Page 42 of The Chase

A couple of his teammates whoop with laughter. Poor McCarthy is not as amused.

To my surprise, Connelly intervenes. “Don’t listen to her, man. She was never going to hook up with you.”

Brenna raises her eyebrows. “I wasn’t, huh? I don’t think you know me well enough to make that call.”

He stares at her, his tongue coming out to moisten the corner of his mouth. It’s extremely sexy. “You’d never sleep with a Harvard player.”

She stares back for several seconds before capitulating. “You’re right. Never in a million years.” Her gaze shifts toward me. “Time to go, crazy girl. I’ll get us an Uber.”

Probably a good idea. I lean in to give Weston a kiss on the cheek. “It was so good to catch up,” I tell him. “And thanks for the invite.”

“Any time. Hopefully we’ll hang out again now that you’re in the Boston area.”

“Absolutely.” I stand up and glance at Jake. “Have a good night.”

He just nods.

“Four minutes away,” Brenna says, holding up her phone.

McCarthy is still standing close to her, not bothering to hide his disappointment. “You could stay…” He trails off, awaiting her response.

Secretly, I think she totally would’ve fooled around with him, Harvard be damned. Unfortunately, he really did blow it with his overreaction to her identity.

She takes pity on the guy, looping her arms around his neck and brushing her lips over his stubble-covered cheek. “Maybe in another life, McCarthy.”

Smiling ruefully, he lands a lighthearted smack on her butt before she walks off. “I’m holding you to that.”

On her way to the door, Brenna flicks the pithiest oflooks in Jake Connelly’s direction. His green eyes gleam with amusement as she disappears from the room.

Three minutes later, she and I are in the backseat of our Uber. Brenna addresses me in a grudging tone. “That wasn’t too atrocious.”

“See! I told you it would be fun,” I tease.

Scowling, she jabs a finger in the air between us. “With that said, I’m totally telling my dad about McCarthy’s knee.”

I grin. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

__________

Breanna decides to crash at my house when she finds out my roommates are having a party of their own. She confesses that she’s a night owl and has a hard time falling asleep before three or four a.m. Me, I love a good after-party like I love my Prada boots, so I’m happy bringing her home with me.

To our dismay, everyone’s gone when we walk through the door. My roommates are still up, though. Hollis and Fitz are on the couch, battling each other in a shooting game. Hunter is passed out in the easy chair, clad in sweatpants and a threadbare T-shirt with the sleeves cut off.

The only evidence of a get-together is the dozens of empty beer cans and the faint scent of marijuana that seems to be coming from Mike’s direction.

“Get the fuck out of here,” Hollis is growling at Fitzy. “Stop cornering me.”

“Stop hiding in the same warehouse if you don’t want me to find you.”

From the doorway, I watch as the soldier on Mike’s sideof the screen faces down the barrel of a scary-looking gun. On Fitzy’s side, it’s clear he has Hollis completely trapped.

“Any last words?” Fitzy asks.

“I never learned how to ride a bike.”

Fitz bursts out laughing. A deep, sexy laugh that rolls out of his muscular chest—and dies the moment he spots me.

“Holy shit, that was funny,” Brenna tells Hollis as she saunters into the living room. “You actually said something that made me laugh. Like,withyou and notatyou.”

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