Page 92 of Kiss & Collide
So here he stood in the middle of this crowded, loud party, every burst of laughter scraping across his nerves like broken glass, every polite smile and handshake seeming to last a thousand years. She was gone and she’d left a hollowed-out shell in his life where she used to be. His head felt thick and his eyes burned, like he’d been awake for weeks. He’d forgotten just how miserable heartbreak could make you feel.
“Chase! Hi!”
He blinked, coming out of his fog, and turned at the mention of his name. Mira Wentworth was weaving through the crowd in his direction.
“Hi, Mira. What’s got you here?”
She hooked a thumb over her shoulder. “Dad. Rally’s one of our sponsors.” She peered over his shoulder. “Is Violet with you? City after city together and I barely see her.”
“No, she’s not. Why the hell would she be with me?” The words just fell out of his mouth, sharp, sarcastic, and unintended.
Mira blinked in surprise.
“Sorry,” he said, rubbing a hand over his face. “I didn’t mean—”
“Is something wrong?” she interjected. “What happened?”
He blew out a long, frustrated breath. “I wish I knew!”
Mira cast a quick look around them, then snagged his elbow and towed him through the crowd to an empty booth in the corner of the restaurant. When they were seated, she leaned forward on her elbows. “So, what’s going on?”
“I thought things were going okay. It got weird in Vegas when Ian showed up—”
“Ian?”
“That guy she used to date?” Had Violet really never told Mira about Ian? Did it mean anything that she’d toldhimaboutIan? Who the hell knew? And it didn’t even fucking matter anymore.
“Is that his name? The rock star?”
Chase scoffed. “Rock star. He wishes. But yeah, that’s him. And I thought she’d invited him, but apparently he just did that on his own. So she told Ian to go fuck himself and I got myself out of that weird situation with Madison, and we decided to give it a go. Me and her. A real relationship.”
Mira’s big green eyes got bigger. “You did?Violetdid?”
“Yeah. And it lasted all of five fucking days.” Now that he’d started talking about it, he couldn’t seem to stop. “I don’t know what happened. She turned so cold. Last night I went to tell her about …” He broke off, remembering that as cool as Mira seemed, she worked for a rival team. “Never mind. Team stuff I shouldn’t talk about.”
“Maraschino cherry.”
He looked up at Mira and scowled. “Excuse me?”
“It’s what Violet and I say when we need to unload about something at work. Once we say it, we’re in a cone of silence. Nothing we say about our teams leaves the cone. So, I’m offering you the cone of silence. Nothing you tell me leaves this table.”
Despite how shitty he felt, he cracked a smile. “Okay, maraschino cherry. I’ve got … interest from another team. A good team.”
Mira nodded. “With your raised profile and the way you’ve been driving, I’m not at all surprised to hear that.”
“Thanks. So I went to discuss this with Violet, to debate the options—”
“What options?”
“Staying where I am? I mean, she’s worked so hard to turn me into this huge thing, and it was all to pull in sponsorshipmoney, for the good of the team. I can’t just pull that out from under her.”
Mira smiled and tilted her head to the side. “That is so sweet, Chase. Unnecessary, but really sweet.”
His anger had already started to ebb, but Mira’s words lit it up again, throbbing and hot, like an open wound. “Well, Violet sure as fuck didn’t think so. She basically told me I shouldn’t factor her into any decision I make.”
“I’m sure she just wants you to take the deal that’s best for you.”
“She said strings were messy and that eventually I’d be grateful she cut them for me.” Just saying it felt almost as bad as hearing it had been. He hadn’t realized words could sting like that, like a whip cracking across his skin. “And after I told her …”I love you. “… after I told her how much she meant to me.”
