Page 65 of Hard To Love

His jaw twitched as he looked away. “You need to hear me out.” He said finally turning his head to look at me.

“I don’t need to do anything. Go back to your date, Chase.”

I started to walk away but he grabbed my wrist. “Damn it Chase, let me go.”

The look in his eyes seared right through me. “I will never let you go.”

My heart paused then hammered against my chest. His words slammed into me causing a rush of emotions to fill my head.

I could feel my resolve weakening. “Why are you doing this to me?” My voice was breaking and I felt the tears building. “I talked to Cassie, you knew I was going to be here tonight. Why did you need to shove your date in my face? Why can’t you just let me move on?”

He drew me to him. His warm familiar breath washed over my skin. “Does it bother you, seeing me with someone else?”

My eyes tried to blink back the tears, but it was no use. As soon as one rolled down my chin a new one chased right after it.

“Why are you doing this to me?”

His face hardened. “Because, you belong with ME.”

The conviction in his words was slowly breaking me. There were a lot of things I could handle, but having Chase say those words to me was not one of them. The choices I had made had me in constant agony. I had worked through them as best as I could. Letting him fill my head with false hope, was not something I could handle.

“Nothing has changed, Chase.”

He grabbed my face with his strong hands forcing me to look directly into his eyes. “Everything has changed. Let me explain. Please. I only brought her here to get your attention because you won’t, fucking, talk to me.” He was pleading with me and I couldn’t help but think there might be hope for us after all, even though he was using someone else to get a reaction out of me. As misguided as it was, it worked.

For a brief moment, my heart skipped across my chest. Then our moment was interrupted when a voice called out his name. “Chase, there you are. I’ve been looking for you.”

He closed his eyes briefly before he dropped his hands. I was at a loss for words. My heart hurt, my head was spinning, and my stomach was in a free fall. I was unable to meet his eyes, so I looked away.

“Am I interrupting something?” She asked, sarcastically, inching towards us. I could tell out of my peripheral vision that she was not too happy to find Chase in such an intimate moment with another woman. Even to an outsider, it was obvious there was history between us.

His eyes were still locked on mine, when he answered. “I need a few minutes.”

Either she failed to pick up on his flat tone or she just didn’t care because she blew out a breath while placing a well-manicured finger on her hip.

“Our table is ready and I’ve been sitting at the bar waiting for you for the last ten minutes.”

My head snapped to hers with my voice rising a few levels in anger. “Are you hard of hearing? He said to give him a minute.”

I felt Chase’s body stiffen next to me.

Her eyes narrowed into slits. “Excuse me?” She spat. God even her voice was annoying. What the hell did Chase see in her? I could sense her hovering next to him, but I didn’t have the strength to look at her. It was taking every ounce of energy I had to stay strong.

He made his decision, and I made mine. I just wanted to go home and forget this night ever happened. Seeing him tonight hit me hard. It made me realize how much I still loved him. As much as I wanted to stay and fight for him, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.

“You know what?” I stepped towards her not caring how much attention we had attracted. Chase’s face tightened in concern, and I wasn’t sure if it was for me or for her.

“I’m going to give you a little piece of advice. If your date chases after another woman when he’s with you, dismisses you, and ignores your desperate pleas for his attention, that means he’s really not that into you. Take the hint.” I let my words linger in the air as I stormed off in a desperate attempt to put the night behind me.

As soon as my pent-up body reached the table, relief flooded through me when I saw Tim signing the slip in the leather binder. He stood from his chair and made his way over to me. Concern was written all over his face. “You ready to get out of here?” He asked, with a sigh.

I nodded my head, and let him lead me towards the exit. Before we could reach the door, Chase stepped into our personal space.

“My date just left in a cab. We need to talk.” He said blocking me from leaving.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Chase cleared his throat and addressed my date. “Sorry, man to man. I really need to talk to her. I’m not leaving until she hears me out.”

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