Finding Chase (Chasing Nikki) (21 page)

Her breath came out in a soft rush. “Oh, and how is that?”

“Alive. You make every part of me feel alive. It’s the first time in a long time.”

Tears welled in her eyes, and she popped up on her tiptoes. “I love you, Chase Walker,” she whispered before pressing her lips to mine. I embraced her tighter as she slid her arms around my neck, kissing her fully and deeply for anyone around to see. But I didn’t care. I loved her. She stepped away and slipped her hand back in mine, leading me through the loud, swirling, flashing, mayhem toward the ride.

Soon we were safely onboard and rising into the air. The lights and sounds of the fair dipped away beneath us, and we made our way upward . . . the twinkling yellow glow of Phoenix spread flat in the distance around us.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Britt said, snuggling closer.

“It is,” I replied, sweeping her long hair to the side and bending to kiss her neck. She arched her head, releasing a small sound as I continued to brush over her skin, my tongue darting here and there to taste.

“Chase.”

“Hmm?”

“People can see us.”

I looked around, noticing the curious stares of those in the carts next to us. “Yep, they can.” I reverted to kissing her neck.

“Can I tell you something?” She placed her hand on my knee and squeezed, causing me to pause.

“You know you can tell me anything.”

She seemed anxious. “I never expected things to be so easy with you.”

I smiled. “That’s good right?”

“Yes—but also a little scary. We said we were going to take things slow.”

I was worried now. “That was months ago, Britt. What are you saying? Is it too much?”

I was feeling a bit panicked, and I shifted in my seat causing the cart to sway abruptly. Brittney squealed, and grabbed onto my arm.

“Don’t do that again!” I could tell she was terrified, and I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, hoping it would help her feel steadier.

“Then tell me what’s going on?”

“Nothing’s going on!” She sighed in frustration. “I’m not saying things right. All I meant was our relationship is going really fast, and I wondered what it means for us. Where do we go from here?”

Every muscle in my body relaxed, and I tried to calm my heart rate down. “Do we have to know where we’re going, or can we let it happen naturally?”

“I want things to be natural, I’m just curious about the future. Where will we be a year from now, or two years? What if you get drafted to the NFL or something? What happens with us then?”

“Is that what you’re worried about? That I’ll move somewhere else and leave you?”

“It’s a legitimate question.” Her brow furrowed as if she were in serious thought.

“Where do you want to be if that happens, Brittney? Be honest. What do you want me to do if something like that comes up? Do you want me to turn it down?”

“No,” she replied emphatically, looking down to toy with the hem of her shirt for a moment. I could tell she was nervous when she looked up at me. “I want you to take me with you.”

I felt relieved. “Good, because if you didn’t come with me, I wouldn’t leave.” I brushed my knuckles against her chin. “Quit worrying about this. You aren’t some flash-in-the-pan rebound relationship. I want you. For real.”

“But what if—”

“Shhhh,” I interrupted, placing my finger over her lips to silence her. “There will be no playing the ‘what if’ game tonight. I love you—you love me—that’s all either of us need to know right now. Okay?”

She nodded again. I wasn’t actually sure if it was a nod of agreement or acquiescence, but she didn’t try to stop me when I kissed her for the rest of the ride.

I handed the vendor my ticket card, and he scanned it before laying three baseballs in front of me. “You know these games are rigged, right?” I said softly, leaning closer to Brittney as I turned to face the wall of bottles.

“Yes, but I have faith. I don’t believe they could stand a chance against you.” She ran her hand across my bicep, squeezing encouragingly before stepping away. I pick one up and stepped back a couple of feet. Zeroing in on the target, I wound up and threw as hard as I could. The ball hit the bottle with a resounding smack, and the glass shattered.

Brittney jumped up and down clapping. “One gone.”

I glanced at her with a grin. She seemed very confident I could pull this off. I picked up another ball and threw again with the same result. She repeated her happy dance. I loved watching her.

“Last one,” I said, giving her a suggestive look. “I think maybe I need a kiss for good luck.”

“You don’t need luck,” she replied, practically skipping over to place a quick peck against my lips. “You’re Chase Walker, one of the best throwing arms around. You have
so
got this!”

“Great.” I laughed, giving her a quick smack on the behind. “So now you’re betting my career on this as well, are you?”

“Nope. I know you’ll succeed.” She grinned as she walked away.

I shook my head and turned back toward the target. Focusing for a moment, I threw the ball hard, smashing the third bottle.

“Winner!” the man in the booth shouted and grabbed a hook he had leaning against the wall while Britt squealed in delight. “Which one would you like?”

I deferred to her.

“The white one of course,” she said. “White is one of my favorite colors.”

I grinned. “Is it now? Since when?”

“Since always. Haven’t you noticed all the white furniture in my house? Or have I been keeping you too . . . preoccupied for things like that?”

This was true, I realized as I pondered in surprise. I’d never really paid attention before, but she did have a lot of white things. We had something else is common.

“Here you go, miss.” The Carnie handed her the giant pillow pet, which I thought was supposed to be a cat, perhaps, and she danced around with glee.

“Thank you, Chase! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She had to crane her head around the dang huge thing to be able to kiss me, and I laughed again. It was almost bigger than she was.

“We’re gonna have to go home now, so we don’t have to haul this thing around the rest of the night. What would we have done with it on all those rides you dragged me on? I guess it’s a good thing we decided to play the games last, huh?”

“Probably. I knew you would win. Come on, let’s go find which game Brett and Tana are at and see how they’re doing.”

I took the massive stuffed beast from her, trying to find a comfortable way to carry it, but it wasn’t possible. I finally settled on hooking my arms around its middle, and Brittney slipped her hand in at my elbow, so we could still stroll together.

“You’re gonna have to share with me, you know that, right? I worked hard for this . . . ,” I studied it again for a second, “cat—dog—creature thing.”

“Of course I’ll share. What fun is a giant pillow if you have no one to cuddle with? And it’s definitely a cat. I’m positive.”

“Well, I’m glad one of us is,” I replied with a grin.

We saw Brett and Tana standing at a booth the next row over, tossing wiffle balls at a table of brightly colored squares. “You won!” Tana said, pointing excitedly to the yellow winner square the ball was in.

“Here you go. You can choose from any prize in this bucket,” the gamer lady said. Tana reached in and pulled a small, brightly-colored, stuffed fish about the size of her hand from the container. “Thank you!” She kissed Brett on the cheek, and the two of them turned around to find us watching.

Brett hung his head in defeat before looking up at me again. “I’d ask you how you did, but the answer is plainly obvious. I swear no matter what I do, you always manage to show me up.”

I grinned. “At the moment I’d be quite happy to trade with you. I’d much rather carry the fish around for the rest of the night.”

Tana laughed. “No deal! We worked hard for this fish, and I love it. It’s the most expensive stuffed animal I’ve ever owned.”

We laughed and turned toward the midway.

“Shall we get something to eat now?” Britt asked. “I swear these smells are about to kill me.”

“Food sounds good to me too,” Tana added. “I’m starving.”

We ended up stopping at a fry bread stand. Brett and I ordered Indian Tacos, and the girls got Strawberry Shortcake fry bread. Brittney carried my plate as we walked toward the picnic tables set up around the outer edge of the grandstand, where a local rock band called Cages was playing some pretty decent music. I deposited the pillow monstrosity on the far end of the table and slid in next to Brittney.

“So did you have a good time tonight?” I asked before taking a bite. I already knew the answer, but I loved hearing her rant on and on about it.

“Oh my gosh, Chase! I’m glad you brought me. I had no idea what I’ve been missing! It was amazing—you were amazing!” She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and hugged me.

“I’m getting the impression you think it was amazing—not sure, though.” I kissed the side of her face. “I’m happy you enjoyed it.”

She released me to take a bite of food. “Holy cow! This is divine!”

“I know, right?” Tana replied, licking her lips as she made a delighted expression. “I’m thinking we need to try to recreate this at home.”

“Definitely. I never would’ve thought to do this. You have to try it, Chase.” She cut a bite off and lifted it to my mouth. I took it, and the sweet flavor exploded against my taste buds.

“Mmm. Wow,” I said when I finished chewing. “That really is awesome. I think we should tell my grandma about this.”

“Oh, your grandma! I bet she’d find a way to improve it,” Brett said with a dreamy look. “You have no idea how much I miss her.”

“I have every idea. She’d be appalled by the things we’ve been eating lately.”

“This is true.”

“You should let us cook for you all the time,” Tana said. “Britt and I may not rival your grandma, but I’d wager we cook way better than the two of you.”

“I wouldn’t ever say no to you girls’ cooking,” I said quickly. I was sick of pizza. “I’ve loved the few meals you’ve made for us in the past. Heck, if you wanted to make a week’s worth of meals, I’d pay for the ingredients. I think it’s only fair for Brett and I to pay if you’re doing all the work.”

“I think it would be fun to start having meals together all the time. I mean, we do go out a lot together, but this would feel so . . . family like. Even if it’s only dinner every night, that would be fine with me,” Britt added.

“Let’s do it,” I agreed, and we spent the next several minutes coming up with dinner ideas the girls could buy groceries for.

“We better get hustling,” Brett said after a while, glancing at his phone. “Chase and I have weights again in the morning.”

“Correction—you have weights in the morning. I’m not allowed to go until I receive a call from coach with clearance,” I reminded. “But you’re right. Everyone has an early start. We should call it a night.”

I stood, stacking Brittney’s and my empty plates together and heading toward the garbage can while everyone else gathered their things.

“Well, look who it is, Mr. Dope Addict,” a familiar voice said, and I turned around to find Matt and Jared standing there with a couple of girls I didn’t know. They glanced between the three of us uneasily.

“Don’t start with me, Matt. You, out of everyone, know exactly how bogus those charges are.” I was going to try to remain calm.

“And what if I do? You can’t prove anything.” He folded his arms and glared.

“Really? Did you remember to wear gloves when you tampered with my locker?” I asked, calling his bluff, and he fidgeted nervously, a telltale sign which let me know for sure he was the guilty party. “How about when you bashed up my truck?”

His eyes darted in Jared’s direction before looking at me.

“He don’t got nothin’ on us,” Jared said, shouldering forward. “If he did, the cops would be swarming all over us by now.”

“Dude, you really are friggin’ stupid,” Brett said, coming up beside me followed closely by Tana and Brittney. “You practically admitted you’re responsible. If you’re gonna commit a crime, you might wanna learn to lie better. Come on, Chase. Let the police deal with them. They aren’t worth your time.”

I started to walk away, but Brittney stepped forward. “Is it true? Did you do those awful things?”

“What I do or don’t do is none of your business anymore, now is it? Run along with your new boy toy, and when you’re ready for a real man again, you know where to find me. At least there’s no chance of you dying in a car accident if you sneak out to meet him, since he lives next door. How convenient.”

The comment struck me like a ton of bricks, and in the blink of an eye I was ready to take his head off, but Brittney put her hand on my chest, stopping me.

“He’s more man than you’ll ever be,” she spat. “I hope I never lay eyes on you again, Matt. Chase has been through hell because of Nikki. Don’t you have any respect for the dead? I had no idea you were so sick and twisted.”

He laughed and stared at me. “I bet it burns you to know I had her first, doesn’t it?”