Chase (18 page)

“You’re drooling, Layla, and it better be only for me.” He calls out, causing me to laugh.

“I may be the luckiest girl alive right now!” I call back, causing all three of them to chuckle. “I’ll see you in the afternoon!” I yell.

“Bye love.” Chase calls back.

Chapter Twenty Six

I pull up into the driveway after a long boring day of work, and I start to freak the hell out. Why you ask? Because my mother’s car is parked in my drive way. She didn’t even call! A sneak attack, that’s what this is. I walk into the kitchen, where Chase is sitting at the dining table, chatting with my mother. My mother is very beautiful, elegant, and petite. Her black hair is shoulder length, and she looks a lot younger than her forty five. Chase sees me and chuckles at my expression.

“Umm, mama?” I mumble.

“Layla, there you are! How are you darling?” She comes over and hugs me.

“What are you doing here?” I ask a little sharper than I meant to.

She narrows her eyes at me. “Am I not welcome to visit my own daughter?” she questions.

“No, of course you are, it’s just, well, you never called or anything, and..” As usual, she cuts me off.

“Yes, well, I had to come and see how you are. Any why didn’t you tell me you were dating this fine gentleman?” She gestures at Chase, who is trying to contain his grin. And failing.

“Well, you see...”

“I had to hear it from him! My own daughter doesn’t tell me these things!” she complains.

I sigh, and head to the table, taking a seat next to Chase. He takes my hand in his, and gives it a little squeeze.

“How was work, baby?” he asks.

“Fine.” I reply.

My mother takes in us holding hands and beams. I inwardly groan. She cooks us dinner, and we sit around the table, chatting.

An hour later, she leaves, threatening me that if I didn’t bring Chase home, she would bring the entire family over to my house. I quickly tell her we will be there. I close the front door, lean against it, and sigh. Chase starts laughing,

“She’s adorable,” he decides.

“She’s a cyclone!” I grumble.

“At least I found out something that bodes well for me,” he says with a smirk.

“What?” I ask, suddenly suspicious.

“You’re still going to be a babe at forty five.” He chuckles.

I slap him on the arm, causing his chuckle to turn into a throaty laugh.

******

I walk into the restaurant, looking for Ryder. He’s sitting in a booth in the far left corner; I can see his dark brown head of hair. I walk over and give him a kiss on the cheek, before jumping in the seat opposite him. It was time Ryder and I had a talk. I know while it wasn’t really his business about my relationships, but he truly loved me and was thinking of my best interests.

“Layla.” Ryder greets, looking happy to see me. He looks handsome in jeans and a white shirt. His hair is a beautiful chocolate brown, and curls behind his ears. Both of his arms are covered in tattoos, and he even has one on his neck. His smoky grey eyes have been known to break many hearts.

“Hey Ry,” I give him a crooked smile.

The waiter comes over and we both order.

I hear Ryder sigh, and shake his head sadly. “Ok, I’m just going to get to the point. Are you still with him?”

I look up and nod. “Yes, Ryder, I am.”

He looks thoughtful. “You know you deserve much better, right?”

“Ry..”

“No, listen, Layla. I’ve known Chase a long time, and while he’s a good friend, I’ve seen what he’s like with women,” his eyes plead with mine.

“Ryder, I’m a big girl. I know he’s got a bad track record, but he’s changed.”

“I know you can take care of yourself, but you’re family. He’s going to hurt you.” He runs his hands over his face as he says this.

“Ryder, I think I love him,” I whisper, almost reverently.

He says nothing for a while, just stares into my eyes, searching.

“And I love you, Layla, so if this is what you want... I won’t say anything more. But for the record, I don’t think this is a good idea. If he hurts you, tell him I will kill him,” he growls the last part.

“Okay,” I say, a faint smile on my lips.

We make small talk the rest of lunch, talking about work, and how the family is doing.

“So, I haven’t seen Nikki around lately. What’s she been up to?” he asks nonchalantly. I know Ryder, I think he has had a thing for Nikki for a while, but for some reason, he seems to be hiding it. Kind of like with Kade. Men are so confusing!

“She’s good,” I tell him, “still balancing school and partying. Her and Kade have some weird non relationship thing going on.”

“What?” He hisses.

“Yeah, something is going on. I keep asking her about it, but get no answers.” It was getting frustrating.

Ryder’s jaw tenses, and I can see his knuckles go white as he tightens his grip on the table.

Ryder changes the subject, and we chat some more. We finish lunch and Ryder pays, scowling at me when I offer to. He walks me out to my car and opens the door for me.

“Text me when you get home safe, baby cuz,” he says.

“I will. Thanks for lunch, Ryder.”

“Anytime beautiful,” he kisses my forehead. “We will catch up soon,” he says before walking to his car. He waits for me to drive off before he does. Always a gentleman, my Ryder.

Later that night we are all sitting on the deck, the men are drinking beer, and I’m drinking a margarita.

“Can I ask you all something?” I blurt out.

Three pairs of eyes pin me, and I clear my throat. “The sharing girls’ thing, what’s the deal.” Kade and James look at Chase, who is still staring at me.

“I won’t get mad, I swear.” I promise.

Chase shrugs nonchalantly. “Girls just come to the house, or girls we’ve picked up. They don’t care which one of us they are with most of the time, and we don’t care either. Those girls don’t belong to any of us, so if they want to hook up with all three of us, we could care less.” He watches my reaction intently, for any signs of me getting upset.

“They use us as much as we use them, trust me, and they know what they are in for, we don’t make any false promises. We are upfront that we don’t want anything serious.” James adds.

“Really,” I say purposely checking out Kade, exaggeratedly.

Chase growls and I can’t help a throaty laugh.

Kade smirks. “Can’t handle the competition anymore, bro?” he taunts, earning his a slap on the back of his head.

Chapter Twenty Seven

It’s the night of the party and people are already piling in. I’m stressed out. Loud music is pumping, scantily clad women everywhere. I’m pretty sure there are two women for every male here; no wonder everyone loves Kade’s parties. I see Chase standing at the breakfast bar with Kade and James. Kade has a woman standing on either side of him, an arm wrapped around each one. James is talking to some blonde bombshell. Chase glances up and sees me, his eyes lighting up. I’m wearing black skinny jeans, a tight black top and bright red pumps. I didn’t want to dress up too much, considering the party is at our place, and I don’t plan on socializing for long.

“You look sexy.” Chase rumbles as I walk up and stand next to him.

“Thanks. You’re pretty damn sexy yourself.” And he is.

I find myself wishing Nikki was here, but she had a family function she couldn’t get out of. I almost run into Ashley, when I head to the bathroom. I try ignoring her, but she comes right up to me for a chat.

“So, Layla. How’s things with Chase?” she demands, nosily.

“How’s that any of your business?” I counter.

“Stay away from Kade.” She sneers in a threatening voice.

“Kade?” I repeat. This woman is a lunatic.

“Oh please, I know how these brothers work. They don’t care about sharing girls.” She says nonchalantly.

“Oh, so you’re going after the trifactor.” I say knowingly. She’s had Chase and James, now she wants her claws in Kade.

“So go after Kade? I’ve never seen him turn down a woman before, no matter how awful they are.” I tell her.

She’s silent, and I can’t help but giggle. “He turned you down? Ouch, that has to hurt.” I tell her honestly. I know I’m being a bitch, but she started it. Mature, I know. I excuse myself and walk back to Chase. He wraps his arms around me possessively. An hour later we are all laughing at a story Kade is telling us, when Aubrey walks in. I turn and glare at Chase, who looks over and sees her. His face grows angry.

“I’ll take care of it.” He says to me, before walking off towards her.

I see them walk off, towards Chase’s room. Oh hell no. I wait a few minutes then go to see what is going on.

The room door is open, and they are standing in there talking in what seems to be a heated discussion. Aubrey looks upset. Chase looks frustrated.

I walk closer, “Chase?” I call out. I don’t want them to think I’m eavesdropping. Although I’m so curious right now, I wouldn’t put it past me.

Chase glances over at me and says, “Give me a sec, Layla.” Aubrey gives me an evil look. I retreat and head to my room. I don’t get those two. A few minutes later, Chase comes into my room, without knocking might I add.

“Hey, sorry about that.”

I shrug. “What did she want?”

“Nothing, just needed to talk about something.” He evades.

I’m not sure what to think, but I’m hoping he will tell me when he’s ready. “Okay.”

“Okay?” he sounds suspicious. I almost laugh,

“Yes, okay. We are going back to the party or bed?”

“Definitely bed!” he growls, lowering himself for a kiss.

******

I’ve been dreading this. A family function at my parent’s house. My mother actually threatened me that if I don’t bring everyone, I’m in deep shit. It’s a couple hours’ drive, and Kade, James, and Nikki are in Kade’s Hummer behind us. I’m nervous, my family can be a little... overbearing. Okay, very overbearing. We arrive at my parent’s house, and pull up in the driveway. It’s a large two story house, a little on the old side, but still lovely. I love this house. There are lots of cars parked everywhere, so we find a spot on the grass. Mum runs before I can even open the door, and instead of running to me, she runs and hugs Chase. I huff. She then moves on to hug James, Kade and Nikki, who have just driven in, before lastly coming and hugging me.

“I’m so glad you came, Layla,” she says, “Come on everyone!”

She leads us into the backyard where there is a whole fancy set up, and people everywhere. My dad walks over and hugs me warmly.

“My Layla, I’ve missed you, baby girl.” He looks happy to see me, his gray eyes smiling, showing his laugh lines.

“Missed you too dad,” I tell him honestly. “Dad, this is Chase. Chase, this is my dad,” I introduce. They shake hands and start talking about who knows what. I see my cousin Sasha running up to me. She looks gorgeous. Her hair is dead straight and up to her shoulders, and she is wearing jeans and a blouse. She has a slender yet shapely figure, and she commands attention anywhere she goes.

“Hey Sash!” I say giving her a huge hug.

“Sasha?” I hear James say in a shocked voice.

“James?” Sasha has gone pale. “What are you doing here?”

“I came with Layla,” he says.

“Um, how do you guys know each other?” I ask, being my nosey self.

No one speaks up for a while, and then Sasha says “James and I used to date.”

“What?” Okay, I totally didn’t see that one coming.

“Awkward,” Nikki says, drawing the word out.

“Look, it was a long time ago. I’ll talk to you in a bit, Layla,” she says sadly.

Then she walks off.

I turn to James. “What the hell James?”

“How was I supposed to know she was your cousin? Shit, Layla,” he growls.

“If you did something to her..” I threaten.

“I’m sorry, Layla,” he interrupts, “I don’t want this to be awkward for Sasha, I’m gonna leave. Kade, can I take your car?”

Kade throws him the keys.

“James..” I say, not wanting him to go. He gives me a kiss on the cheek.

“I’ll see you back at the house,” he says before walking off.

Well hell.

“You okay,” Chase whispers in my ear. I nod, looking for Sasha. I’m getting answers dammit. I see Ryder walking towards me, his gray eyes twinkling.

“How’s my beautiful girl?” he asks, hugging me. Chase growls.

“I’m good. How are you, Ry?”

“I’m good. Chase, Kade,” he nods at them before looking at Nikki, “Nicole, long time no see.”

Nikki grins, “Apparently not long enough, Ryder.”

Ryder flashes her smile that I’m sure can get him in and out of anything. I see Kade grab Nikki’s hand, and Nikki pull it away. Those two. A freaking soap opera, I swear.

We all load our plates with the bucket loads of food my mum has prepared. Its times like these I miss my sister, Tenielle. She would have totally livened up this get together. I smile at the thought.

“What is that smile for?” Chase asks, not missing a beat.

“Thinking of my sister,” I tell him.

“What is she like?” he asks, curious.

“Fun, crazy, spontaneous, loyal,” I say, summing her up in four words.

Chase is about to reply, when I see Sasha. I hand my plate to Chase, “Hold this for a sec, please?”

I corner her in the kitchen. “Talk to me Sasha,” I say, getting straight to the point.

“I thought he was the one,” she says, emphasizing the last two words. I’m caught off guard. Sasha has the most game when it comes to guys; she normally has them wrapped around her manicured little finger.

“You want to talk about it?”

“Nope,” she replies, popping the P.

“Okay, well he’s gone so come out and hang with me,” I demand.

“Okay,” she grumbles.

When we walk back out Chase is talking with my dad again. They both smile when they see me.

“What’s going on, you two?” I ask suspicious.

“Nothing,” they both say at the same time. Well okay then.

I see my cousins, Isabella, Giselle, and Liana flirting with Kade, and Nikki staring over from where she is talking with Ryder. I walk over to Ryder and give him my best evil eye.

“What’s going on here?” I demand.