chapter 56
Each step away from her was agony and relief, all at the same time.
His chest tight, he rubbed at it, unsure if it was physical symptoms or just heartache.
He didn’t understand how she could do it.
He’d have sworn, having her in his bed, that she was a virgin.
From her reactions, her hesitancy. He’d thought that everything they were doing was special, had taken his time with her, had thought of her virginity as this precious fucking gift that they were preserving, her first time one that would be done right, and only when she was really ready.
The concept that, less than a month ago, she’d been in Tobey Fucking Grant’s bed, had him inside of her, was mind blowing, and against everything he thought about her, every way he looked at her.
He breezed through the exit door and toward the employee lot, two security guards standing at his approach, one tipping his hat at Chase before holding out a hand for his pass.
He yanked at his bag, pulling out the card and passed it to the man, who held it at the card reader.
It lit red, and something inside of Chase snapped.
He took a deep breath, watching the man scan it again, the same result produced.
“You know who I am, just let me through.”
“Mr. Chase, if you could just step to the side.” The man had an attitude, the tone one used on misbehaving delinquents, and it pushed tacks into the thin skin of his self control.
Any minute, Ty and her dad would come outside.
Any minute she’d be feet away, her eyes on him, those begging eyes, and he would lose his mind.
One of the guards stepped to the phone, his eyes on Chase, and who the fuck could he be calling, why the fuck were they keeping him here, and they needed to fix their machine and open the damn gate.
He pushed forward, past the man and reached for the handle, the man shouting a protest, and when hands closed on his arm, the final thread of his self-control snapped.
A little known fact about Chase Stern: At fifteen, he was an amateur boxing champ, a career that could have brought him much success, had he not instead focused his fast hands and hand-eye coordination on baseball.
It didn’t take much to drop the three-hundred-pound security guard.
One right cross on the man’s left jaw did it.
One right cross that changed everything, instantly, for them.