Page 64 of Alpha Chase

Chase:I’ll be honest, the last thing I was looking at was your middle finger

Heat crawls up my neck as my eyes linger on his message, then another one comes in.

Chase:I’ll show you mine if you show me yours

My grin widens, and I’m about to fire back with a smart-ass remark when another text comes through.

Chase:[image]

I freeze, eyes flying wide as I stare down at the phone in my hands. It’s a picture of Chase in his bathroom, standing shirtless in the mirror with all of that cut, defined muscle on full display. His hand is in front of his mouth, fingers spread into a V with his tongue jutting between them. It’s crass and lewd and… fuckinghot. I’m suddenly unaffected by the freezing temps out here, my body burning from the inside out, the ache between my legs growing stronger. My eyes are glued to the screen when my phone vibrates with yet another message.

Chase:topless pic 4 topless pic?

I snort, rolling my eyes so hard that I practically see my skull.

Vienna:In your dreams.

Chase:fair is fair

I shake my head, scoffing as I start to type ‘fuck off’, but then I stop, deleting the words. He wants a picture, so I’ll convey my reply that way, instead. I swipe to the camera app and hold my phone up in front of me, running a hand through my hair and pulling it over one shoulder. Cocking my head to the side, I put on the sweetest, fakest smile I can muster and raise my hand beside my face, extending my middle finger proudly. After clicking the button to capture the photo, I hit send, chuckling to myself as I imagine the look on Chase’s face when he opens it.

Vienna:[image]

My phone vibrates in my hands and my breath hitches as I read his instant reply, eyes scanning the words over and over, drinking them in like they’re going to disappear.

Chase:fuck

Chase:get over here

The word I type with my fingers is the opposite of the one screaming out in my brain.

Vienna:No.

Chase:please? you’re killin’ me, smalls.

Vienna:I don’t get off until 11.

I glance at the clock on my phone, realizing that I’ve been out here longer than ten minutes. Poor Char is probably struggling to keep up on her own, and as much as I’m enjoying this back and forth with Chase right now, my job is far more important. I blow out a breath, a cloud of condensation forming in front of me as I slide my phone back into my pocket, turning to yank the door open. If Chase decides to reply, the rest of this conversation will just have to wait.

I’m twitchy for the rest of my shift, my hand drifting over my phone in the back pocket of my black uniform pants more times than I’d care to admit. I refuse to allow myself to look at it until the clock strikes eleven and I clock out for the night, retrieving my jacket from the cubby underneath the bar. I grin as I finally slip my phone from my pocket, expecting to see a bunch of pissed-off messages from Chase after I abruptly stopped replying earlier, but when I press the button and the screen lights up, there’s nothing there. My heart plummets when I open our prior thread to view my last message to him, confirming that he never replied.

Well damn. Guess he must’ve moved onto texting someone else after all.

I swallow back the bitterness that’s crawling up my throat, stuffing my arms into the sleeves of my jacket and dragging up the zipper. “I’m headed out, Char,” I call, throwing her a wave as I round the bar.

“Have a good night!” she calls back, shuffling toward the storage room. Poor girl is stuck on inventory duty tonight, so she’ll be here for at least another hour.

I make my way to the exit and trudge around the building, staring down at the snow crunching under my feet as I step off the path and into the parking lot. I’m trying to push back all those pesky feelings of disappointment as I make my way to my car when I catch a scent on the breeze, immediately recognizing it and snapping my head up.

I stop in my tracks when I see Chase’s big white Ford Raptor truck parked beside my little red car, the man himself standing behind it, leaning on the bumper as he puffs on a joint. The cherry blazes bright with his inhale, tendrils of smoke curling toward the sky.

“What are you doing here?” I blurt, completely caught off guard by his presence.

Chase blows out a cloud of smoke, flicking the joint away as he bares his teeth in a menacing grin. “You said you get off at eleven. Thought I could help with that.” He waggles his eyebrows suggestively. “You know, the getting off…”

I roll my eyes, shoving my hands deep into my jacket pockets and starting toward my car again. “Go home, Chase,” I grumble.

From the way he’s parked, I’ll have to walk between our vehicles to get to the driver’s side of my own- and it comes as no surprise when Chase sidesteps to block my path as I approach, thwarting my escape.

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