He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. They won’t be able to catch me,” he said smugly with a devilish grin. His over-confidence was staggering. Someday, he was going to meet his match.
Walking me to the car, he opened the passenger side door. “Hang on,” he said before I had a chance to get in. I turned around and looked up at him with a quizzical glare. This was not the time to stall. Before I even had a chance to figure out what he was plotting, his hand snaked into my back pocket like a thief and grabbed the receipt. “I don’t think you’ll be needing this,” he said right before he tossed the little slip of white paper in the wind.
I watched as it skipped along the blacktop. “Mature,” I replied.
He just grinned and got into the car. “Are you and Travis really staying up all night playing that ridiculous game?” he asked as the car hummed to life. The engine was so quiet, you could barely hear it.
I snapped my seatbelt buckle into place. “I’m going to let that slide because right now, not even you can bring down my fantastic mood. And to answer your question, yes, absolutely. We’ve been planning this for weeks.” I had the game still clutched in my hand as I hoped for an uneventful drive home. I wasn’t deceiving myself into thinking whoever had been watching us was gone. In this world Chase and his family lived in, that theory wasn’t plausible. I just prayed we got home.
My prayer was answered when Chase’s sleek car pulled into my driveway. The porch light I’d left on still shined, casting shadows over the lawn. I exhaled a sigh of relief. There was just something in the cool night’s air that had a spooky ambiance. I was more than ready to get inside to the safety of my house. Kind of ironic since half the time I was convinced my house was haunted.
He walked me inside. “Do you want me to stay? I could find ways to distract you.” His voice went low and did all kinds of funny things to my stomach.
“There is no way you could distract me tonight.”
His silver eyes lit with a challenge.
Oh shit. What have I done?
He stepped forward bumping our bodies. “I promise you Angel Eyes, that game wouldn’t stand a chance against what I could do to you.” A flicker of topaz sparked inside his smoky eyes.
I gulped, knowing that deep down he was right, and that pissed me off. “I’ll take a rain check.”
He trailed a finger over my bottom lip, and it quivered on contact. “If you change your mind, you know where to find me.” His tone left no room for doubt.
I opened the door quickly before I changed my mind. The longer I just stood here, the more certain I was becoming that I didn’t want him to leave. All the more reason he should. “Don’t hold your breath,” I mumbled, and shut the door before he had the chance to suck me in with those unusual eyes and his sultry voice.
I leaned against the door and just breathed. Then I heard his laugh, so I pushed off the door steaming mad. I hated that I’d let him get to me. Worse, that he knew he could. It was like he had some kind of power over me – over my body.
Stomping up the stairs, I flung myself on the bed and immediately tore open the game. I swear a ray of light beamed down and angels started to sing. It was that holy.
I wasted no time inserting the new disc into my Xbox. Time ceased to exist while I played. I had no idea how long I was absorbed or what time I closed my eyes. The last thing I remembered was the sweet sound of gunfire blasting in my surround sound headset.
I must have fallen asleep mid-match, with my turtlebeach headset still on, and the remote clutched in my grasp. Waking up to the theme of Black Ops II in my ears, was a great start to the day. I propped up on a mountain of pillows, thinking a few hours of sleep was just enough. The game was calling me.
From the corner of my eye I spotted something glowing, hidden in the shadows. By the time my brain processed that it was a guy, I started screaming. As the first piercing note hit the air, a hand closed around my mouth, silencing me. Looking up into eyes the color of liquid fire, I swallowed back the rest of my scream, and my stomach fell back into place.
Chase.
Slouching into his body, I smacked him on the chest. “What the hell? You scared me to death. Why the hell are you creeping in my room like some peeping tom watching me sleep?” Now I could feel the mark at my hip prickling, a moment ago I’d been too frightened to feel anything.
He snorted. “Don’t flatter yourself.”
“So you weren’t watching me sleep?”
“And if I was?”
“I don’t know. It’s weird.”
His eyes flirted over me. “It’s hot, and you are totally turned on by it. Admit it.”
I rolled my eyes and tried to ignore that I was alone in my room with him.
His hand ruffled my hair, reminding me that I’d just woken up. “You are such a she-devil in the morning. Hmm, I like it.”
Good Lord. “You would. Don’t you have someone else to torment?” I tried to hide my morning breath, but there was nothing I could do about the bedhead.