You’re the Reason, стр. 18
“I don’t. She was standing outside our dorm and something seemed wrong with her, so I talked to her. She’s hurting. And she’s looking for closure.”
“Right. By closing my sorority.”
My eyes widened. That was cold even for Chantel. “You’ve got to know she’s grieving. She’s not seeing clearly. I’m sure she doesn’t want to hurt you guys. She just doesn’t know what else to do.”
“She needs to move on.”
A cold chill rushed through me. Sydney was someone Chantel actually knew. I didn’t even know Sydney, but the way her mother spoke of her made me cry. How could Chantel be so thoughtless?
But what did I expect? Chantel was self-absorbed. Some people were raised to think they were the center of the universe. I’d never be able to relate. I’d been taught by my parents—and Tim McGraw—to be humble and kind. Chantel just didn’t possess those qualities.
Chantel and I were two totally different people. And, despite Chase’s foresight, it was becoming abundantly clear that she and I would never be friends.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Saturday morning my phone buzzed, pulling me from a sound sleep. I reached over and grabbed it, hoping whoever was calling this early on a weekend had prepared themselves for my wrath. I checked the screen. Unknown caller. I dropped it back down, ignoring it.
But it continued to buzz.
I grabbed the phone again and lifted it to my ear. “Hello?”
“You’ve got ten minutes,” a deep voice said.
“Who is this?”
“Get dressed, take care of whatever girls do in the morning, then come downstairs,” Chase said.
I huffed. “Why?”
Dead air filled the line. I checked the screen and the bastard had hung up. What was he up to?
I crawled out of bed and moved to the window. I shielded my eyes from the bright sunlight as I checked the street in front of my dorm. No one was out there—no cars, no people, not even Chase.
Was this some kind of trick?
Was he trying to make some kind of point about me getting into the Uber I thought he’d sent?
Was he setting me up?
I closed my eyes, and thought about what to do next. I could get dressed, go downstairs, and no one would be there. Or, I could stay put and go back to bed and pretend it never happened—like I should have done last weekend.
Grrr. I hated my curiosity.
I went to my closet, grabbed jeans, and a navy hoodie and pulled them on, then slid on my navy Converse. I ran to the bathroom to brush my teeth, then I secured my hair in a high ponytail. If this was a joke, I wasn’t about to be caught in my pajamas with bedhead.
I grabbed my phone, tucked some money in my back pocket, and walked downstairs.
Damn him if this was a trick.
Damn him if he was going to show his split personality again.
Damn him for making me curious.
I reached the front door and inhaled deeply. Please don’t make me look stupid. I pushed open the door. Air punched out of my lungs when I found Chase in a backward baseball cap leaned against a red convertible.
I blinked hard, making sure I wasn’t having some kind of Jake from Sixteen Candles dream. “What are you doing?”
He smirked. “You know what I’m doing.”
I swallowed my surprise. “Yeah, but why?”
“Can’t a guy just do something nice?”
“A guy can. You…I’m not so sure.”
He shook his head, a flicker of amusement lighting his eyes. “Get your ass in the car.”
My feet stayed firmly planted to the sidewalk. “I’m serious. I don’t understand.”
“What’s to understand? You get in Ubers with strangers. But you won’t get in a car with me? You gotta see how messed up that is.”
“You showing up here, when your girlfriend’s away, trying to grant me one of my bucket list wishes. You gotta see how messed up that is.”
He twisted his hat around on his head and pulled it down low, molding the brim down. “For the love of God, she’s not my girlfriend.”
I crossed my arms. “Does she know that?”
“Yes.”
I tipped my head to the side. “Does everyone else know that?”
“I don’t give a fuck what anyone else thinks.”
“Do you care what I think?”
He stared at me across the empty space, his blue eyes penetrating while his patience with me was clearly wearing thin. “Are you gonna get in the car or not?”
Oh, hell.
I walked slowly toward the car.
He opened the passenger door. My arm brushed his. Goosebumps broke out all over my skin as I slipped into the car, settling into the smooth leather seat.
Chase closed my door before circling the front and sliding into his seat. “Well, that was more difficult than I expected,” he said as he pressed the button and the engine roared to life.
I cut my gaze to his. “Where’d you get the car?”
He pulled out onto the main street. “Don’t worry about it.”
I closed my eyes as we picked up speed, loving the free feeling of driving without windows or a roof. The warm September sun beat down and a breeze brushed against my cheeks as we moved through the streets. Once Chase turned onto the highway, I lifted my arms into the air and let the wind push them back, loving every minute of it.
“You having fun?” Chase asked.
I shrugged, not wanting him to be too proud of himself.
He smiled, and when he smiled like that—all teeth and dimples, I almost forgot about what a jerk he could be.
“You should do that more often,” I said.
“What?”
“Smile.”
He reached for the radio and turned it up, clearly not in the mood for conversation—or compliments.
I laughed to myself. Maybe he wasn’t such