Page 48 of Truck Off

I drop my face into my hands and sigh. Then I turn around, lean against the cabinet, and tell him exactly how it happened. I don’t leave out a single detail from our interaction at Koch’s Pit Stop to our date and then follow-up conversations. I even tell him how I’ve had a crush on Christian since we were in high school.

Felix just stares at me with the same narrow, assessing eyes he always uses when he’s searching for the hidden truth behind a story or a person’s actions. Felix is the ultimate people watcher. Not much gets past him when it comes to others’ motives or intentions.

“Well, say something,” I finally say when his stare reaches the point of discomfort.

“Hmm.” He pushes to his feet and moves to his workstation next to mine. His inks and supplies are already prepped for his next client, but he fiddles with his gun anyway. I cross my arms over my chest, ready to push him some more when he finally gives me his thoughts. “This guy, Chase, he knows you better than you realize. And he also really likes you.”

“Knows me?” I scoff. “If he really knew me, he’d know not to lie. I can’t tolerate liars.”

Felix nods and gives me a look that suggests he understands and agrees, but then he says, “And he also knew you had a thing for his twin. You would’ve canceled the date if he told you the truth.”

“You don’t know that.”

Felix raises his brows with a look that says, the hell I don’t. “Did you have fun on the date?”

His question throws me off. I wasn’t expecting such a quick shift in the conversation. I hesitate, not really knowing what to say. So I say nothing.

“I’ll take your silence as a yes.”

“The fact that I had fun is irrelevant. I thought I had that fun with Christian.”

“The fact that you had fun is the only thing that matters.” He turns to face me. “Let me ask you this. Do you think he only lied about his name, or did he also try to act like his twin?”

“Why does that matter?”

“It matters a lot, Leens. Was he himself when he was with you, or was he also changing his behavior to match his twin? How far does his deceit run?”

I think about that for a minute. Chase smiled a lot more than I expected, and he was quick with jokes and saying things that made me smile. There were even times when I caught a twinkle in his eye that confused me. I thought I was seeing a different side of Christian that he doesn’t show to just anyone. When in reality, I was seeing Chase.

“I think he was being himself.” I admit. “He let me believe he was Christian, but he didn’t change his behavior. I was with Chase.”

Felix steps up to me and takes me by the shoulders, looking me in the eye. “Think about that for a minute. You had a good time on that date. Even said yes to a second date. You like Chase.”

I open my mouth to argue, but Felix presses a finger to my lips to stop me from disagreeing. “Don’t argue. Think. Use this smart brain in your head to really process how he makes you feel before you push him away completely.”

Felix walks away, leaving me alone with my thoughts while I finish setting up for the day.

My head hurts too much for this. I don’t want to think about Chase and his lie. I want to go back in time and keep to myself that day at Koch’s. If it never happened, then I wouldn’t be feeling the way I feel.

Confused. Angry. Needy. Three emotions that are making my head hurt worse.

I try to avoid taking my meds on the days I work because they can make me sleepy, but I can’t afford to miss work if this headache gets worse. So I take half a pill in the hopes it will keep the headache at bay.

I just have to get through this day. With any luck, I’ll be too busy to think about Chase and the way he makes me feel.

As soon as my eyes land on the bouquet dominating my workstation, I know that’s an impossibility. I’ll never get him out of my mind with these as a constant reminder.

* * *

By the time I make it back to Beaver after my shift, my car smells like a florist shop. I had to strap the bouquet into the passenger seat with the seatbelt just to get it to stay put. Petals tickled my arm the entire drive home.

I pull into a parking spot outside the community center and stare at the monstrosity, debating on taking it inside with me and leaving it on one of the front tables. It’d make for great decoration and the visitors would love it.

But tonight is knitting club. Which means Chase’s grandmother, Mila, will be here. That woman sees and knows everything. If she sees these flowers, she’ll know who gave them to me, and she’ll question me about him.

Hell, she’s going to question me about him at some point regardless, but I don’t need to give her more ammunition to use against either of us.

I like Mila, and she’s always treated me with respect. But that doesn’t mean she wants me to date one of her grandsons. She’s a fiercely protective woman. If she doesn’t want me dating Chase, she’ll interfere.

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