Another thing I’d been kept in the dark about. Chase hadn’t told me about an argument with Kristen. We’d spoken on the phone that night, and he’d seemed different—distant. His argument with Kristen coincided perfectly with when he’d started to behave strangely. Like a switch had flipped.
But…
“Why would he go to her place to do that, though? And why wouldn’t he tell me? When I asked him, he couldn’t explain why he was there.”
The more I thought about it, the less I thought there was any chance Chase had done something with Kristen. Unlike with Luke. I might have tried to sell myself on his lies, but deep down, part of me had known when Luke cheated and lied about it. This sick, uneasy feeling always rolled in my gut. A disloyalty radar of sorts.
Chase had never given me that feeling, even now. Something was definitely wrong, but cheating wasn’t it.
Or maybe I was in denial. I still hadn’t come to terms with the end of us. It couldn’t be real. It went against everything I thought I knew.
Shiv hummed. “I don’t know.” Her gaze fell to her pale pink nails, then back up at me. “I’m worried about Chase. Especially with the way he broke up with you and peaced out of here. It makes zero sense.”
“Glad I’m not the only one who thought that was out of left field.” I huffed and took another sip of coffee.
She bit her bottom lip, blue-green eyes turning serious. “I’m probably breaking all kinds of rules in the girlfriend handbook, but I’m going to tell you this, anyway.”
“Tell me what?” My heart skittered.
“After the game the other night, I went to bed early. The guys stayed up playing video games and drinking. When I got up to use the bathroom, Chase and Dal were talking in the hallway. Chase said he needed to meet with Dallas’s dad about something urgent.”
“Dallas’s father? I don’t follow.”
“Well…he’s a lawyer.”
Worry seized me. “Why would Chase need a lawyer?” Was he in trouble?
“I’m not sure,” she said. “I was half-asleep. Didn’t think much of it at the time and didn’t stick around to listen.”
“What kind of law does Dallas’s dad practice?”
“Litigation. But maybe Chase needed general legal advice.” She rolled her lips into a line. “The timing is odd, don’t you think?”
What kind of trouble could he be in? He hadn’t been arrested for anything—as far as I knew. Luke was still alive, so it wasn’t that. Chase wasn’t suing anyone or being sued. And he didn’t engage in anything too far outside of the law, aside from dabbling in occasional marijuana use.
Could he have failed a drug test for the team? Or could he have been using performance-enhancing drugs? That last one was doubtful.
Kristen didn’t fit into any of those scenarios, either, unless she was a drug pusher.
None of it fit.
Then again, neither did Chase ending things out of the blue. Things between us hadn’t been just fine, they’d been great. We’d been talking about the future. We’d been talking about forever. My heart tugged, and tears pricked my eyes. I inhaled slowly, trying to blink them away.
“Dallas didn’t mention this to you at all?” I clarified.
“No.” Siobhan shook her head. “I didn’t ask because it was pretty clear I wasn’t supposed to hear. They were talking quietly.”
“Maybe it’s good you didn’t. This way Chase doesn’t know that I know.”
“What are you going to do?”
I wasn’t sure, specifically. Something. Anything.
“Find out what the hell is going on.”
“What are the stakes?”
“If I win, you have to watch The Royal Boyfriend.”
“And if I win, you have to watch Operation Vengeance.”
Ten minutes later…
“Nice, Carter. You beat me for once.”
“Sure did.”
“Fine. Operation Vengeance it is.”
“Nah, we can watch your movie.”
“Really? We don’t have to.”
“I know.”
OceanofPDF.com
CHASE
I stared at my Sports Economics textbook blankly. Our exam was this week, but every time I opened the book to review the material, the words blurred.
All I could think about was Bailey. Missing her, wondering if she was okay, hoping she didn’t hate me…even though she should.
I wanted to call her. No, I wanted to go over there and tell her everything. But I couldn’t risk her getting caught in the crossfire.
If I could get through the next week or two without ruining her life, maybe I could find a way out of this chasm I’d dug myself into.
A sharp knock at the door jolted me back to reality. Dallas didn’t wait for me to respond before strolling in like a man on a mission. He sat on the edge of my bed across from my desk, facing me. I shut my textbook before thinking better of it, then immediately flipped it back open to a random section. I needed to focus on something other than what I could only assume was an imminent interrogation.
“What’s up, man?” His icy-blue eyes bored into me.
I dropped my gaze, avoiding eye contact by pretending to be fascinated with a random graph on page 256.
I turned the page. “Nothing. Just studying.”
“Sure you are.” His tone turned gruff. “Now that we’ve gotten the bullshit out of the way, what’s really going on?”
Without looking up, I shrugged. It was difficult to lie to Dallas, because he knew me so well. But I didn’t want to tell him the truth, either. The fewer people who knew, the better.
He snatched the textbook out of my hands and slammed it shut. I lifted my chin reluctantly, and when I finally made eye contact, he leveled me with a reproachful glare.
“You haven’t left the house in three days,” he pointed out. “If you don’t resurface soon, Miller is going to come over here and drag your ass to practice himself. And at this point, I’ll help him.”
“I’ll go tomorrow,” I lied.
“We have a game in two days.”
“I know.” I didn’t, actually. Our schedule had been the last thing on my mind. “I’ll be ready.” Another lie, but I was doing a lot of that lately. After barely eating or sleeping, I’d be useless on the ice. A liability, in fact.
Dallas rested his elbows on his knees, giving me a stern look that was all too reminiscent of his father. “You know, Shiv has been texting to check up on you every few hours.”
“She has? Why?”
“Gee, I don’t know, Carter.” He threw his arms out. “Maybe because we’re concerned about the status of your mental health since you dumped Bailey for no apparent reason.”
An invisible hand wrapped around my throat. “Is she okay?”
“What do you think?” He gave me a hard look.
Guilt came crashing down on me like a ton of bricks. I was buried so deep I might never get out. And I’d never forgive myself for how this went down.
Dallas’s voice took on a gentler tone. “Does this have to do with why you went to see my dad?”
I let out a long breath. He wasn’t going to let this go. “Yeah.”