34. Chase
34
Chase
W hen Bailey told me she didn’t want to talk about the events of the party, that she was going to forget it, I didn’t think she actually would. Lachlan, Ethan, and I were completely bagged when I drove all of us over in the morning. But Bailey…she looked as beautiful as ever, with her hair pulled out of her face and into a braid. She still wore my sweats, her own hoodie thrown over. And she was smiling as she and Nolan set the table for breakfast.
Her amber eyes filled with happiness as she watched Nolan’s and Lachlan’s antics. I could still feel her lips on mine. It was something I hoped I could never forget. I’d goaded her, pushed her, more than the other guys thought I should’ve, but I’d known Bailey could handle it. Bailey always had a fire in her eyes. Growing up, she’d been a stick of dynamite. No one messed with her, and no one messed with us because of her. I had been watching that fire grow dim. Become snuffed out.
Last night, I’d been selfish. I’d wanted—needed—that fire. They had no idea how truly messed up I was, how cold I felt all the time. I needed that fire to keep me warm, and when she’d bowed her head to me, I’d thought I would lose it. So, I’d pushed her, and she rewarded me with an inferno. Flames consumed us as I held her against that tree. As my tongue dove down her throat while her fingers dug into me, anchoring me. My cock pushed and strained against my pants, aching to feel her heat. That…I knew that would’ve been too far. I was glad the guys interrupted us, because if she had kept going, I wouldn’t have stopped her. I would take anything she gave me without a second thought.
She sat next to Ethan, and I watched as she leaned into him, her shoulder brushing his. Neither seemed to react. They were drawn to one another, and they didn’t even notice. And when Lachlan reached under the table and squeezed her leg, Bailey smiled and nodded to him, some sort of silent communication between the two.
Bailey’s parents accepted me in and treated me as if I hadn’t disappeared over the last three years. Why? The ache was heavy in my chest, so much so that I found myself rubbing it now and then.
“Shi—” Lachlan looked up at Bailey’s mother. “Shoot, I said shoot.” He smiled and she shook her head at him. “We have to get going soon.”
The guys began shoving down as much of the eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast as they could. I tried to keep up, but there was a rock in my stomach. The same rock that rolled into a boulder when I saw them all together. The boulder that told me, again and again, that I didn’t belong. It wouldn’t matter how much I smoothed things over with Ethan or Lachlan or even Bailey.
As we got ready to leave, Bailey’s mother handed us each a muffin for the road. “Ethan, are you coming back tonight?”
Coming back?
“I should probably get home. I can’t stay away too long,” he said.
She nodded to him. Bailey’s Dad stepped up. “I know you’re working over at the shop, but if you need some extra cash, I have a few spots open for farm hands.” He placed his hand on Ethan’s shoulder. “You’re a hard worker, son. You’ll have a job here, and room and board will be included.”
Son .
I stepped down off the porch, toward my car.
“Are you carpooling with us?” Bailey asked.
I turned as they were all getting into the truck. “Nah, I’ll meet you there. I have stuff to do after.” Her eyes searched my face, but I quickly looked away, getting into my car before she could see anything.
I followed behind the truck, and we were nearly to the city limits when Hadley called. I answered it through the car Bluetooth. “Hey, bae! You want to talk?”
Two years together, and when had her voice turned to nails on a chalkboard to me? “Yeah, did you want to meet up today?”
There was a pause before she spoke. “I can meet you at your place. Need some after-game wind down time?”
No. No, I didn’t. I didn’t want her to touch me again. I didn’t want anyone to touch me again. I wanted Bailey to be the last. “I’m in town for our team meet. Meet you at the bleachers after?”
“Okay…” She hesitated. “We can go over your birthday plans. It’s only a week and a half away. I was thinking, we should totally do a theme.”
I shook my head. “There’s no birthday plans.” I had told her so many times now.
“But, bae! It’s only eight days away. To order everything, we need to plan now.”
I sighed. “Hadley, we need to talk. I preferred not to do this over the phone, but you’re not picking up on anything.”
“What? What do you mean? Is it because of Bailey? Whatever she said, it wasn’t that bad. She just likes to play the victim.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Last night. It was no big deal, just a bit of fun hazing.”
I nearly swerved off the road. “Hadley, what did you do?”
I could hear the smile in her voice. “Did you like the picture? I mean, I know most people were told to delete it, but it’s still going around.”
“I defended you! What the hell were you thinking? Why would you do that to her?”
“She needed to be taught a lesson. She’s all over you, and the other guys on the team too. I mainly just told her to stay away from you. Everyone knows she only joined to hook up with—”
“You better beg for her forgiveness.”
“Pft, I’m not afraid of her.”
It’s not her she had to be afraid of. Bailey knew, she knew it was Hadley, and she’d kept it quiet, for my benefit. “I’m done with you, Hadley.”
“Wait, what? You’re siding with her? Chase, she’s playing you.” Hadley seemed panicked at this point. “Seriously, Chase, if you heard some of things she’s said. Like she’s trying to break up all the guys on the team from their girlfriends.”
I shook my head. “Bullshit rumors.” Bailey played football. That was it. We barely had time for relationships, between practices and now with games starting. Bailey had no interest in breaking anyone up.
“It’s not, though—”
“Stay away from her, and stay away from me.” I cut her off, hanging up the call just as I pulled into the parking lot.
I got out of the car at the same time they left the truck. I walked right up to Bailey and reached for her hand, pulling her back. She flinched a little before she saw it was me, then she looked confused. “I need to talk to you, alone.”
“No.” Ethan frowned, stepping up behind Bailey, crossing his arms, looking every bit a bodyguard.
“Why?” Nolan asked. Lachlan just stared at me with cautious curiosity.
As I stood there, Bailey’s wrist in my hand, the three of them standing behind her staring at me, it became crystal clear where we stood. I’d felt it before, but now I knew it. I wasn’t trusted with their Bailey. I wasn’t one of them.
“It’s fine,” Bailey said. She looked back at them. “I’ll see you inside.”
Nolan nodded, and he and Lachlan were the first to move away. Ethan lingered a moment longer, and I knew he’d be waiting just on the other side of the school doors.
She turned back to me, but I didn’t drop my hand. “You lied to me,” I accused.
Bailey quickly looked at the ground.
“Stop it. Look at me,” I demanded.
“I’m sorry.” She nearly whimpered and my heart shattered. I let go of her wrist and tilted her chin up, so her eyes could meet mine. Fear. There was no fire in her eyes, there was nothing.
“You lied to me,” I repeated. “You knew it was Hadley. Why didn’t you tell me?” She said nothing. “Just be honest with me.”
“There were several people there, but what would it matter? Nothing good would’ve come out of telling you. Hadley was there for you when I wasn’t, and I didn’t want to wreck that. I had already kissed you, Chase, I didn’t want to ruin things between you and her.”
“After what she did to you? You know how messed up it is that you covered for her, right?”
And then her eyes went blank…void. “What she did to me is nothing compared to what I’ve already been through. Don’t bring it up again, Chase.” She turned and walked away, leaving me standing in the parking lot.
After I collected myself, I walked into the school, heading for the auditorium. We used the large screen in there to go over the plays. I didn’t miss the look Lachlan gave me as I walked past the four of them, didn’t miss the way Bailey’s eyes lingered before looking down to the ground. I walked over to Hersey and Kell and sat down, bumping my fist with theirs as I did.
We sat and listened to Coach for an hour. In short, although we won the game, we played it wrong. Most of our plays were fails, and he said a lot of things that slipped through with this team wouldn’t have made it past other teams. This wasn’t a top-tier team, and we had struggled to keep up with them. Our saving grace had been Bailey and Lachlan for making the runs. Wes and Hersey for making more than one epic tackle. We reviewed footage on our open spaces, missed opportunities, and players not being where they were supposed to be. On the outside, our team won, we were coming together nicely. But Coach was right—below the surface, we were still struggling. If we didn’t get it together, we would never make it against the top players.
Coach was still talking when Sam leaned over and tapped me on the shoulder. “They are saying this is Bailey,” he said, showing me his phone.
I was going to murder Hadley. That damn photo was still making its way around.
“It looks like her frame,” Hersey said.
“Delete it,” I ordered Sam. He did immediately. “Bailey is on our team, she is our team member. Make sure you spread the news. Anyone sending this photo around will be shunned. Anyone bringing it up will deal with the team. The entire team.”
“Wait, what?” Sam asked.
“We don’t need Bailey worrying about this. We need her focused, so she can play, not deal with drama.”
“This really was her?” Hersey asked. “That’s sick.”
I waved him off. I was done talking about it. “If anyone gives you grief, come to me.”