Page 35 of Alpha Chase

When you’ve been friends with someone for as long as me and Nessa have, you pick up on their habits. Little things, like subtle looks, shifts in body language. That’s how I know she’s lying right now- because the way she’s avoiding my eyes and picking her fingernails is her tell.

I narrow my eyes on her, about to press further, but she heads me off with a barrage of questions.

“Who all was there? Did any drama go down? Tell meeverything. Was Chase there?”

I chuckle wryly, shaking my head. “Oh, he was there alright.”

Nessa’s brows shoot up, interest piqued. “And?”

I flop down, throwing an arm over my face. “Oh god, Ness, I can’t stand that guy. He’s a hot mess.”

“Emphasis onhot.”

I peel my arm away to see her waggling her eyebrows suggestively. Rolling my eyes, I pick up a fuzzy pink throw pillow from her bed, whacking her on the arm with it as she giggles and squirms away.

“Okay, yeah.” I admit. “He’s hot as fuck. Obviously. But he’s also a grade A douchebag.”

Nessa’s brows draw in. “What happened?”

I press my lips together in a tight line, wondering if I should say it out loud. Like admitting it will give the moment weight that it doesn’t deserve. Nessa’s staring at me expectantly, though, so I force the words past my lips. “I told him to kiss me.”

“You what?!” she squeals, jerking upright, eyes wide.

“Yeah, and he looked like he was going to throw up,” I mumble.

Nessa’s face falls. “Oh. That’s… not very encouraging.”

“Right?!” I throw my hands up, then scrub them over my face with an exasperated sigh. “I don’t know, it’s weird. It’s like there’s this…thingabout him. Like the harder I try to pull away, the more I get sucked into his field of gravity.” As soon as I say it, I get a sinking feeling, like a boulder settling in the pit of my stomach. It’s the first time I’ve admitted to myself what Chase really does to me- the effect he has on me without even trying. It makes me feel weak. Powerless.

“You know what I think?” Nessa asks, and I look over at her to see the contemplative look on her face, eyes narrowed in steely determination. “I think there’s something between you two, and you’re both just too stubborn to admit it and too scared to see where it could go.”

“Please,” I scoff, rolling my eyes. “I’m not scared of anything.”

That’s a lie. I was scared last night when Clint put his hands on me again and my mom was too passed out to even hear me scream. I squeeze my eyes shut, willing the painful flashes of memory to abide.

“But you admit you’re stubborn,” Nessa teases, tossing the pink throw pillow back at me.

I bat it out of the air before it lands on my face, sending it sailing across the room. “Maybe a little,” I smirk.

“See, you two may have more in common than you think,” Nessa quips, smiling smugly. She smooths the comforter on the bed beside her with a palm. “Have you told him about your dad?”

“No,” I snap. Nessa’s face falls, and I immediately feel like a jerk for how harsh it came out. I sit up, scooting back on the bed to lean against the wall and pulling my knees into my chest. “Sorry, just… I don’t see the point. What difference would it make?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know, maybe you two can bond over your shared experience of losing a parent.”

“I don’t want to bond with him.”Just climb him like a tree.“I don’t want anything to do with him.”

Nessa levels me with a stare. “Liar.”

That’s another thing about being friends with someone forever- they can smell your bullshit from a mile away.

“Oh,I’mthe one lying?” I ask defensively. “Wherewereyou last night, anyways?” I narrow my eyes on her, watching her cheeks flush pink as she darts her gaze away.

She’s hiding something, and from the look on her face, it’s something big. I could get her to spill like I always do by pointing out that we’ve agreed not to keep secrets from one another, but then I’d be a liar, too. I’ve been keeping one from her for a while now.

“Why don’t you unpack?” Nessa suggests, kicking her legs over the edge of the bed and rising to stand. “I cleared out a drawer for you and some space in the closet.” She grabs my duffel, pulling it toward her.

“I told you, Ness, it’s only for a couple days…”

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