Chapter 3 #2
“No, you that night. If I’d been sober, I would’ve thrown you out. It was a mistake, and I wish to God it’d never happened.”
She reared back like he’d slapped her. “A mistake?! It was not a mistake!” Her bottom lip trembled. “Oh God…is this you losing it again? Are you feeling okay?”
“What? No! I’m not—” Chase gritted his teeth as the crowd edged farther away from him. Goddamn it, she would throw that in his face. “Crystal, fucking you is number one on the highlight reel of shit I regret most in life, and it’s never happening again. Move on. I have.”
Her eyes narrowed. “With who? Jena?”
His stomach dropped. “What?”
“After we met for coffee. Brenda Spitz said you got Jena’s sweater—”
“Okay, first of all, I didn’t meet you for coffee, and second—” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “No—you know what? I’ve got work to do, and don’t have time to play into whatever the fucking delusion you’ve got going on.”
He turned on his heel, the whispering crowd giving him a wide berth as he stalked out. God, he hated this town sometimes. It was no wonder why Jena had left.
The cantina door slammed behind him as he stormed out to the street and down the sidewalk toward the center of town.
Goddamn it! Fucking Brenda. The last thing he needed was to give people a reason to think he was going feral again or to give Crystal one to go after Jena.
Fuck. He damned well knew she would. He scrubbed a hand over his face—
“You know, that probably wasn’t the best time to make your move.”
Chase stopped and looked to his left. Felix was sitting on a bench outside of city hall, his arms spread out over its back and one ankle crossed over his knee.
“I wasn’t making a move.”
Felix rolled his eyes. “Oh, please. Ever since I can remember, you’ve been making puppy dog eyes at Jena. I mean I appreciate the whole macho white knight thing, but she’s not that kind of girl. She doesn’t want to be saved, never has.”
Chase’s wolf growled. “Puppy dog eyes?”
“Oh, sorry.” Felix winced. “Is that a slur?”
“Not in the way you mean,” Chase grumbled, jamming his hands into his pockets. He rocked back on his heels. Screw it. “Then what does she want?”
The slim warlock’s face lit up. “Are you asking for my help?”
“No.” Yes. Maybe. He sure as hell wasn’t getting anywhere on his own. “I just—never mind.” Chase shook his head and kept walking.
“No, wait.” Felix bound up from the bench to keep pace with him. “Look, I might not know all the ins and outs of were culture, but I’ve always had a sneaking suspicion—”
“Keep it to yourself.” Chase growled. “And if you say one word to her or anyone else about it, I’ll kill you.”
“Annnd that’s what I thought.” Felix grinned. “For the record, I didn’t say boo about you owning Caldwick’s. I figured there was a reason you sent in your office manager who, by the way, somehow managed not to mention your name and still hype the hell out of you.”
“She did?” Chase’s heart leapt as he stopped to look at him.
“Mmm hmm.” Felix dusted his nails across his shirt, then blew on them. “So, magical maestro of reno, what’s the plan? Get Jena to sign a contract with a massive penalty clause, so when you show up, she has to suffer through you doing the work?”
“Something like that,” Chase muttered.
“That’s awfully Hallmark of you, but it’s not going to be enough. You’ve got to get in good with Aggie, or you’ll never get past the front door.”
“Aggie—her aunt? I heard she was sick.”
“Pancreatic cancer.” Felix sighed. “They thought they caught it early enough, but it’s not looking good, and the last round of chemo almost killed her. Jena came back to settle her affairs, but you didn’t hear that from me.”
Chase palmed the brim of his hat, tugging it lower. Damn. He’d heard her coming home had something to do with the business. With all her degrees that had made sense, but he hadn’t realized her aunt was that sick. Jesus. Aggie was all the family Jena had left. “That sucks.”
Felix nodded. “It does…which is why I’m willing to help you woo her. Don’t think I don’t know about all the little things you used to do for her when you thought no one noticed.”
“You do?” Shit. Who else had?
He rolled his eyes. “I’m gay, not visually impaired, and she’s going to need someone sooner than she wants to admit. I’m assuming you’re playing for keeps?”
“Yeah. I—” Chase glanced around. If there was anyone in this town he could trust when it came to Jena, it was Felix. He’d rather chop off his own arm than see her hurt. “S-she’s my mate.” Christ, that was weird to say out loud. Felt good, but definitely weird.
Felix pumped a fist. “I knew there was a reason Havers-by-the-Sea’s heir to the pack royale’s been holding out!”
“Dude, calm down. If anyone finds out before she does—”
“Oh, you’ll be toast, and she’ll have an even bigger axe over her head.”
“To put it mildly, and Crystal’s already suspicious.”
Felix looked at him like he was an idiot. “No kidding. Refer back to my earlier comment about that being the wrong time and place to make your move, and if Crystal didn’t have Jena in her sights before, she does now.”
“Yeah, I know.” Chase sighed, kicking the seam in the sidewalk. “So what do I do?”
“Don’t worry about Crystal. Jena’s tough, and that boomerang hex has more power behind it than people think.”
“Boomerang hex?”
Felix rolled his eyes. “I’m rubber, you’re glue, whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you.
That hex rebounds intent and apparently margaritas.
FYI, I don’t know anyone else that can physically manifest karma like that.
Jena is more than capable of dealing with Crystal, it’s you that’s the problem. ”
“Me?”
“Mmm. Jena hates you. That party senior year really messed her up.”
Chase rocked back on his heels, still feeling like a major asshole about that. He’d panicked when Crystal and her friends had caught them making out. Saying it’d been a dare to see how far he could get with Jena had seemed like a good idea at the time.
It wasn’t, and everyone at Havers High had taken the ball and run with it.
“…but you know what they say about that thin line between love and hate…” Felix tapped a finger over his lips. “Sunday’s supposed to be a scorcher. I’d suggest you go to the falls.”
“The falls?”
“Yep, and bring some friends. Able’s still in town, isn’t he?”
Chase blew out his cheeks and nodded. “Yeah, until the end of the month, but—”
“But, but, but—no buts.” Felix tsked.
“Fine. I guess I can do that. Why?”
Felix grinned at him and started walking away. “No reason, but if I were you, I’d shoot for eleven.”