want to tell her so badly it aches inside. Something stops me.
“Right. Like I’d ever be that lucky,” I finally
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