Game (Gentry Boys, #3)(75)

“Chase,” he snorted. “I met that guy all of ten minutes ago. You think we’re about to partner up and go on a crime spree?”

“I think you both want the same thing. And it scares me like nothing else.”

Michael nodded absently. “Don’t worry about Chase. He seems like he might love you more than he wants to slam someone’s head into the ground.”

In spite of the whole agonizing day and the uncertainty over the near future I smiled.

“So what about you, Mike? You got a girl?”

“Steffie,” he answered with a wry grin, “don’t you remember a damn thing about me? I’ve got hundreds of ‘em.”

“Still?”

“Always.”

The conversation more or less died there. For all the blood ties and childhood we’d shared we really were little more than strangers. I struggled to find something else to talk to him about but I’d never been good at such things.

When I opened the door to Al’s apartment, the Gentry brothers, all three of them, were right on the other side. Chase reached for me and I went to him gladly. I never wanted to let him go.

“Now can we go home?”

“Yes, sweetheart. And we can stay there.”

He meant that he was done with this. He wasn’t going to pursue those men and he wasn’t going to do anything to risk what we had. This morning’s terrible argument could be dealt with another time. I couldn’t even remember what it had been about, not really. My new unwanted celebrity status meant the coming days were bound to be tough. I would need to figure out how to get through this, but with Chase next to me I knew it could be done.

Michael waved from the doorway of Alonzo’s apartment. He hadn’t made me any promises and I did not know when or if I would see him again. I waved back.

Cord and Creed followed us down the stairs silently as Chase kept his arm around me.

“Good night, kids,” said a soft voice in the darkness.

“Good night, Al,” Chase said rather flatly. Then he seemed to rethink things and held out his hand. “I’ll see you.”

As we reached the parking lot, Cord’s phone rang and it was obvious he was talking to Saylor. He had a smile on his face a mile wide.

“I’ll be home soon, honey. I love you too.”

When Chase saw that we’d driven here in my car he tossed Creed the keys to the truck. Creed seemed reluctant to move for a minute. He stood there looking directly at me. “You take care, Steph,” he said in a voice that was pretty damn close to friendly. Then he climbed in the truck and hollered at Cord to wrap up his phone call and get moving.

Chase drove my car the short distance back to my apartment. He turned the ignition off and hesitated, looking down.

I reached for his hand. “Stay with me tonight?”

His blue eyes were searching and hopeful. “You sure you want me to? I swear to god I won’t be pissed if you say no, Stephanie.”

I brought his hand to my lips. “I want you to.”

It wasn’t late so we sat on the couch and watched television. Chase held me close but seemed otherwise reluctant to touch me, probably because of the way I’d recoiled from him earlier. It was fine because I wasn’t ready to be touched. When I began yawning he turned off the television and stood, holding out his hand. We went to the bedroom in comfortable silence and he kept the light off while I undressed quietly in the corner.

He waited for me in bed, pulling the covers back and then tucking them carefully around me when I crawled inside.

“Chase,” I whispered and touched his face as he bent forward for a kiss.

We kissed softly and gently for a long time, as though he guessed doing more would be too much right now. His heart was pounding and he was breathing hard so I knew without looking down how much of an effort it was for him not to go further. I loved him even more for that.

Chase kissed me deeply for another minute and then broke away, sighing into my neck before he curled himself around my body and rested his head on my shoulder. It was the perfect way to fall asleep and I’d never felt so completely sheltered and loved. Nothing could hurt me while I was there.

The journey down the rabbit hole had ended. I was no longer falling.





CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT


Chase



As long as she was in my arms I didn’t need anything else. I could wait until the shock of this nightmare had worn off and she felt comfortable again. I could wait as long as it took.

Truly walked through the front door early, before Stephanie was awake. Creed had retrieved her from work after he and Cord drove away from Al’s place. He had told her everything and she was terribly worried. She’d wanted to come home and talk to Stephanie but Creed convinced her that having me there was enough.

“I didn’t watch it,” she said with tears in her eyes. “Hearing about it was awful enough. How is she, Chase?”

“She’ll be fine,” I answered firmly, sitting at the kitchen table. “Stephanie’s tough.”

“Yeah,” Truly grinned. “She is tough.” She threw down her purse and started bustling around the kitchen. “And when she wakes up she’ll be hungry.”

“Hey, don’t forget about me. I’m hungry too.”

She laughed. “Chase, I couldn’t forget about you if I tried.”