Chase grabs my breast and starts kissing my neck. His soft lips make me feel weak, as if I wouldn’t be able to stand again. I can feel myself wanting to just tear off our clothing and do it right here.
I open one eye and look around at the woods that surround his enormous backyard. A memory flashes in my mind of the last time I was here. I was cold, tired, my body aching from running away from the person or people who were shooting at me in the woods that night. I thought I was going to die. All I wanted was to go home, back to the city.
Lance drove me back to his guesthouse instead. The thought of Lance makes my blood curl. What he did to me at the party, publishing my journal for all the rich brats of Ryland Academy to read was an over the top shitty thing to do.
Who the fuck could do something like that to another person?
I close my eyes and try and get back into the moment with Chase. Despite Chase’s best efforts, I can’t get my rage for Lance out of my mind.
I open my eyes again and think of the mystery shooter who was after me in the woods around Chase’s property. The police never found any suspects.
Could it have been Lance as well? How psycho is Lancelot Cain?
“Are you okay?”
Chase’s question startles me out of my thoughts. “Sorry, I’m just—I don’t know.”
Chase looks around the woods surrounding us. “I get it. You didn’t exactly have a great time last time you were here.”
The distant sound of a loud engine makes both of us turn our heads. A black Jeep drives up to Chase’s home and parks outside a large garage at the side of his mansion. Jaxson steps out of the Jeep. He takes off his sunglasses, stares at us, lowers his head, and goes inside the back entrance of the home.
Fucking. Awkward.
I look at Chase.
He immediately nods his head. “I can take you home. Jaxson told me he would be out all day. So, I guess the next time we hang out will be at the dance?”
I sigh. The school’s annual Sweetheart Dance is fast approaching. Danna and Bryce keep telling me how lame it is, but that doesn’t seem to be the shared opinion of everyone at Ryland Academy. It’s where love is born, some say. It’s where babies are conceived, others suggest. Who goes with who is apparently a pretty big deal at Ryland Academy.
Chase isn’t the only one who’s mentioned the dance to me. Jaxson made it sound like he was open to having me as a date as well.
I feel a tinge of guilt looking at Chase. How is it that I’m stuck between a guy like Chase, and a hunk like Jaxson?
I give Chase a shy look. He rolls his eyes.
∞∞∞
Chase drops me off at the guesthouse on the Cain’s property. He kisses me gently before I leave his sports car. I watch him with a smile as he revvs his engine and takes off.
“Did you have fun with Jaxson?” I turn and see Lance Cain smiling at me. He has a white towel wrapped around his neck and is wearing a tight undershirt with athletic shorts. “Or was that Chase Aldridge? Or do you have some new boy I don’t know about yet?” He wipes the sweat from his forehead with a look of victory over me.
“Fuck off, Lancelot.” Harsh words, and not exactly a great comeback, but he deserves it. I turn away from him and walk towards the front entrance of the guesthouse. I think about the night of the party. I remember Lance’s face when he was handing out photocopied books of my personal journal to every rich kid that would take one. I vividly remember Selena Jensen looking through my diary, at all the gritty personal entries, with a huge smile.
I turn back to Lance with a dead stare. He is wiping his sweat from his forehead again, and looks like he’s about to continue with his run. He doesn’t notice me when I approach him. Before he can say something shitty, I open hand strike him on the side of his face. The impact felt hard, but it appears to barely cause any physical pain.
The only thing that changed was his stare at me. His smirk vanished. His eyes look at me with rage.
Lance looks behind me a moment, then back at me. “You know, some time soon you’re going to realize what’s really going on around here. I gave you a chance.”
“Fuck you, and fuck your chances.” I smile when I notice a red blemish on the side of Lance’s face. “Looks like you need to work with your boxing coach some more. I got a clean hit on that pretty face of yours.”
Lance looks behind me again. He turns, says nothing, and continues his run. I turn around and see Arthur Cain smoking a large cigar and staring directly at me.
Fuck.
Arthur Cain awarded me with the academic sponsorship of a lifetime by allowing me to stay at his guesthouse and attend Ryland Academy. His promise to me was that if I keep my grades up how they were before I came, I will get a free ride to any university that accepts me.
And what does he see?
Me bitch slapping his son, probably without any understanding of the context of why.
Fuck.
I turn around and pretend to not see him, open the guesthouse front door, and quickly go inside.
I shut the door behind me and take a deep breath. I seriously need to figure out what I’m doing. I can’t fuck up this opportunity by hitting the son of the man who is giving me everything I need to succeed.
I may even be too late. I
