Wild Chase (3 page)

The next minute played out like one of those really cheesy, slow-motion scenes out of a romance movie. We bumped into one another and our eyes slowly rose until they met and fastened on to the other’s; the electricity between us firing off, instantaneous and out of our control. Before I knew what was happening, both of his strong hands had a tender, but firm hold on my face, his fingers sinking into my soft, brown curls on either side of my head as he pulled me in for a kiss that I would remember for the rest of my life.

My eyes fluttered shut as soon as I felt his lips touch mine. Avery faintly tasted of something sweet, and the only thought my brain could grasp onto was more. I leaned into him asking for just that.

I can’t explain how incredible the kiss was. It was rough and gentle, innocent and fiery, all wrapped up into a memory that would be forever scorched into my mind. I felt his fingertips gently brush over my cheeks as our kiss deepened, his other hand came down, tracing a blazing path slowly down my neck, and when he grazed my collarbone, I gasped, accidentally interrupting our moment. Suffice it to say, my body’s reaction had been as much of a surprise as the kiss itself. His hand swept his shaggy hair back, and then fell to his side as a sheepish grin took over his face.

“I guess it’s my turn to apologize. I just had to do that before you told me you were either way too young for me, have a boyfriend, or secretly had an FBI agent sent here to lure me in and kill me.”

My flushed cheeks rose to my eyes as I smiled and laughed loudly.

“Yeah, um, well, nope. I’m legal. No boyfriend and your life is safe, for now.”

He bit his bottom lip in that irresistible way again and laughed, “Good to know. Very good to know,” he murmured slowly and so articulately that I felt my body responding to the low, husky tone of his voice just as it had to his kiss. My cheeks felt hot all over again and I looked to the floor to try to hide it, brushing some hair behind my ear as I admired his boots.

I felt his warm breath on my neck before I heard his voice beside my ear. The goose bumps ran wild all over my body as his words filled my heart.

“You were incredible up there.”

I lifted my head and leaned slightly to my side to look at him. “Really?” I asked, my voice coming out as a whisper was out of my control. I blamed the kiss for my brain cells not functioning properly. As he raised an eyebrow, he asked.

“Are you kidding me? I felt like a complete douche when I realized that I had put my foot in my mouth when I made that comment about you making our ears bleed. I could not have been more wrong. How long have you been performing?”

“Um, just tonight.”

He looked confused, “What?”

“Tonight was my first time on stage. As in, ever,” I said with a nervous laugh. God, why was I suddenly nervous?

His confused look morphed into a genuine, shocked smile, “Seriously? Chase, you were incredible up there! Jesse would outright call bullshit on you though, because you don’t sound like a new performer at all. Your voice is insane!”

I couldn’t deny the butterfly feeling I got when my name left his lips, but when I heard him talking about Jesse, it was as if someone had ripped the tiny wings right off, and the fluttering came to a crashing halt.

Just outright ask him,
my head urged as I pressured the question from the odd sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

“So, is Jesse your girlfriend?” I asked. The words were meant to come out firmly, to show him that I wasn’t about to have any more of his cheating lips on me, but instead they came out meekly.

Disappointment was harder to hide than I anticipated.

His brows creased as he let out a deep laugh, putting his hand over his stomach, “Oh, hell no! Jesse is a guy, and he most definitely is no one’s girlfriend. He’s the bassist in my band back home, and he wouldn’t believe for a second that you hadn’t been born on a stage. Plus, I don’t have a girlfriend.”

Either from the relief of him not having a girlfriend, or the sweetness of his words, something made me want to kiss him again, and for a moment, it felt as if he were a magnet and I couldn’t resist the pull. I leaned back in, my eyes zeroing in on his lip ring, but before our lips met, he spoke so softly that the hair on my arms stood up.

“Let’s get out of here.”

My breath caught as my eyes flew up to his, “And go where?”

Avery gave me that devastating smile of his, and answered, “Anywhere. Do you trust me?”

I know that I should have wanted to reach out and slap him for assuming I would ever leave a bar with a strange man to do god only knows what, but instead I followed the butterflies. They were fluttering so hard inside of me that I thought I might actually have real ones in there.

I bit my lip and nodded before I realized I was even doing it.

Avery took my clammy hand into his and we started across the crowded bar when it suddenly hit me that I was supposed to be finding Victoria.

“Oh! Hold on, I um, I can’t leave without my friend,” I stammered, scanning around for her quickly, trying not to lose my nerve and chicken out.

He turned back to me and smiled, pointing across the bar back to the stage area. I followed the direction of his toned arm and found that my friend was wrapped up in some tall, blonde guy’s arms. I let out a breathy laugh. Figured as much!

I felt him lean down against my neck, “And that boy attached to your friend would be my younger brother, Luke.” My jaw dropped. I spun around to look at him as he chuckled.

My eyes found the two of them again, snuggling and making out on the dance floor as I blushed. I didn’t really want to bother her, but I couldn’t just up and leave! The two of them upped the steamy moment with some added groping, and I made up my mind that I truly didn’t want to go over there. I sighed. She was my ride and place to stay for the night though.

“You can always text or call her. I have to be back here in a couple of hours to pick up my brother and Uncle anyway, so we won’t be gone for long,” he said, as if he were reading my mind.

I made a goofy, unsure face at him and shook my head, “Um, I don’t have a cell phone.”

“You don’t have a phone?”

I blushed, “Nope, not allowed.”

Avery raised an eyebrow to me and then pulled a phone from his pocket. In a second, he had it up to his ear.

“Hey, Luke, yeah, hand the pretty lady the phone. Don’t ask questions, just do it.”

He extended his hand to me, giving me his cell, and I took it warily.

“Uh, hello?”

“Chase?”

“Heyyyyyyy, Vic. Um, I’m going to go out for just a little bit with Avery, but he said he would be back for his brother, you know—your dance partner, in a few. You looked occupied so I hope you don—”

“This is Oreo filling’s BROTHER? Ha! No shit? Wait, you want to go OUT with a guy you just met in a bar? Damn, woman! Well, unlike your folks, I trust your judgment! Just be good, not too good, though— I mean if he kisses like his broth—,” but before she could go on I blushed and cut her off.

“Vic, I’ll be fine. There are tons of shops around here. I promise to stay close by and I’ll be back in a couple of hours. I’ll see you later!” With that I snapped his phone shut and handed it back to him.

I couldn’t believe I was about to do it either, but if I didn’t live a little now, I’d never get the chance. I would never get the chance to meet another Avery.

Looking up through my lashes, I smiled shyly at him, “All right, where to?”

He smiled back and before I could change my mind, he had my hand in his and we were out of the door.

When the cold, November night air washed over me, my mind filled quickly with thoughts of what I was actually doing. Realization hit that I should probably say something to Avery before he tried taking me to the Super 8 Motel down the road.

I roughly cleared my throat, “uh, I uh, I don’t normally do stuff like this. Whatever you thought we would do, uh, I mean, I’m not
that
kind of girl.”

We paused on the sidewalk briefly, and he gazed down at me. Oh great, I knew he wouldn’t want to just hang out with me. Not that I wouldn’t mind kissing him some more. I just wasn’t sure that I was ready to take it further than that.

“You’re exactly the kind of girl I want you to be,” Avery spoke softly, rubbing the back of my palm with his thumb.

I’m pretty sure my heart melted on the spot.

We walked hand in hand for a few blocks until we came up to a well-lit area filled with shops, a fountain, and a bunch of benches. I thought we were headed to a bench when Avery yanked my hand in a different direction. Outside of one of the stores was an older man sitting on a small stool playing a guitar. His skin was a deep caramel color, worn but smooth, and his hair was a brilliant white. His clothes were slightly tattered but the guitar in his hands was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. The deep, cherry-color acoustic guitar sounded heavenly as we stopped next to a small crowd to listen.

I couldn’t help but smile as he finished the last few strums and everyone around clapped,; and a few deposited some change into the open case at his feet. The next few notes started up and my smile widened because I recognized it immediately.

Avery knelt beside the older man, his eyes closed, as his head nodded to the beat of the song and his thumb kept rhythm against his knee. The next thing I heard was the most incredible voice, singing out beside this street musician.

The rich, soulful, baritone voice filled the night air, giving me chills. The raspy edge to it proved there was more rock and roll to him. The fact that he knew the words to “Stand by Me,” well, it was downright adorable—if you can even say that about a pierced, tattooed guy like Avery.

He went back and forth between looking at the guitarist and closing his eyes until the next verse came up. Avery rose to his feet and his eyes met mine as he extended an arm out to me.

I shook my head furiously, determined to avoid humiliating myself next to his unbelievable voice, but as soon as he took my hand I realized I’d never win the fight. Maybe, deep down, part of me already knew that I didn’t want to.

Timidly, I sang out the next part of the song.

I began to feel a little more confident as I reached the end of the verse. The crowd around us was growing slowly, all smiling and snapping along to the beat of the familiar melody.

We sang the next part together and the way our voices blended was unbelievable. Our eyes locked, and without even knowing each other, we knew exactly how to harmonize. During the next guitar interlude, Avery started snapping his fingers and slowly dancing around me, and I couldn’t help but laugh, and to do a little shoulder shuffle against him. I caught a passing glimpse of the blonde Adonis with his hair disheveled and hanging in his face. With a look of pure bliss, his voice wrapped around me. Something blossomed deep within me. It was a feeling as if I wanted to do this every single day for the rest of my life. The thought startled me, but in a good way that made me feel light-headed and slightly dizzy. We laughed and just when I thought we would be finishing the song, he started the first verse all over again.

Avery sank to his knees, took my hand, and the rest of the world disappeared. Singing the very last note, his voice rang out and every last one of my senses lay scattered around me. He stood up while still holding my hand and grabbed the older gentleman’s hand, too. Avery made us all bow as everyone around clapped and threw in a bunch of bills to the growing change pile. He let go of my hand just long enough to shake the hand of the guitarist. Then, reaching into his pocket, he grabbed some cash and put it in the case before slipping a hand along my lower back and escorting me back down the sidewalk.

I couldn’t contain everything that was racing through me; I was happy, terrified, confused, smitten, and completely overtaken by this night. I felt another one of those half-laugh, half-cries escape my throat, and Avery looked down at me.

“Have fun back there?” he asked in a flirty voice.

I stopped dead in my tracks, looked into his eyes, and gave him my most genuine smile. Did he really not understand how incredible that was? I wondered if my eyes gave away everything I was feeling, because I felt as if he could see right through me. It was difficult for me to form the right words.

“You have no idea. That was—you were—it was just—amazing.”

He bit the corner of his lip gently and I thought he was going to say something flirty or witty to lighten the mood, but instead he surprised me again and glanced down at his watch.

“Quick,” he almost shouted at me, startling the crap out of our fading, tender moment, “do you like ice cream?”

I laughed and just gave him a confused look.

“It’s my favorite. Why?”

His hand tightened around mine and the smile on his face turned to a devilish grin.

“RUN!”

I had never run so hard or so fast in my life. By the time we had traveled four blocks, we were panting and laughing so hard that I didn’t have enough air in my lungs to even ask why the rush.

Of course, I didn’t have to because Avery tugged at my hand and took me into a shop where an older woman was turning off some lights in the back. I glanced up at the clock on the wall, and we had three minutes until closing. I took in my surroundings as Avery spoke to the clerk. We were in an old ice cream parlor, but it had been turned into a gelato place. I traced my fingers along one of the old, white iron chairs until a tug at my hand snapped me out of my daze.