Just Tread Lightly

 

Chapter Nine

 

“No.” I say in response to Chase’s question. He still doesn’t start the car so I cross my arms. I’ll wait it out.

“I just spent almost three hundred dollars worth of groceries on you, so you better be willing to give me more of an answer than just no.” Chase says angrily to me. I look out the window, ignoring him. Chase slaps his hand against the steering wheel.

We sit in silence for a few minutes, Chase fuming, until I decide to speak up.

“Who were you talking to earlier?” I ask him quietly. “On the phone,” I clarify. Chase looks at me, confused.

“Amelia.” He tells me. I sigh. Of course. The pretty blonde.

“Your ex?” I question. Chase rubs his face with his hands.

“Yes, my ex.” He says. “She calls every once in a while, against my wishes. She doesn’t seem to understand that we’re broken up.” He explains to me. I’m unmoved by his sap story.

“Tell me something, Chase.” I say angrily. “What am I to you?”

Chase looks surprised; like this was the last question he would have expected me to ask him.

“Just tell me what’s on your mind, Skye.” He says, avoiding answering my question. I sigh.

“You told your ex-girlfriend that I was nobody. I was just wondering…what it is exactly I am to you. If I really am nobody, than I need to know that, okay? Because I don’t trust people easily and I’ve been hurt before. I just…don’t want to get hurt again.” I say.

Chase stares at me, his expression changing from angry to calm.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” He tells me softly. I look up at him, and see that he’s actually being sincere.

“You’re still not answering my question.” I tell him.

“I know,” he murmurs and then grins. He then turns away from me and starts the car. While we’re driving back to his home, I think about our grocery store adventure and feel a smile on my lips.

“Why’d you tell her I was nobody?” I can’t help but asking Chase. He sighs.

“She gets extremely jealous easily. Last time I told her I was with another girl she threatened the girl that if she ever went near me again, she would ‘tear her eyes out.’” Chase explains. I wince.

Talk about anger issues. Not that I should talk. I have a bad temper too, as evident by the grocery store extravaganza.

“That’s sort of freaky, I won’t lie.” I say. “But I can take care of myself.”

Chase chuckles. “Skye, I don’t need anyone threatening you right now, okay? Not with the Company searching for you.” He says. I pause.

“They’re looking for me?”

“Well, yeah. They can’t find you to test, so they’re searching for you.” He notices the look on my face. “They won’t find you though, don’t worry.” He tells me and smiles confidently.

I look out the window. “Whatever you say, Chase.” I pause and look back to him. “And by the way, I’m still pissed about before.” I inform him. Chase tries not to smile.

“Why?” He asks me.

I watch him while he drives. “Well, you can’t just tease a girl like you did, then call her nobody, and expect her to just let that go.” I say jokingly.

Chase looks over at me and I realize that we’re in front of his house. He turns to me.

“Tease you?” He asks me, eyebrows raised. I nod and place my hand against his cheek, his stubble brushing against my palm. I cannot believe I am touching him like this.

And apparently, neither can Chase, because he stops smirking and turns serious, watching me with cautious eyes as I trace his lips with a lazy finger. I then lean close to him so that our lips are inches apart. I can tell he wants to pull me closer, I can see it in his eyes, so I pull away swiftly and grin.

“See how unfair that is?” I ask him and then shut the door, laughing at Chase’s expression.

 

Together, we take the groceries from his Porsche to the house, talking all the while about nothing and everything. Neither of us says anything about the amount of groceries there is, but my arms are sore from carrying things by the time we’re finished. Serves me right. I am such a jerk.

We wander into the house and find Logan and Brody, staring open-mouthed at the groceries filling the kitchen.

“Never take Skye grocery shopping.” Chase says with a grin, completely unbothered by the amount of money he just spent to do what he thought would make me happy.

Brody nods. “No kidding.” He says and then gives me a lazy smile. Logan shakes his head and lifts the alcohol from a bag questioningly.

“Ask Skye.” Chase says, smiling at me. I shrug innocently.

“No, ask Chase.” I argue. Brody looks at the coolers with a crooked smile.

“Yeah, baby, that’s more like it.” He exclaims.

As we put the groceries away, Brody makes conversation with me with friendly exuberance.

“So, did you have fun at the store?” Brody asks me, smiling. I bite my lip to stop a smile and look at Chase.

“I was actually a really big jerk to Chase.” I admit, and my smile disappears and in its place comes guilt.

“He bought alcohol for you, sweetheart. I hardly think he’s worried about it.” Brody tell me, raising his eyebrows at Chase. Chase shrugs, grinning.

“Well, anyway. I’m really sorry Chase. I tend to…overreact sometimes.” I tell him. Brody snorts.

“Its fine, Skye.” Chase says; a smile still on his perfect mouth. I catch myself staring at Chase and Brody does too.

He turns to me, eyebrows raised while putting the last of the groceries away. “Skye?” He asks. I shake my head suddenly and pull my eyes away from Chase.

“Mmm?” I respond to Brody absent-mindedly. Chase is standing near the table, a foot propped up on a chair while he reads a message on his phone. He’s looking down, his long eyelashes (so not fair that he gets nice eyelashes) are casting shadows on his cheekbones. His mouth is relaxed while he reads, and I can’t help but staring at him. He really is so beautiful.

And I’ve never called a guy beautiful before, so that’s new.

Brody clears his throat and I look over to him, my face flushing. He just caught me checking out his brother. That’s so weird. It’s like me catching him checking out my mom…except not. Because those are two completely different scenarios. Good one, Skye.

“I need to talk to you,” Brody tells me, his eyes watching my carefully. My face is still flushed, I can feel it. I look at Chase, who is still reading something on his cell phone. I shrug.

“Sure,” I say to Brody. “Right now?” Brody nods, and begins to walk out of the kitchen. I follow him, taking one last look at Chase before leaving the kitchen. He’s completely enthralled by what he’s reading.

Brody takes me to a living room, of sorts, which looks like more of a den for the guys than anything else. There is a large screen TV on one wall, an X-Box plugged in, remote controls hanging about, soda cans laying around. I smile.

“What’s up, Brody?” I ask, confused. Why did he take me here?

“I uh, Skye…listen.” He pauses, unsure of how to put what he wants to say into words. “Do you have feelings for my brother?” He asks me bluntly.

I pause, not wanting to answer his question—not knowing how to answer his question.

“Well, I mean, Logan has been really nice to me since I’ve gotten here, but I wouldn’t say I have feelings for him…” I ramble. Brody sighs and shakes his head at me.

“Skye, come on. You know who I’m talking about.” He says. I bite my lip. Do I really have to answer this question? It feels like I’m on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and everything depends on my answer. I used to always watch that show and try to guess the answers. I never got any right.

“Yeah, I know. I just…don’t know how to answer your question.” I finally say, honestly. Brody gestures for me to sit down on one of the couches. I walk over to the big leather couch and sit down beside Brody, staring at my hands.

“I’m not telling you how to feel, I just want you to know that the Chase you know isn’t the only version of him there is.” Brody tell me, almost sadly. I look up but he’s looking away, a distant look on his face. Something about a guy that built, that strong, looking like he’s been hurt makes me really sad. I don’t know what to say, so I don’t say anything.

“When our father died it really destroyed Chase. All, of us, really, but it especially tore apart Chase. He’s the youngest of us three,” Brody pauses at the expression on my face and smiles. “I know. He looks older, everyone says so.” I smile softly.

“No kidding. I would’ve guessed that you were the oldest, then Chase, then Logan.” I say, thinking about how Chase can look so rough yet at the same time beautiful. The girls at my school would drool over him. They would literally turn into puddles of girly hormones and just…swoon. If puddles can swoon.

Brody looks at me funny and says something. I snap back into focus.

“Sorry…what?” I ask, trying to listen and not daydream about Chase. Brody chuckles.

“I said you have that look again.” He says and then imitates me looking dreamily away. I laugh.

“What were you saying? I’m listening, I promise.” I say with a wink. Brody smiles but sobers up a bit. I can almost feel the humor leave the room.

“Has Chase told you about our dad?” He asks me. I pause.

“Just that he…died in a car accident. He doesn’t seem to want to talk about it. Understandably.” My voice sounds small in the big room. I take a deep breath and look down at my hands again.

“He doesn’t talk about it with anybody, not even Logan and I. He won’t be in the same room as us when we’re talking about him. So I’m surprised he even told you about him. When did he tell you?” Brody asks, watching me. I shrug.

“The first day he came to get me.” I say, surprised at how long ago that seems.

Brody looks beyond shocked. “The first day you met him?” He repeats. I nod, confused.

“He must like you.”

I feel my cheeks flush a little. Brody notices and then smiles as me.

“I just want you to know how fragile he is, Skye.” Brody says, serious again. I know I look confused now. Chase and fragile are not too words I would put side by side. Nor would anyone else, I don’t think. Again, Brody catches the look on my face and further explains. “Not physically, obviously. But emotionally. I just don’t know how much more hurt he can take. His father, his idol, was just ripped out of his life. I can’t talk to Chase about our father’s death because I wasn’t there when it happened. Chase was. Our father was murdered,” Brody pauses and takes a breath. His voice is getting harder—rougher. I feel my chest constrict. Chase said it was a car accident, not murder. But I can't blame him for lying. Just like Brody, I can't believe he even shared something like that with me. Poor Chase. Poor, poor Chase.

“He saw our father murdered before his eyes and he was only ten years old when it happened, so you can imagine what kind of…scar that would leave. I don’t want to depress you. I just…” Brody pauses, as if unsure how to say what he wants to again. “Just tread lightly.”

I nod, at a loss for words for once in my life.

Brody gets up, shakes his hair out of his eyes and watches me sitting on the couch, frozen. I hear him say my name, but I ignore him, thinking about how much of an a*s I’ve been to Chase lately.

“Brody?” I say, my voice quiet. “Do you all hate me?”

Brody looks shocked and shakes his head slowly. “No, Skye, not at all. You’re refreshing, actually.” Brody says. He walks out of the room gracefully, like his other two brothers, and I wonder how they do it. I’m staying in a house with freaking gazelles.

I sit in the—den?—for a while, staring into space, thinking about everything. How can Chase even find a sliver of happiness after what he’s been through? How can he put up with me when all I would be doing if I were him is curling into a ball and staying there?

I don’t hear the door open and someone walking in until the couch sinks down next to me. I almost don’t have to look to see who it is.

“Oh, hey.” I say quietly, not looking at Chase, still staring into space.

“Hey,” Chase says, watching me silently. I snap back into focus once more and look at Chase. “A lot on the mind?”

I shrug. “You could say that.”

Chase smiles slightly. “I know we haven’t talked much about you…staying here. And I know you want to be at your own home, and not with strangers, but I’ve just received news from my mother that its still not safe for you to be unguarded.”

I blink a few times, feelings confused. “You told me that you didn’t know why you were sent to…guard me. Is that true?”

Chase shrugs but doesn’t look sheepish. “No, I know exactly why I was sent to guard you.”

I remember our first discussion in his car. “Because they want me for testing, right?”

Chase shakes his head, surprising me. “No, actually.”

I can’t help but look shocked. Chase continues, watching my face carefully now. “They don’t want to test you, Skye.” He says firmly yet gently. “They want to kill you.”

Reviews

[Anya]

oh blimey... that's really scary- the ending of the chapter. Yet again it made me laugh. You have a very intriguing style of writing that allows a very serious plot to be, at the same time, highly amusing. The story feels very real. Keep going with it! I honestly love it!!