The Secret (16 page)

Chase

As I watch my girl quickly make her way toward the massive country boy and throw her arms around him, I’m the first to admit that I’m not overly thrilled. I do have to say, though, it
is
nice to see her smiling.

Tomorrow will be our first Christmas together. Sophie’s had an awful year and she’s finishing it off with her mother, who, let’s face it, is just atrocious. I can’t think of anyone who deserves to let loose a little more than she does.

I just wish she had some female friends in Camden.

“God, I miss Heather,” I grumble under my brea
th as I make my way towards where she is now standing, already a beer in one hand and a bottle of Jack Daniels in the other.

“Chase,” she smiles over at me. “Come here, Baby. Meet some of my friends. This is Dusty and… Where’s Charlotte?”
she asks, looking around.

“
Aww, she’s runnin’ around here somewhere,” Dusty says with a light laugh as he shakes my hand. “Hey man, how’s it goin’?”

“
Good thanks,” I say before facing my girl and gesturing toward her drink filled hands with a smirk. “Are one of those for me?”

“Sure, I’ll share with you,” she laughs before taking a long swig from the bottle and handing it over to me. “Ugh! It burns!” she laughs and swipes the back of her hand across her mouth, making me laugh.

“Chase it, girl!” Dusty laughs and as she does just that, he faces me with another grin. “Soph must really like you, she never shares her whiskey with anyone.”

“Yeah,” she smirks as she throws a wink over at me. “He’s alright, I guess.”

“Aww,” I laugh. “Well, aren’t you sweet?”

She giggles and downs the rest of her beer, quickly handing it back to Dusty as she takes the bottle from me.

“Hit me, Dust,” she says as she takes another swig from the bottle.

I know my girl can drink, but I’ve never seen her hit the
ground running like this. I’m trying my best to keep up the small talk with her friend, but I can’t keep my eyes from her. I know how hard the past few days have been on her, but something else is bothering her. She’s taking a long sip from the beer Dusty hands her when I hear a loud female voice from a few feet behind us.

“Sophie!”

Nearly spitting her beer out, I watch her spin around and the expression on her face changes almost instantly.

“Charlotte!” she yells b
ack, downing her beer and throwing her arms up before handing her now empty cup back to Dusty, who is laughing and shaking his head. “Hit me, Dust,” she calls back as she takes off running towards the tall, thin woman who is still jumping in place a few feet away.

Faster than it should be possible for anyone in stilettos, Sophie
makes it to Charlotte. Literally jumping into her arms, she wraps her legs around her friends waist and hugs her close.

“I can’t believe you’re
really here!” Charlotte squeals as she jumps up and down, Sophie still wrapped around her. “Dusty said you were coming, but I thought he was full of shit!”

“I
’m really here and I missed your face so much!” Sophie says, squeezing Charlotte’s face and squealing as she kisses her on the cheek.

“How long have you been here?” Charlotte asks as Sophie climbs down and smiles widely at her.

“I don’t know! Like thirty minutes ago?”

“Are you already drunk?” Charlotte laughs.

“I’m gettin’ there,” Sophie admits with a laugh. “Can you carry me back to the beer?”

“Sure!” she starts to chuckle, laughing even harder when Sophie
clumsily climbs onto her back.

They’re both giggling loudly by the time they make it back to us, Sophie whispering something into Charlotte’s ear.

“God, I missed you, girl!” she tells Sophie as they come to a stop in front of us. “Wow! Who are you?” she says as she slowly looks up at me.

Her reaction causes Sophie to laugh har
d.

“This is my fiancé, Chase,” she slurs as she throws me a smile. “Chase this is Charlotte
Spence. She’s one of my very best friends from high school.”

“Hi Charlotte,” I smile.

“He lets me see him naked,” she whispers loudly into Charlotte’s ear, causing the two of us to chuckle as she slides down her back. “Dude, seriously! Like,
every day
. It’s pretty bad ass! Let’s get more beer.”

Over t
he course of the next two hours, I watch my girl begin to let loose. I’ve seen Sophie party and I’ve seen Sophie drink more rum than should be legal, but I’ve never seen her like this. She seems so much younger, more carefree than the woman I’ve fallen so madly in love with over the past nine months.

She, Charlotte and a few more women who have joined the party since we arrived have
been dancing nonstop next to the makeshift bar Dusty’s got set up on his tailgate. Every time a new song comes on, one of them proclaims it’s their favorite and causes us to laugh.

I keep up with the conversation the other guys are having about the football season, but my eyes never stray from where she is. When Jack
approaches and says something into her hair that catches her attention, I don’t miss it.

Without hesitation, she steps away from the area with him to a dark corner of the cleared area. Between the area separating us and the music blaring, there’s no way I could make out what was being said. Truth be told, I knew it was probably none of my business
. I trust Sophie more than anyone, but my jealous streak has been getting the better of me.

Jack is strategically
standing so that she’s blocked partially, but it’s obvious by their movements that whatever their topic of discussion is, it’s serious. I watch Sophie shake her head as he looks down at the ground between them before facing her again. Whatever he says next has her shaking her head rapidly, grabbing his arm and talking fast. The quick glimpse I get of her eyes tells me she’s getting upset about something, but he’s not saying much. In fact, as I begin making my way over to them, his expression is just as sad as the one she’s wearing.

As
she meets my eyes, she whispers something to him, hugging him closely before stumbling my way. Taking the few steps needed to meet her halfway, I grab her elbow to steady her.

“Are you okay?” I ask her,
glancing back to see Jack walking away from us toward the beer.

“Yeah, Baby,” she says with a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “Jack just wanted to talk to me for a second, but we’re good. I’m good. Let’s go get another drink.”

“Sophie,” I start as I gently turn her to face me. I’m about to push the subject, but she stops me.

“Baby, I’m fine,” she smiles
again, this time pulling me with her. “I’m great. Don’t worry about me, okay? Let’s just have fun.”

I know something
is bothering her, but it’s obvious she’s not ready to talk to me about it. Normally, that would be fine, but I have a feeling whatever she’s been keeping from me is the very same thing she was just discussing with Jack. The idea of her keeping secrets from me that involve her ex isn’t making me feel great. I’m about to tell her as much when Charlotte runs over to Sophie in excitement.

“Sophie!” she squeals. “Keg stand
s! You in?”

“Yes!” Sophie exclaims before walking away, turning back to me excitedly. “Come on, Baby! Let’s keg this
shit up!”

“Baby,” I chuckle, her excitement making it impossible for me to bring her down right now. “You’re
gonna puke so much.”

“
No way!” she counters, pulling me along behind her. “I kick ass at keg stands! Come on!”

The next thing I know, she’s tossing her shoes at Ch
arlotte and running toward the small group, clapping excitedly. Faster than I’ve ever seen before, Dusty lifts Sophie while another guy who looks just like him holds the tap in place for her. I assume between the amount she’s already had and her small frame she’s only got about ten seconds in her. I’m quickly proved wrong when she exceeds not only that time, but doubles it and keeps going. Her friends are chanting her count around her and she makes it to thirty before she pats the side of the keg, signaling she’s finished.

As the crowd around us starts to cheer for her,
she throws her arms up in victory. Jack starts to laugh at my shocked at expression.

“
And so it begins,” he says from my side with a chuckle. “I told you, banana fuckin’ sandwich. She’s doing keg stands. Get ready for it, man.”

Taking in his smile, I can tell he means no harm by his words. Maybe I’m irritable because Sophie’s being secretive, maybe my jealousy is fucking with me, I don’t know. All I know is I can’t stop the next words from leaving my mouth.

“Do you think I need help because I don’t know anything about her?”

“Trust me when I tell you that the only reason I’m telling yo
u anything is because I love that girl and want her taken care of. The simple fact is, I’ve got over four years with her and you’ve got less than one. Like it or not, I know what makes her tick. My intention is only to save her less heartache,” he says as he takes a draw of his beer. Anyone watching us would only assume we were talking about the weather. “I’m a man of my word. I’ll keep up my end of the deal for
her
. I’ll be civil and I won’t interfere with her happiness, but don’t get it twisted. I’m not ever looking out for your happiness, but I’ll always look out for hers.”

“She doesn’t need you to look out for her, Jack,” I remind him quietly as I take a pull from my beer.

“Doesn’t matter,” he cuts me off. “Hope you can run.”

“What t
he fuck is that supposed to mean?” I say, finally turning to see him smirking at me.

“And three… two… one…” he counts off, holding my eyes. I’
m about to cut him off when I hear Sophie’s typically soft voice yelling over the music as Jack’s grin grows larger.

“
Charlotte! Let’s go skinny dipping!”

“
You’d better hurry man,” he laughs. “Drunk or not, that girl can run.”

“Son of a Bitch,” I say, catching a glimpse of her tossing her empty cup
in Dusty’s direction.

“Hit me, Dust!” she yells back at him with a grin
before taking off in a full fledge run towards the freezing lake.

Drake

After staying at Debbie’s for about another hour after everything was c
leaned up, we started the short drive back to the house Analise had called home her whole life.

She’d been quiet all afternoon. When we had a moment alone on the porch, I’d asked her if she was upset over her punishment and her response surprised me.

“No,” she’d started. “I’ve been thinking about things and I realize that you’re right. I’ve been allowing things with Sophie to interfere with our relationship and it’s not something I want either. I can’t change the way I feel about her decision where Jack is concerned, but I should have been more respectful of your relationship with Chase. I’m sorry I didn’t give you that before, Drake.”

As we pull up to a red light, I glance over at her and
watch her as she stares out the window.

“Hey,” I say in a low voice, reaching over to take her hand in mine. “You okay?”

Meeting my eyes, she nods slightly and gives me a small smile.

“
Yes.”

We quietly study each others’ features for a while, saying nothing with our voices, but everything with our eyes
. The green glow from the traffic light on her olive skin tells me it’s time to go, but I want nothing more than to continue taking her in. Quickly checking my rearview, I realize there’s no one waiting behind us on the empty street and after switching on my hazards, decide to do just that.

Her long, dark hair is falling perfectly over her shoulders. In the small confines of my Mercedes, I take in her addicting vanilla scent.
Her grey eyes begin dancing in amusement at our silent exchange before she breaks the silence.

“Baby,” she smirks
, her voice soft. “The lights green.”

“
I know,” I whisper with a subtle smile as I lean back against my headrest and continue to take her in. “We’ll catch the next one.”

Blush uncharacteristically stains her cheeks as I reach over and push her hair over her shoulder.
As I rest my palm on her neck and run my thumb over her jaw, she leans into me.

“
What are you thinking about?” she asks after a moment.

“When I was a kid, my mom used to let me open a present on Christmas Eve
,” I start, the combination of her perfect eyes and the memory causing me to become lost. “It never even really mattered that much what I got, I was always excited. I think it was that little glimpse into the future that really was the best part of it,” I admit. “As I got older, I kind of lost that somewhere along the way, but when you crashed into me that day we met, something inside me sparked back to life, Analise,” I whisper, my thumb brushing under her eye as a single tear threatens to escape.