Page 10 of All of My Life

His sapphire-colored eyes regarded me in a way that sent a shiver down my spine, and not in a good way. “I know that you walk to the city library on Branston every day after school, spend about two to three hours doing your homework there, then you walk to Cookie’s for dinner.” I felt like I couldn’t breathe. “You spend about another hour there before you start walking home. During daylight-savings in the spring, you’ll stop by the park for about an hour before you finally go home. When it gets dark early, you spend that hour at the bridge before going home, something that I should have put a stop to long ago.”

Though the answer was too outrageous to contemplate, I asked the question anyway. “How do you know all that?”

His next words hit me like a two-by-four. “Do you want me to go back as far as the seventh grade?” he asked, his eyes flaring again. “Before that, I had no idea what you did because my parents wouldn’t let their only child wander the streets alone. However, if they’d had, you better believe that I’d know that part of your life, too.”

“Chasin, what are you doing?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

His eyes flittered towards my lips, then back up again. “Baby, you don’t want to know.”

“Quit calling me that,” I spat, confused and annoyed.

“When I’m dead, I will,” he replied, turning to turn the car on. “Now, where are we going?”

Not knowing what else to say, I answered, “The library.”

Without another word said between us, Chasin pulled out of the parking lot, leaving me to figure out how in the hell I was going to get out of whatever game that Chasin was playing.

Chapter 7

Chasin~

My phone was blowing up, but I had silenced it as soon as we had arrived at the city library. While I had expected some push back from the stubborn ass with me, I hadn’t expected things to get that out of control. I had really believed that her need to keep our relationship a secret would have made her pliable, but I guess not.

Three hours later, Jett still wasn’t talking to me as we pulled into Cookie’s parking lot. Though we had a lot of places to eat in town, Cookie’s had the best hamburgers, and it was always packed during lunch. It had that diner vibe, though no pink in site. As far as casual dining went, Cookie’s was a good place to eat, but it was also a bit of a distance from Carver Hills. With as petite as Jett was, she probably burned every calorie that she ate during the day by walking all over this city.

“Why don’t you have a car?” I asked as I opened the door for her, a small favor that she had chosen to grant me.

“What?” she asked as she hung her purse over her shoulder.

“Why don’t you have a car?” I repeated. “I know for a fact that your parents can afford it.”

Her hazel eyes flashed at me. “Maybe they’re trying not to raise an entitled asshole,” she answered, the vitriol in her voice making me grin.

Before I could explain that my car had been a gift from Carver Industries for completing my onboarding at such a young age, Jett was storming her way towards the front door of the diner. Though I had a lot more to learn before taking over for my father, I knew enough to get by should he ever become indisposed health-wise. My father wasn’t one to leave shit to chance; he left that crap up to my uncles.

I caught up with the fucking girl just in time to open the door for her, and a part of me had me questioning my sanity. Whatever was going on between us, it was obvious that Jett wanted nothing more than a quick fuck every now and again. She wasn’t interested in more, though it didn’t matter. I wanted her for the rest of my life, and it’d be over my dead body before I ever gave up on her or us.

Having stalked her for fucking years, I knew exactly which booth that she was going to sit at, so I followed like a good lap dog, taking the side that faced the door. I didn’t like the unknown at my back, which was just another quirk of my personality.

Almost immediately, a waitressed named Michelle approached our table. Expecting the usual spiel about menus and drinks, she surprised me when she started talking to Jett like they were old friends. Though I’d seen this interaction many times before, I hadn’t pegged them as actual friends.

“So, our popular item was chicken grilled cheese at lunch today,” she stated, looking at Jett. “I know it’s one of your favorites, but I also have some macaroni salad and fries, though we know how the fries go.”

“Sounds great,” Jett replied, her smile strained.

Michelle just beamed at her before finally addressing me. “What can I get for you, sir?”

“That’s Chasin Carver,” Jett informed her, doing it just to piss me off. “You should probably get him whatever he wants, even if it’s not on the menu.”

Christ, I wanted to strangle the fuck out of her.

Without taking my eyes off Jett’s defiant face, I said, “I’ll take whatever dinner comes with a steak, and a Pepsi is fine for the drink.”

“Uhm…how would you like your steak?” she asked, her voice hitching a bit.

“However the cook wants to cook it,” I replied.

“Yes, of…of course,” Michelle stammered. “I’ll…uhm, I’ll get that started.”

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