“I care about Chase. I would never put him in a position that would be bad for him,” I reason.
“As do I. Velyn, I know what girls in your situation want. Let me save you a lot of time, and maybe even some of your dignity. I won’t ever let what happened to my father happen to Chase.”
A tremble plays at my lips, but I hold tight. I almost want to cry. Not because of his words; sure, they hurt, but rather because he’s just so broken.
“Who did this to you?”
He laughs, trying to mask his insecurities, but I know they’re there. “It’s called the reality of life, Velyn. We have money and you’re in a bad place. That money would fix all your problems, now wouldn’t it?”
“Would it bring back my mother, Dylan? Because the only thing that’s going to fix any of my problems, is her here with my father and I. Also, money wasn’t enough to keep her alive then, so I doubt it’s enough to bring her back now.” I stand from the booth, but before leaving, I turn to him. “Dylan, I’ll never turn my back on my friendship with your brother, but I also won’t allow him to go against you. I hate that you’re doing this, but you know what I hate more?”
His eyes slant, focusing in on me. “What’s that?”
“That I let myself be affected by the words of someone so obviously damaged.”
Neither of us says anything more. I leave, and when I get to the door, Jordan and Ava are already waiting.
I want to cry out in frustration. It’s not only Dylan’s words bothering me that I hated, but there’s also this feeling I can’t shake. It’s the realization that when I'm near him, it’s the only time I feel calm—that I feel whole.
Chapter 13 Dylan
Dammit! Why do things always seem to blow up with her? No matter how hard I try, my inner jackass seems to pop-up whenever she’s around. It’s that same shield that Chase always tells me I put up when I’m trying to avoid showing people who I really am.
Her last words to me before she stormed away hit hard. Harder than they would’ve coming from most people. How is it that she does that to me?
I did run out to the parking lot after her. At the time, I didn’t know if I was going to go off on her or tell her that I was willing to listen, but it didn’t matter. When I got out there, Jordan’s car was pulling out with Velyn in the backseat.
Now it’s three in the morning, and for the last nine hours, I’ve just been lying here in my bed unable to get her or that whole conversation out of my head. Not just what happened at the club, but everything.
What is it about Velyn that sets me off? Maybe it’s the fact that she's one of the only people other than Chase and Jordan that see through my shit. How? I have no clue. But she’s called me out on it a few times, and I don’t know if I admire her perceptiveness or hate that she has me figured out.
Knowing that I won’t be getting any sleep at this point, I get out of bed and head out to the living room. When I pass by Chase’s bedroom door, I see the light shining from underneath. A flashback to that morning when I found Velyn innocently sitting by the chess table, comes to me.
Incident number one.
This could all be playing out very differently had I just handled that morning with a little more...finesse.
I raise my hand to knock, hesitating only momentarily before giving it a light rap. There’s no answer, so I open the door. When I pop my head in, Chase is fast asleep, but I can see that the light of his phone is on. I move in closer and notice that it’s connected to a call. Lifting it, I see Velyn’s name as the contact.
What do I do here? I could just end the call; he's asleep; it’s not like it would matter. But I’m curious.
“Hello?” I whisper into the receiver, not expecting a reply.
“Chase, is everything okay?” a groggy voice asks. I don’t answer right away, causing her to call out again this time with a little more urgency. “Chase, are you there? Are you okay? Bud, you have to answer me.”
Bud? That’s what I call him, or at least I used to when he was little. When did that change?
“Hello? Chase, you’re worrying me. Is everything okay?”
I can hear the concern in her voice. She doesn’t need to worry because Chase is tucked safely in his bed and fast asleep. I could just lay the phone back down and walk away, but then she calls out again and it prompts me to answer. “He’s fine. Fast asleep.”
“Dylan?”
“The one and only. Why are you on the phone with my brother at three in the morning?”
Crap! Why does everything that comes out of my mouth sound like an interrogation when I talk to her?
Velyn clears her throat. “Well, if you must know, he was upset. I told him about what happened at the club and that he had to listen to you. I explained to him that it wouldn’t be forever, but he was still upset. He was saying I wouldn’t be his friend later, which then resulted in him having a panic attack, so I just talked him through it until he calmed down.”
I let out a breath—why is he so attached
