Page 37 of Chase Lovett Wants Me

CHAPTER 14

CAMMIE

“Did I see you with Chase Lovett?” Tally whispers as she moves her backpack from the seat next to her. Her long blonde hair is pulled back in a ponytail. Her eyes are rimmed with black liner that makes her blue eyes pop, and her lips are glossy and pink. She’s super pretty but a little edgy, which I appreciate.

I make a cringey face as I sink down in my seat, glancing around to make sure no one is paying attention to us. “Maybe.”

She raises a perfectly tweezed eyebrow, keeping her voice low. “He’s kind of hot shit around here.”

“I know. I’ll fill you in after class.”

The professor steps up to the podium and begins the lecture on the themes in the book we’re currently reading. I scribble notes on my tablet, trying to stay engaged, but my mind is on Chase and whatever is going on with him.

At the end of class, I pack up and Tally and I leave the building together. The hailstorm-tornado has long passed, and while it’s cold, it’s not the bone-chilling blustery kind that’s coming for us in December. “Okay, I need the details on this whole Chase Lovett-walking-you-to-class business.”

I fill her in on the residence building fiasco and the sprinklers going off.

“Oh my God, that’s the worst. You could have messaged. I would have given you my room and stayed at my boyfriend’s,” she says.

“It was one in the morning, and it all happened kind of fast. Plus, we were in the middle of a storm and the hotel was down the street as opposed to across campus,” I explain. Tally lives in apartment-style residences. They have their own kitchen and living room. We’ve only been sitting beside each other for a couple of weeks. We’ve gone for coffee a few times and a study-lunch twice. Of my two friends, I think she’s the one Essie would like the most.

“That’s fair.” She adjusts her backpack. “So how did that lead to you and Chase becoming a thing?”

I explain the rest of the story, but gloss over the details for reasons.

“Holy shit. That is like…wow.”

“I know. Like what is even happening? How did I manage to catch Chase’s attention, right?”

Tally’s brows pull together. “You’re like, super cool, and freaking beautiful.”

I laugh. “I’m weird. Trust me, my sister is the cool, pretty one. I’m more like the gremlin that only ventures out of the cave for ramen or hot elves.”

“Oh my God, stop.” Tally laughs. “Imagining you as a gremlin will give me nightmares. And everyone is weird. I like salty black licorice, and I’ve watched the movieStep Upprobably two hundred times. I know every single dance routine by heart.”

“Okay, I’ll give you the salty black licorice. But I’ve probably watched theLotRtrilogy just as many times.”

“Point made then; everyone is a little weird.” Her lips pull to the side. “So what’s the deal with you and Chase? Are you a thing?”

“Um…I don’t know?”

“He walked you to class, though?”

“Yeah. And yesterday he sat beside me in our bio class, and then walked me back to the dorms, asked me for my number, and kissed me good night. And then today he bought me a coffee, and he asked me to come to his game tonight.” It does sound a lot like maybe we’re seeing each other.

“Guys don’t normally do all those things if they’re not super interested,” Tally says helpfully.

I tug on the string of my hoodie. “I said I had an assignment tonight and couldn’t come to his game. Was that the wrong thing to do?”

“Do you actually have an assignment, or were you making an excuse?”

“Uhhhhh…I mean I always have an assignment to work on.”

She arches a brow.

“It’s not that I don’t want to see him play. I do. I mean, it’s probably pretty fun to watch a live game.” Essie’s gone to a few with Rix and says it’s a blast.

Tally purses her lips, does a little hip-shimmy thing, and twitches her nose. “I’m going to tell you something.”

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