Page 60 of Love Collided

“Where is your room?”

“Room? More like my corner,” I said with a light laugh as I pointed to the closet in the corner. It wasn’t big enough to be a room, but not small enough to consider a closet. There was also no door, there never was, and when I reached eleven or so, I had put up a curtain to try to have some privacy.

“That was your room?” He stepped inside, head swiveling, but I couldn’t see his face.

“Yeah. I probably still have a few things in there, but I moved out anything of value to me.”

He walked further in, disappearing as I stared at the curtain hanging to the side. There were so many days and nights I stared at that thing, cursing it. Now, I didn’t know how to feel.

I hated this house. It was never a home to me, but aside from the garage and the apartments, it was the only home I knew.

Now that I lived in the apartments with the crew, this felt like someone else had lived here.

“I can’t believe this,” he said, stepping back out into the main living area. “I can’t believe you had to live here. Live like this in general.”

“No need to be rude about it. I’m obviously doing better now.”

He sat back on the couch, and somehow, even in this run-down house, he looked more like the cocky rich boy that I thought he was, or at least had thought.

“I know you’re some rich boy that was handed everything, but some of us weren’t. Some of us clawed and clawed to getanywhere above the poverty line. If you want to rub that in, you can leave.”

“I rode with you.”

“Then walk, call yourself a limo, whatever it is you rich boys do.”

He laughed, patting the spot next to him on the couch. “Calm the temper, Hellcat. I was sitting here more impressed by you, not less.”

“No, you were just pitying me.”

“I guess, but I’m also impressed that you managed such a nice life for yourself. I have been spoiled, and the thought of starting from this and having to build my way up would be terrifying. I don’t know who I would be if this was the life I was handed at such a young age, and I couldn’t imagine it wouldn’t include crime and desperation. You managed to do it without either. All of this and you managed to be one of the happiest people around? Besides when you’re talking to me, of course. How? How could you manage that? Fuck, I’m a dick about my life and I have everything I could ever need.”

I shrugged, still standing in the middle of the room. “You do what you have to do. That, and find a few guys who want to give you the world.” I smiled, thinking of the four guys who continually showed up for me. Now I got to add three women to that list, too.

He laughed, getting up to stand in front of me. “I think that’s something you bring out in people.”

“I doubt that. I’m hard to love. I think the guys didn’t catch on in time, and the girls have no choice now.”

“I’m surprised you could convince yourself of that when you have more people that love you than most people will get in their entire life. I don’t think it would even take one finger to count the people that would drop what they were doing to help me, who would possibly commit violence for me, and you need twohands. Crazy to think that you would have any belief that you are hard to love.”

“I’m sure that you have one person in your life.”

He shook his head, his eyes not leaving mine as he brushed my hair back. “Not really. One of my sisters might show up, but they are busy, so it would depend on if they could pick up their phone or not.”

Chase hadn’t been mean to me, at least not unprompted, and I wouldn’t have considered any part of him soft, but now the sadness on his face was clear. Each edge was a little softer.

“I would say that’s a lie because I know for a fact that you have a ton of friends. There had to have been over a hundred people at your party. And what about your parents?”

“My parents only care about me if I’m doing what they want, and all those other people know is my name, know that I have money, and that’s about it.”

“You don’t have a best friend?”

“Sort of, but honestly, he probably only knows my name and that I’m rich, too.”

I reached up, running a hand down his jaw, not liking the way my heart twisted at his sadness. “That seems ridiculous that he wouldn’t know more.”

“I prefer people not to know more.”

“Why? It makes you so much more likable.”

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