Page 35 of Confusing Hearts

Mouths dropped, including mine. I knew she and Matt had been gone for a while. How long, I couldn’t say, because I was too absorbed in the game. But, wow! Just wow!

“No way!” said Cameron, another one of our sisters.

“Woohoo, Anita, you little slut. Who did you have again?” Tessa asked.

“Matt Williams,” she said proudly.

“They were still making out when he dropped her off,” Louisa pointed out.

“What does this mean now?” Chloe pouted, asking Ayanna.

“I guess Anita wins the challenge.”

I could see Ayanna was shocked. Her younger sister had bested her in her own game. I couldn’t even fathom what would come next because of it.

“Come on ladies, it’s late and it’s been a crazy night. I think everyone needs to get some sleep and we’ll talk about this tomorrow.”

As the girls broke up and headed off to their respective rooms, Tessa followed me to mine. She sat at my desk chair and stared at me.

“You really made it to second base with Chase?” she finally asked, breaking the silence.

I found I couldn’t lie to her and nodded.

“How, um, how was he?”

“I can’t even describe it, Tess. He was incredible.” I wanted so badly to tell her everything, but she had hurt me in the past and I couldn’t fully trust her. It saddened me. She was my twin. There shouldn’t be anything I couldn’t share with her.

“Just be careful. I’m worried about you.”

“What?” I asked, confused. Why would Tessa worry about me? “What are you talking about? There’s nothing to worry about.”

“The other girls, they’ve been boy crazy forever. They fall in and out love like it’s nothing. But you? Jenna, I know you. Tonight was a big deal, and I just don’t want to see you really fall for him only to have your heart broken. You can never truly be together. This is all just supposed to be fun. Please don’t lose sight of that.”

It had been a long time since Tessa and I had a sister moment of any kind. She had been resentful of my change in colleges, even more so when Daddy forced her and the others to follow me. When she wrapped her arms around me, it took every ounce of willpower not to hold on and cry at the truth in her words.

“I’ll be careful,” I promised with as much conviction as I could muster.

When she left the room, I found solace in my pillow and cried myself to sleep. Chase was mine. My heart already belonged to him and it wasn’t just the bond. I couldn’t believe that. It was him, Chase Westin, so confident and cocky on the outside, but a closet nerd, gamer, and romantic, fiercely loyal to those he cared about. He had already stolen my heart. I loved him, but I also knew I could never have him, not in the way I so desperately wanted.

The next morning felt like a hangover.A Chase hangover, I thought.

I got up and checked myself in the mirror. I had mascara streaks down my face from where I had forgotten to wash my face. I was a hot mess. Heading straight for the shower, I was again grateful I didn’t have to share a bathroom.

Most of the rooms had a conjoined shower, two rooms shared one. The original sorority that built the place had two people per room with four people that would share a bathroom. We didn’t have enough members in our elite group for that, so everyone got their own room. Two had private baths. As princesses, those were assigned to me and Tessa. I didn’t always appreciate the perks of being a princess. They set me apart from the others, an outsider, but in this case, I was eternally grateful.

Feeling almost human again—well, as human as a shifter can feel—after my shower and fresh clothes, I grabbed my phone to check the time. Stunned, I saw it was already after one o’clock. I checked my texts but hadn’t missed anything.

I messaged Chase.

JENNA: Slept in. Grabbing some lunch. Still on for 2?

Within seconds my phone dinged.

CHASE: What’s for lunch?

I smiled to myself.

JENNA: grabbing something at the café.

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