Page 12 of The Chase

A frown touches my lips. “You do?”

“Of course. I mean, one—you never hook up.”

I swallow a laugh. That’s not true at all. I get lots of action. I just don’t talk about it.

“Two—Summer’s cute. She’s fun. Easy to talk to.” He shrugs. “She could be exactly what you need. You’d have to run it by Dean first, though. He thinks she’s a brat, but he’s protective of her.”

Run it by Dean? As in, ask Dean for permission to bone down with his little sister? Garrett is frickin’ crazy if—

My thought process halts.

“You’re talking about more than a casual hook-up here,” I say.

“Well, yeah. She’s Dean’s sister. He’d kill you otherwise.”

“I’m not dating her, G.”

“Why not?” He reaches forward to grab our beers, passing one my way.

I twist off the top and take a deep gulp before answering. “Because she’s not my type. We’ve got nothing in common.”

“She likes hockey,” he points out. “That’s a start.”

“And I think it might end there,” I say dryly. “I design and review video games. I’m into art. I’m covered in ink and I binge-watch crime shows on Netflix. And she’s… I don’t even know.” I scan my brain. “She’s obsessed with shoes, according to Dean. And he insists she has a shopping problem.”

“Okay. So she’s into fashion. Some people consider that art.”

I snicker. “You’re reaching.”

“And you’re judging. She seems like a good girl, Fitz.”

“Dude, she got kicked out of Brown for partying too hard. She’s a party girl. She’s in a sorority.”

I’m on a roll now, because my dick is still semi-hard and I’m desperately grasping for reasons to not screw Summer.

“She’s…fluff,” I finish.

“Fluff.”

“Yeah, fluff.” I shrug helplessly. “You know, not serious about anything. She’s surface level.”

Garrett pauses for a long moment, searching my face.

He stares for so long that I fidget with the sleeve of my hoodie, feeling like a specimen under his microscope. I hate that intrusive sensation of eyes boring into me. It’s a scar left over from childhood, a need to blend into the background, to be unseen.

I’m two seconds from telling him to cut it out when hestarts to laugh. “Oh, I get it. I was wasting my time trying to sell you on her. You were already sold.” His gray eyes light up gleefully. “You have a thing for Dean’s sister.”

“Naah,” I say, but it’s a halfhearted denial at best.

“Really? ’Cause it sounds like you’re trying to convince yourself that she’s not right for you.” He grins. “Is it working?”

I sigh in defeat. “Kind of? I mean, I’ve managed to keep my hands off her all night.”

That gets me a laugh. “Look, Colin—can I call you Colin?” His jaw drops. “I just fucking realizedI’ve never called you Colin.”

Garrett literally shocks himself into silence, until I let out a growl of impatience.

“Sorry,” he says. “That just blew my mind. Anyway. Fitzy. On paper, Wellsy and I don’t seem like we’d work, right? But we do, don’t we?”

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