Game (Gentry Boys, #3)(30)

“I can’t,” I said. “I’ve got too much studying.”

Chase took his hand off my knee. He stared at me. The look on his face was almost hurt but I figured he could fake that pretty easily. I knew damn well how many girls he had swarming around him. If he was lonely he could go snatch one of them by the hair and drag her off to his cave.

He tried to smile. “Look, I won’t give you anymore shit. Won’t even try to f*ck you again. We can talk about psychology or sports or the economic instability of the global market.” Chase gently reached under my chin. “I swear I can be a nice guy.”

I remembered this afternoon and the way that girl had been holding him close, smiling up at him. “No you can’t,” I shot back and was immediately sorry. He turned away, but not before I saw that I’d wounded him. I still didn’t know why. What did it matter to Chase Gentry what I thought? He was a dirty dog if there ever was one.

No, it was only his pride that was wounded. He was too damn used to getting what he wanted.

“Have it your way,” he said shortly and got to his feet. He shouldered his backpack and left without looking back.

I sat there for a long time in silence and felt like shit. My hand throbbed, melting ice was leaking all over my lap, and I couldn’t shake the memory of Chase’s body, his mouth, his hands.

But none of that mattered. What mattered was the persistent thought in my head.

What if I’m wrong about him?





CHAPTER TEN


Chase



Goddamn that girl.

I almost flipped my shit when Stephanie said out loud that I’d given her the best sex of her life. Of course, she’d only admitted that right after she’d scared the crap out of me when she hinted that I’d been the first to break her in. I nearly shouted with relief when she said otherwise. I hadn’t been anyone’s first in quite a while and I wouldn’t have done her like that in Vegas if I’d thought she was a virgin.

Fuck yeah I would have.

No. I stopped in my tracks and forced the thought away. I may have enough trashy Gentry in me to lose complete track of the notches in my belt but getting clean this past month had made me reevaluate a few things. I didn’t want to be the kind of dipshit who plowed through the barrier and then took off. And I sure as hell didn’t want to wrong a girl I grudgingly liked, even if I was baffled about why the hell I liked her.

Why couldn’t I stop thinking about Stephanie? There were plenty of sweet, uncomplicated girls out there, girls who would revel in getting all dolled up for the promise of a romantic night out. Hell, I could see one coming toward me right now. She was a round-faced brunette who was nicely put together, complete with tits that looked like they would be fun to play with. She saw me staring and gave me an expectant grin but I just nodded briefly and moved on because I didn’t want her. Noooo, that would be too easy. Instead I wanted Stephanie with her ratty clothes and wild hair. Stephanie, who was all wrapped up in her own repressive sexual frustrations and thought I was a pig no matter what I said.

Just as I was working myself up into enough annoyance to harden my heart to her, I remembered the shy way she’d looked at me as she finally allowed me to remove her shirt. Then she bit her lip nervously and insulted herself while I unhooked her bra. I had to walk more slowly as my dick got hard at the same time my gut grew soft, knocking the wind out of me a little. I didn’t know what to make of Stephanie but I did know I wasn’t going to get her out of my head anytime soon.

“What the hell are you muttering about?”

Creed was standing on the patio of our apartment, leaning over the stucco wall and glowering as only Creed could glower.

I tossed my backpack over the patio wall and hopped over.

“I’m considering majoring in psychology so I can more closely examine my latent masochism.”

My brother blinked. “What?”

I leaned over and picked up my backpack. “Just trying to figure out my own shitty choices.”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “You made one today.”

“Other than replacing the empty milk carton in the fridge I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. Where’s Truly?”

“Inside, talking to Saylor. She doesn’t know.”

I kicked at the leg of the weight bench. “Know what?”

“Don’t play dumb, Chasyn. It pisses me off.”

“Sunlight and oxygen piss you off, Big C. You’ll have to narrow it down.”

He let out an exasperated hiss. “You f*cked Stephanie. Is that narrow enough for you?”

“Yeah,” I smiled. “I did. Now I remember.”

He pointed to my backpack. “You left the evidence in the living room. Truly didn’t see it.”

“You know, you interrupted some good stuff with your untimely arrival. I should be angry.”

“Dammit Chase. I told you to let that one go by.”

“Hell with you. Stephanie doesn’t need you to protect her from me.”

Creedence hit the roof. “Jesus, you think I’m worried about Stephanie? Aside from the fact that she matters to Truly I couldn’t give two shits about her. It’s you I’m worried about, *. You know what kind of trouble that crazy girl is into?”

“Well today she found some more.”