Chase
Dark Eyes by Night Cap
Fucking asshole.
The epitome of all assholes.
If assholes had an asshole, they’d be called…Jeremiah Blackwood.
I thread my fingers through my hair as I make my way to work. All weekend, I’ve been seething.
Okay, I get it. I was an ass in high school but how dare he be so fucking na?ve to think I’m the same person I was back then?
And to think I ever wanted to be that jerk’s friend. I huff to myself.
Dammit! What a fucking… asshole.
“Morning, Chase.” Bailey’s face lights up as I walk through the glass doors onto the office floor.
“Hi,” I mutter, a little harsher than I meant to.
Her eyes widen as she corrects her posture and sits back.
“Sorry.” I cringe, giving her a polite wave as I continue walking.
That’s just great. Now I’m being an asshole.
I can’t help it. I’m fuming. I’ve been fuming since he told me off in the bar. I can’t think straight. I mean, where does he get off? I’m a nice guy. A really nice guy.
Finally, I make it to Mia’s desk where she’s clicking away on her goddamn computer. “Everyone fucking loves me,” I seethe.
“You’re doing that thing again where you start in the middle of an inside head thought,” she says, making grabbing motions for the caramel macchiato in the tray in my hand.
I roll my eyes and pass her the drink. “Everyone fucking loves me so why is it so goddamn hard for him?” I whisper to her, quiet enough that no one will hear me but loud enough that she can hear how agitated I am.
She coaxes her eyebrow at me, but I can see a slight smile on her lips. “Let me get this straight. You want him to love you?”
My lips press together. “Mia, this is serious.”
She throws her hands up in pretend surrender. “I’m just trying to figure out why you’re so mad. He’s your boss. He’s not going to kiss your ass.”
“I don’t need him to kiss my ass. I need him to…want to kiss my ass.” I huff, leaning my arm on her partition. “I just feel…targeted.” I look over my shoulder as casually as I can to see Jeremiah sitting at his desk.
Heat surges through my body at the mere sight of him. He looks so…so…ugh!
Why is my body betraying me like this!?
“Well, by the sounds of it, you sucked in high school. Why would he be nice to you?” she asks, sipping on her cup.
I groan, running my free hand through my hair. “I get that. I really do, but it’s also been eight fucking years. People can change. I mean, can’t he just…”
“Can’t he just…what?” Her eyes squint, searching my face.
Damn if I even knew! What exactly do I want him to do? Forget about what I did to him? Have a heated discussion about it? I have no idea what it is that I want from him. All I know is that at this point I’ll take anything other than this.
“He hates me, Mia,” I pout, lowering my head.
“Okay, so you’re not his favorite person in the world. Why does it matter?” She shrugs simply like it’s the easiest thing for her to say.
I shake my head gently. “I’m just not used to people hating me. It doesn’t happen.”
She tilts her head, a smile tugging at her lips. “You are loved, babe. But, honestly? You’re kinda sounding like an asshole.”
My face falls. “I know,” I groan.
“Maybe you should just…leave it alone. If he doesn’t want to be friends, don’t force it.”
I fill my cheeks with air before exhaling as much as possible.
If he wanted to, he would? Jeez, I sound like an ex-fling that can’t let go.
Yet, deep down I know she’s right. Giving myself a moment to shake off whatever that was, I tune my attention back on to my best friend.
“How did the rest of your weekend go? Did you get your Love Island marathon on and cuddle with my replacement?” I ask, changing the conversation.
Mia's dark brown eyes sparkle as she bites her lip. “She’s amazing, Chay. I’ve never met anyone like her before.”
I can’t help but smile. It’s amazing seeing Mia so happy. “She sounds awesome. Do I get a name yet?” I ask, rounding the other side of her. I lean back on the corner of her desk, placing the rest of my drinks and food beside me.
Mia pretends to think it over, tapping her finger on her chin. “Fine. Her name is Rachel.”
“Rachel. Sounds sweet.” I smile. “I’m excited for you. And I’ll be expecting a date soon. I’m down with being a third wheel.”
“Sure! She’s a vegan, so there’s a spot on–”
I can feel an energy pull me, and before I realize it, I’m glancing over Mia’s partition to see Bailey in Jeremiah's office.
His face is hidden by his computer screen, but I can see him leaning back in his chair, listening to whatever Bailey is saying. I watch as Bailey throws her head back in laughter. Her bright, chipper voice echoes over to us.
That stupid, burning fire in my gut starts up again, and I can feel it curling its way around my ribs and up my throat.
“Mia, let’s talk more about this at lunch, okay? I gotta deliver this,” I say, snatching up the tray of drinks and food.
“Y-yeah. Okay, sounds good,” I hear her say behind me.
My mind doesn’t even take in what I’m doing because before I fully realize it, I’m barging into his office.
“Morning,” I state plainly.
“Morning, Chase!” Bailey grins at me. Her eyes glance back over to Jeremiah. “Have a great day, Jeremiah.” She winks before walking past me.
I grip the bag in my hand so hard that I can feel my fingernails digging into my clenched palm.
Jeremiah.
What? Are they on a first-name basis now or something? It’s been two weeks.
I march over to his desk and start unloading the breakfast wraps I got for us. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your little shindig. I just thought you were wondering where your breakfast was–”
Jeremiah’s face finally comes into view, and my mouth drops open.
A rush of fear and concern clouds my ability to think straight and before I know it, I’m rushing around his desk.
“What the actual fuck?” I gasp. I grip his chin and tilt his head up to take a closer look. He has a fucking split lip and slight bruising under his eye. My mind is reeling through all the possibilities on how this could’ve happened. “Who the hell did this to you?” I seethe.
As soon as the words leave my mouth, I instantly regret them.
Jeremiah looks up at me, his eyes darting back and forth between mine. His tongue softly darts out to lick the fresh blood that has peaked through his broken skin. Heat immediately creeps up my neck as I take in what exactly I’m doing.
Hand. Face. Hand is on face.
Suddenly, the touch of his skin feels hot like fire on my fingertips. I whip my hand back, immediately stumbling backwards as I try and step away. Shit, what the hell was that?
“Dammit, I’m sorry. I just–” My breath stutters as I try to regain motor skills. I mentally scold myself as I try to remember how to function. How do I talk again?
Jeremiah doesn’t seem shocked. Instead, he looks more confused on how I reacted. He shrugs, slowly turning back towards his desk.
“I tripped on my way into my place last night. That’s it.” He reaches for the food I’ve laid out for him.
I clear my throat, trying my best to shake my nerves off. “Shit, yeah. Sorry, you must be hungry.”
Walking around the desk, I quickly run my hands down my legs, attempting to wipe off the clamminess on my palms.
I glance up to see Jeremiah staring down at my hands. He must be wondering why the hell I touched him.
He’s confused? I’m confused.
“I shouldn’t have–”
“It’s okay,” he finishes. His eyes give nothing away to how he’s truly feeling. But, thankfully, he breaks the tension by continuing. “I shouldn’t have talked to you like that the other night. It was unprofessional of me and…I’m sorry. ”
A grin stretches across my face. Honestly, I’m relieved that he brought it up first. After the conversation we had on Friday, I was sort of going out of my mind here. “It’s okay. We all have bad days.” I shrug.
Jeremiah squints. “It wasn’t a bad day, Chase. I still stand by what I said. ”
I feel my shoulders drop. So close, yet, so far…
“Do you…want me to go?” I ask, pointing behind me.
His brows furrow as he glances at the door and then back to me. “No. It’s fine. We still need to discuss the Gala,” he says, biting into his wrap.
“The Gala. Right.” I sit down and scooch my chair closer to the desk.
Jeremiah winces as he opens his mouth to take another bite.
“I still can’t believe that was from tripping. Bruise and split lips like that only happen with hard contact.” I’ve seen plenty similar injuries from football. “You must’ve fallen into something. Which is weird because you don’t seem like the clumsy type.” I scoff to myself.
Jeremiah hesitates, bringing a napkin to his cut lip. “I, uh—wasn’t paying attention to where I was going. What are you, a detective?”
I swallow my bite. “Only the best on the floor.” I flash him a wide smile.
“Last month, I found out that Katie from accounting was stealing bites of Brett—from the developer team—his lunch every day, and thank God I was the one who found out what was happening because Brett was on the verge of putting laxatives in his food to capture the culprit. It was this whole thing. Katie should really thank me.”
Jeremiah shakes his head softly before going back in for another bite.
“What?” I ask, picking up my smoothie and taking a big sip.
“Are you always doing everything but working?”
I recoil slightly. “I work.”
Jeremiah huffs out a laugh. “I mostly just see you talking.”
I drop my wrap onto its paper wrap in front of me. “I didn’t get my position from just slacking off. I work my ass off every morning so that I’m always fully prepared when I come in every single day. ” I shake my head.
Jeremiah narrows his eyes at me.
He doesn’t believe me.
Oh, he’s really picking at me now. “I’ve worked alongside Heather to get this app to where it is today. You don’t know half of what I do.”
“You’re right. I don’t know.” Jeremiah sighs, sitting back in his chair. He brushes off his hands over his napkin.
“You know…if you would just—I don’t know—talk to people, you’d understand what goes on here. We’re not just sitting around twiddling our thumbs every day. You have no idea who I am or what I do.”
Jeremiah runs his tongue along the inside of his chin. “I’ve poked a nerve.”
I sneer. “Yeah, I guess you have.”
“So, show me.” He dusts off his hands over his napkin and settles back in his chair.
I freeze.
“What?”
“You tell me you’re so good at your job when all you’ve done is grab me my breakfast and work with me for this Gala,” he says, balling up his food wrap paper. “Show me how good you can be.”
I feel a twist in my stomach… and a twitch somewhere else.
Choosing not to unpack that, I stand up for myself instead.
“How about you prove that to us? How badly do you want this, Jeremiah? Because from where I’m standing, you’re the one who doesn’t want this badly enough.” I pick up my drink and start to head out of his office.
“Oh–” I stop, taking out the Ferrero Rochet from my pocket and tossing it over to him. With fast instincts, he catches it in mid-air with one hand.
I turn to leave before my body slams into a much shorter person.
“Rutherford!” A high-pitched voice peeps up from under me. I quickly grab ahold of their shoulders, steadying them.
I suck in a sharp breath. “Jesus, Jocelyn. I almost crushed you there.”
I’m a whole foot and a half taller than her. She’s new at the company and an absolute sweetheart. Kind and quiet, with her dark black framed glasses and always wearing polka dots and frilly shirts.
“No, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have been…walking.” She giggles, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “I actually hoped to see you both, so it’s perfect that you’re already here.” She grins, looking around me.
“Oh?” I ask, glancing back to Jeremiah. He looks as confused as I am.
“Yeah. Heather is officially leaving the office on Thursday, and I was thinking of getting the building together for a little going-away party.”
My heart sinks. Heather’s going away. Right. I’ve been so wrapped up in Jeremiah that I haven’t even thought about that. Heather has just always been here.
“Okay, yeah. That sounds awesome. Whatever you need, I’ll be there.” I nod.
She gives me a full grin as she bounces on her toes. “Amazing!” I step aside so she can relay the same message to Jeremiah. “Of course, the new COO must attend.” She winks.
Jeremiah's lips straighten. His gaze drifts over to mine. My eyebrows rise in a challenge.
Come on, Boss Man, show us how badly you want this.
“I’ll be there,” he finally says, clenching his jaw.
“Perfect!” Jocelyn claps her hands. “I’ll see you both on Thursday at seven pm.”
“Why Thursday?” Jeremiah asks.
“Well, we’re going to Donnellys, and Thirsty Thursday is also Karaoke night.” She winks while giving a little jazz dance with her hands.
“Oh great,” Jeremiah sarcastically mutters under his breath.
I can’t help but smile.