Chapter Twenty-Six
D id I say I was ready? What a joke. I’d been so relaxed and comfortable at his parents’ house—to my complete surprise—that I’d been coaxed into a feeling of invincibleness again. But after we parked in the structure and stepped out of the car, my chest resumed its manic behavior.
Walking with him hand in hand pushed my limits to the extreme, but I tried my best to keep my anxiety under wraps. Chase deserved that. God, why couldn’t I take whatever he was on? He was much too calm, as if making an entrance with a woman fifteen years his senior was the most normal thing in the world.
We went through the glass doors and into the main lobby of the historic building. The hall was located in a hotel, and I couldn’t even muster up thoughts of sneaking off with him later. My lust was on the back burner; that’s how fired up my nerves were.
“You made it through the visit with my parents. This should be easy, right?” He pumped my hand a few times.
I exhaled long and loud. He was right. I’d been way more worried about that, and it’d turned out great. I could do this.
It wasn’t long before we spotted the Welcome to Perry and Stephen’s Engagement Party sign. “Well, this is it,” I said. Another hand squeeze from him, and we were pushing through the door.
Holy fuck. I felt like I was just drop-kicked by a kangaroo. She came at me full speed and rammed me backward. “Jills!” Perry screeched, squashing me in a giant hug. “You’re early!”
“By just a few minutes.” I glanced around; there weren’t many there yet, and that made Chase and me stand out more. She popped off me like a suction cup, letting me get a good look at her. “Doing a trial run? Wow… You look beyond amazing.” Perry wore a short white tulle dress, the contrast shocking against her inky hair. Instead of resembling a princess on her wedding day, she’d make that princess look like she was beaten with an ugly stick. Perry was going to be the bride who made all others envious. Hell, I was envious, and I didn’t even want to get married again.
“Thanks. It was too casual to wear as my wedding dress, but I thought it was perfect to wear for the party.”
“It definitely is.”
Perry set her sights on Chase next, earning me a smirk from her. “I’m giving you a get-out-of-jail-free card for this, Jills. I’m taking back that first strike I gave you. As long as you don’t screw up again, you’re all clear.”
“Um, thanks?” At least she didn’t say, ‘I’m so happy you finally wised up and took my advice to bring Chase out in public because now you two can fall deeply in love and live happily ever after, and by the way, did you do anal yet?’
“Chase,” Perry said, pulling him in for the same hug. “Thanks so much for coming. It means a lot.” She turned him slightly, so she was facing me and whispered, “He is hard.”
“God, Perry. He can hear you, you know. You’re right by his ear.” Chase chuckled, and she felt up his arms and shoulders a few times before letting go.
“Not that Stephen isn’t, of course.”
“Not that Stephen isn’t what?” My brother came up beside us, and I swore I detected a grimace when he noticed Chase, even though he was expecting him. At least I hoped Perry had warned him beforehand.
“Hard.”
“What?” Stephen said.
“You’re hard,” she said loudly.
“Really, Perry?” Her sister, Samantha, had just arrived. “You can’t show a little restraint during your engagement party?” She waved hello to Chase, then looked confused as to why he was there.
“It’d be easier if my smokin’-hot fiancé wasn’t so hard.” Perry grabbed him around the waist. “What do you say, baby? It’d be a shame to waste it. Should we go upstairs for a quickie before the others get here?”
Sam just shook her head and walked away.
“Did you enjoy yourself?” Stephen asked.
“Yep,” Perry said. “I love her and all, but sometimes she can be such a prude. It’s fun to mess with her.”
“As long as you had fun, dear.” My brother kissed her, and I melted on sight. They were like the sweetest candy together with none of the sickening.
“Isn’t he perfect?” she said. “Perfect and hard. What more could a woman ask for?” Perry winked at me.
The happy couple went off to greet the other guests who’d filed in. The place was starting to pack quickly. I strolled around with Chase, not sure what to do. We stopped by the champagne tower, checked that out awhile, got a couple vodka cranberries that had little ring-shaped ice cubes floating in them. We talked to a few people, and if anyone asked, Chase was a friend of mine. Easy-peasy.
Over the course of the next two hours, I grew pleasantly sublime. Chase had survived meeting Mom and Frank; in fact, it went better than imagined. I’d prepared my mom the other day, revealing his age, hoping to eliminate any surprises. However, I still thought she’d be leery of him, considering what she’d been through. That wasn’t the case at all. Both she and my stepdad were very welcoming, and I figured it had to do with all my prior assurances telling them it was nothing serious.
“How are you doing?” Chase asked. His breath in my ear made me shiver. He’d been keeping a close but respectable distance from me all night, and there were no outward displays of affection. I really appreciated him for that.
I could not wait to get him home and thank him properly.
“So far, so good.”
Chase and I found our spot for dinner and took a seat. We were at the table of honor, along with Perry, Stephen, and the parents. My biological father was not in attendance, and I doubted he was even invited.
We were the first ones to sit down, and it felt nice to have our little corner of the world for a while. There were pens and cards on the table, and I wondered what we were supposed to do with them.
“Hey!” Perry bounded over. “Try some.” She tried handing me her ice-blue glass, but I pushed it away. “You have to make me happy, remember? It’s one of your duties.”
“Fine.” I expected to shudder, and that’s exactly what happened when I took a sip. It tasted like mashed-up jellybeans.
She pointed at the cards. “You have to write down words of wisdom for us.” She smiled wide. “Advice for the married couple-to-be.” I had to stop from laughing. Like she’d take marital advice from anyone. Perry would run her relationship however she saw fit and probably be the most successful one at it too. I betted on her and Stephen being one of those rare couples who lasted forever.
“And these?” I picked up a different set.
“You can’t do that one. Guests have to guess how he proposed to win a prize. Obviously, you’re disqualified.”
“What about me?” Chase asked.
Perry raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know?” He shook his head, and she narrowed her eyes like it was my fault for not telling him. “Then you have a shot. When you’re done, write your name on it and drop it in the pink box.” She pointed a finger at me as if making it clear that my window of spilling the answer was now closed tight.
“I’m not going to help him, Perry.”
“I’m sure he has ways of making you talk.” She blew me a kiss, then skipped off.
Chase scribbled some things down, and I was dying to see. I bet they’d be hilarious. He was a great guy, but I highly doubted he knew much about proposal ideas. When I tried grabbing the card, he snatched it away. “Uh-uh.” Then he darted over, letting it fall into the box before I could take a peek. I crossed my arms, and when he came back to the table, he yanked them apart, making me smile. “Now, what about the advice one?” he asked.
I picked up a pen and tapped it on the card. “I’m probably not the best one to be handing out words of wisdom. I’m divorced, remember?”
“So if you could do it all over again, what would you do differently?”
“Pick the right guy.”
Wait, what? Did I just say that out loud? Shit. I hope he didn’t think I was implying that he was the right guy. I didn’t mean it that way; it was only supposed to be a general statement. Was I reading too much into this?
I banged the card against my lip, then put it down before I got a paper cut. Thankfully, the server arrived shortly after, placing a couple baskets of bread in the center of our table. Thirty seconds later, the seats were filled, and Chase and I were no longer alone.
The dinner went smoothly. Chase was happy; he had a full plate of food in front of him. I was comfortable with the company around me. Stephen was reserved around Chase, but that was better than the alternative. Overall, everything was good.
The only awkward moment was when Perry asked me to sing at the wedding. Then she casually remarked that Chase should play alongside me. As soon as it left her mouth, I could see she realized her mistake. She gave me a “shit, I’m so sorry” look, quickly changing the subject. Fortunately, things went back to normal after that, and nothing came of it.
Chase and I claimed the table for ourselves once again when the others took off after dinner to stuff themselves with cake. “You don’t want any?” I asked.
“Not unless I can lick it off you.” My body heated, and I looked around. It only took something little like that to make me start throbbing. I was so easy. “No one heard me, Jillian.”
“I know, but I’m sure my arousal’s obvious to anyone paying attention.”
“Are you, Wild Horses? Aroused?”
His voice was raw sex, and that kicked me up a dozen notches. “Dammit, Chase. You know I am. Now stop it.”
He chuckled, leaning back in his chair as I took a few gulps of ice water. I planned to stay until the end of the party, but having a breathing aphrodisiac so close by challenged my resolve.
“Jillian?” I looked up to see Jeff standing at the other side of the table. “Wow, how long’s it been? You look… incredible.”
“Thanks, Jeff. How are you?”
“Can’t complain. Is this”—he looked at Chase and shook his head—“Daniel? Oh, man. I haven’t seen you since you were, what—this high?” He held up his hand a few feet.
“Uh…” I said, feeling all the blood drain from my face. Drip. Drip. Drip.
Chase stood up and stuck out his hand. “No, I’m Chase. I’m…” He glanced at me, but I didn’t say anything. My throat felt like it was coated in wet cement. “I’m a friend.”
Jeff shook his hand across the table and focused back to me. “Hey, sorry to hear about your divorce. That’s rough.” I nodded. “Come here, you.” Jeff came over to me and pulled me up. “Give me a hug.”
He flattened me longer and harder than your standard hug. I felt like a ragdoll. I peeked at Chase, checking out his expression. It was unreadable. But then, I still had that haze fogging up my head, so what did I know?
Jeff pulled back and held me at arm’s length. “Damn, Jillian. You really do look… Wow, amazing. One more hug?”
It was a quick one before I broke it off and sat down. I’d not had any issues with Jeff in the past, but this was making me uncomfortable.
“I’d love to take you out to dinner sometime, Jillian.”
I shifted my eyes around. “Um….”
“You know,” Jeff said, “I always had a little thing for you.” He laughed. “Mike kinda got in the way of that, but how about now? It’d be fun to catch up on old times.”
“Sure?”
“Great.” He clapped his hands once. “Still at the same number? I can call you to set something up.”
“Um, yes.” Even as I was saying it, I was thinking of a way to get out of it. What just happened here? My brain was a lump of melted taffy.
The moment Jeff stepped away, Chase asked, “Who was that?”
“One of Stephen’s friend’s older brothers. He used to come over sometimes when we had parties. I’ve known him a long time. And I’m not going out with him, Chase.”
“So. Another friend.”
“Yeees,” I said slowly and cocked my head, not sure what he was getting at. Chase hadn’t asked it as a question but as a flat statement. In fact, his entire demeanor was flat.
It didn’t take much longer to realize he wasn’t just flat, but also cold. A slab of ice. Shortly after, he excused himself to go over and say hi to Emily from his team. Perry’s niece had just arrived and was standing with her mom, Sam. I watched him laugh and smile and do all the things he’d done with me just minutes ago.
I was confused as hell. The situation with Jeff had been awkward, but there’s no way it could have bothered him that much. It didn’t affect anything Chase and I had going on, and I told him I wasn’t planning on taking him up on his offer of dinner. I hadn’t even meant to agree in the first place, but I’d been a hot mess. He actually thought Chase was Daniel? That was enough to make me forget my own name.
We stayed until nearly the end, although I didn’t feel fully present. I hadn’t seen Jeff again—I was assuming he cut out early—and that was a small relief. But I was still functioning in a stupor, and Chase remained distant toward me. I just needed to get him back home, and then everything would be fine again.
Chase and I said our good-byes and headed silently out the doors and through the lobby. I’d never seen him so sullen, certainly not for this period of time. I had to be missing something. Chase was the one I was going home with—wasn’t that the only thing that mattered?
He opened the car door for me, then rounded to his side. I twiddled my fingers, feeling the same nervous energy as when we’d arrived, but under entirely different circumstances. Chase sat down and placed his hands on the wheel. He wasn’t starting the car.
“Chase?”
“Did you seriously make a fucking date right in front of me?”