Chase (Resisting Love #1)(9)

“Do you want me to get you something to eat, Layla?” Chase asks.

“No thanks, I’m not very hungry right now,” I tell him. And it’s the truth, I’m way too nervous to eat right now. All I can feel are the butterflies in my stomach.

Chase frowns. “Layla, are you sure? I think..”

Nikki jumps back in the car, a huge bag of food on her lap. “We can go now!” She calls out merrily. We drive to her house in a comfortable silence. We pull into her driveway and Nikki opens her door.

“Thanks for the ride, Chase. Layla, text me when you get home safe.” She emphasizes the word safe and glares at Chase when she says it, causing his lips to twitch. The dimple almost makes an appearance.

“No seriously. I’ll be pissed if you turn out to be a serial killer or something.” Chase’s body is now shaking with silent laughter.

“Bye Nikki, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” I wink at her.

“Yeah you will!” she replies and then walks off. We wait until she’s inside safely and then drive off.

“How drunk are you Layla?” Chase asks me quietly.

“Not at all”, I reply instantly and it’s the truth. I feel sober. I’m pretty sure his kiss sobered me right the hell up. He takes my hand in his and rubs my knuckles with his fingers.

“Come stay the night with me.” He makes it more a demand than a question.

I so want to, but I know I shouldn’t. I’ve never done anything like that before.

A one night stand.

He must see the battle going on in my head because he amends, “We don’t need to do anything tonight Layla, just come stay the night with me, no expectations.”

Oh what the hell. I want this man, and you only live once.

“Okay,” I agree.

He smiles and releases his breath like he is relieved. “So, tell me about yourself. What’s your ethnicity? You are stunning, but I can’t put my finger on it. You are so damn beautiful.” I blush.

“Well, my mother is originally from Sri Lanka, and my father is Australian.” I expect him not to know where the hell Sri Lanka is, like most people, but he surprises me.

“Sri Lanka, wow. I’ve always wanted to go there,” he tells me. I grin.

“You’re a cricket fan aren’t you?” I ask him, already knowing the answer.

His chuckle is rich and gives me butterflies.

“You got me there,” he replies with a small grin.

That’s the only reason people tend to know where Sri Lanka is. For some reason people tend to think that Sri Lanka and India occupy the same geographic location. I continuously get asked, "Isn't Sri Lanka the same as India?" which is an excellent way to get me worked up. If it was the same, what would possibly be the reason for being separate countries? It's a small island underneath India with separate foods, languages and customs. Sure there are similarities, but yes, they are different! Okay, rant over.

“So who do you cheer for when Sri Lanka is playing Australia?” he asks with a grin I get asked this question a lot.

“When I’m here, I go for Sri Lanka. When I’m in Sri Lanka, I go for Australia.” I tell him honestly.

“You go there a lot?”

“Every year or so,” I love it there.

“How old are you?” He changes the subject.

“Twenty. You?”

He kind of grimaces when I say twenty, so I wonder how much older he is. “I’m twenty five.”

I laugh. “That’s not so bad; you’re not an old man.... just yet.”

He looks at me sideways and grins, “It’s going to have to do, because I want you too bad.”

The car fills with tension, tension that I have never before experienced. We are quiet after that, his hand still rubbing mine, making affectionate circles. Eventually I fall asleep.





Chapter Five


I wake up in an unfamiliar, ridiculously huge, extremely comfortable bed. I’m wrapped up in black satin sheets and Chase is next to me, fast asleep on his stomach. He’s only wearing a pair of black pajama pants; he must have kicked the sheets off him. Holy hell, even his back is sexy. His black hair is covering one of his eyes, giving him an almost boyish appearance, his face turned towards me. He must have carried me from his car to the house. I look down and realize I’m wearing what must be one of his T shirts. I don’t know what to think about that. I glance back down at Chase to see that he is now awake and watching me, his eyes soft, lids heavy.

“Good morning, beautiful girl.” His morning voice is deeper and huskier than last night. My breath hitches.

“Morning.” I mumble. I am not a morning person. And I just remembered that I did not text Nikki. She is going to flay me alive.

“Nikki called and I answered and said you were okay, I hope that’s fine,” he tells me.

“She told me that I could be lying and that you better call her first thing in the morning,” he says, eyes twinkling.

“Umm thanks.” I think.

“I put you in one of my T shirts; I tried not to look as much as I could.” He looks sheepish and I laugh at his honesty. He grins at me and pulls me into his arms, and I can’t help but relax into them.

“Are you okay?” he asks me once I’m wrapped up in his arms, my head resting on his chest.