“Okay, enough with the pleasantries. No patients are around, you can call me Drew,” he says, his eyes giving me a once over.
“What do you need, Drew?”
“I just wanted to see how you were doing?”
See how I’m doing? Laughable.
“I’m great, thank you.” My feet begin to move to take me far away from this conversation, but he stops me again.
“Listen, I feel like we ended things on a bad note, and I’d like to try and fix it. I don’t want you to hate me.” The arrogance in his words is enough to make me want to vomit all over his pretty white coat.
“Hating you would require caring.”
“Wow,” he scoffs with a head shake.
I sigh, knowing that I do have to work with him often and I’d rather not have things be awkward. “I just mean… I don’t hate you. I don’t have any feelings about any of it. I’m really over it and I’m okay. Believe me,” I say, trying to find a peaceful way to end this conversation.
If Chase can go on not hating Kristen for the awful things she’s done, then surely I can find it in me to not hate Drew. I can simply move on from it and feel indifferent.
He gives a curt nod, and this time I’m able to walk away without him calling me back.
With the guys having a bye week, I haven’t seen Chase since I shocked him by showing up at CeCe’s gymnastics practice. Hiseyebrows shot up in surprise when he saw it was me who walked through the door. I probably should have given him a heads up text, especially considering we both avoided the giant elephant in the room like the plague with my surprise visit.
Ford and Abby’s pool is full of kids when I walk out back, noticing a few other guys from the team and their families are here as well. I spot Chase right away, standing next to the grill with Liam and Ford, holding a glass I’m certain has whiskey in it as they talk while watching the game that’s playing.
“San Francisco by ten,” I say as I walk up to them, smirking in Chase’s direction.
“I’ll take that bet.” Liam points his finger at me and smiles.
“Dipshit, you can’t bet on the game.” Chase turns to face Liam with a dumbfounded look on his face.
Chase seems to have finally cleaned up the scruff he had going on for the last few weeks as he’s now simply left with his five o’clock shadow. I’ve got to say, the unruly beard he was sporting was kind of a turn on, but now I can see the piercing shape of his jaw and his Adam’s apple stands out like he did this just to entice me. Every part of his back is covered in muscle as he stands there shirtless next to Ford who seems to be adding a new tattoo every time I see him.
“I saw your brother yesterday at work,” I say, nudging Liam’s arm.
He looks down, focusing his hazel eyes on me and puts his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close. On instinct, my eyes swoop up and I notice a flare in Chase’s nostrils. His body becomes rigid as he stands there now, when he looked relaxed just moments ago.
“Yeah? He should be here soon.” Liam keeps his arm around me, hanging his forearm off my shoulder. Liam’s contact isn’t new, he’s always been affectionate, but in a respectful way, neveranything more. It’s causing my curiosity to tailspin when Chase seems affected by it.
It’s mid-November, but that doesn’t apply in Florida when speaking in terms of weather. It’s still warm enough to have a pool day and it’s rare that any of my friends miss an opportunity to get together.
Abby has the entire kitchen island covered in different appetizers and finger foods. I can’t fill my plate fast enough when I finally make it back inside to eat something. Chase grabs a plate next to me and starts adding a few pieces of chicken, cubes of cheese and some fruit.
“Here,” I say, adding a few extra strawberries to the plate. “Don’t make it harder on yourself, she’ll finish those in five seconds and ask for more. Just give her more now.”
“Good thinking,” he replies, taking the strawberries from my hand and placing them on the plate. Instead of reaching for the napkin that’s literally right in front of him, he does something that makes my chest pound and my thighs scream as I squeeze them together. His tongue skims his index finger and thumb, causing my lower lip to drop slightly as I watch the movement. He did that shit on purpose.
I’ve spent most of this afternoon watching the football games and eating a bunch of food that I definitely don’t need, but can’t say no to. Bacon wrapped jalapenos are a staple football food, it’d simply be rude to not eat them.
“Hey.” Chase’s voice pulls me from the trays I’ve been staring at for the last two minutes, debating if I really need more buffalo chicken dip or should opt for some celery sticks instead.
“Hi.” I smile at him as he comes up beside me.
“Can we talk?”
I feel the lump in my throat build at those three words and just nod my head and follow him down the hall. I wipe my greasy fingers on the swimsuit cover up I’m wearing, even though it’s useless with this kind of sheer material.
He opens the door to the spare bedroom down the hall and I walk in first with him just behind me. Before he begins talking, he pulls the baseball hat from his head and turns it backward after running his hand in his hair. My breathing picks up when he takes a step in my direction, but I don’t move. My feet somehow feel like bricks and I can’t pick them up.
