Page 36 of Beneath the Stars (Sugarlake 1)

His smile irritates me. “Jax, don’t treat me with kid gloves. I could use the distraction. Tell me what you were lookin’ at.” I’m being nosy and I know it, but I don’t care. Anything to escape this purgatory.

“I was just scrolling Facebook. Dumb stuff to pass the time.” He won’t meet my eyes. The tingling at the base of my spine has me apprehensive. What else could make this day any worse?

“Jax. Please.” I put my hand out. “Just let me see.”

He purses his lips as he stares at me. Finally, he heaves a sigh and hands his phone over, his screen lit up.

When I see the picture of a smiling Lindsay next to a sleeping Chase, wearing his shirt and in his bed, my heart shatters into pieces.

When Mama dies two hours later, those pieces turn to dust.

15

Chase

Twenty Years Old

An arm on my chest is what wakes me. I run my hands down my face, groaning. I reach over to pull Goldi further into me, but instead of soft curves, I grasp sharp angles.

The fuck?

I look down and see bleached blonde hair, not the honey-blonde I was expecting. Lindsay? What the hell? Throwing her arm off me, I scoot back.

She stirs, blinking groggily. “Chase?”

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I see my phone on the desk, and I jump out of bed to grab it.

My forehead wrinkles as I realize it’s turned off.

I look around, trying to get my bearings. The sun is streaming through my blinds, which means I’m officially fucked because my window faces east. That means it’s morning. I slept through Goldi’s recital.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

“Chase, what’s wrong?” Lindsay pushes back the covers, sitting up in my bed, stretching her arms above her head. Shock filters through me as I notice she’s wearing nothing but my shirt.

Mistaking my wide eyes for something it isn’t, she smirks. “Looks good on me, doesn’t it?” She sweeps her hands down her body.

“What the fuck, Lindsay?”

My phone vibrates in my hand as it powers on, diverting my attention.

25 Missed Calls. 10 New Voicemails. 7 Text Messages.

My stomach knots.

Lindsay stands, coming close to peer over my shoulder. “Your phone wouldn’t stop ringing yesterday afternoon, so I turned it off. Thought you could use the rest instead. I know how tired you’ve been from school and work.” She rubs my arm.

I remember her leaving yesterday afternoon. Obviously, once I fell asleep, she decided to show back up. I am seriously regretting leaving my front door unlocked.

I shrug her off, my teeth grinding. “That’s just great, Lindsay. I had an alarm set. You knew I was supposed to be going home. Do you have any idea how hard you’ve made things for me?”

She scoffs. “Please, Alina will forgive you. She always does. You obviously needed sleep.”

Her words are a punch to the gut. Self-loathing beats my insides with the fact that even she realizes how shitty I’ve been to Goldi. “Care to explain why you’re even fucking here? Or why you took it upon yourself to put on my clothes and sleep in my bed?”

“I was tired, too.” She lifts her shoulders. “I didn’t have anything to wear that was comfortable. I didn’t think you would mind.”

“Of course I fucking mind,” I snap, pinching the bridge of my nose. “I don’t have time to deal with you right now. Make yourself useful and go start some coffee.”

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