Page 31 of Stealing Chances

“Damn, friend,” Anna muttered as Litany asked, “And you still think it’s because he took things that really happened with your life?”

“It makes sense. It fits.” And that still worried me.

His adamant claims of not cheating on Harper. His apologies for hurting her because some girl had ended up in his bed. All of it continued tormenting me at night, keeping me awake as that one piece of the puzzle eluded me.

Because I could shift and piece together every other part of Chase’s confused and twisted memories. Butthatdidn’t fit into our lives in any way.

That I knew of.

“But the positive is that he’s falling for you all over again,” Samantha said. “Even if he’s trying not to or doesn’t want to right now because he’s confused, he can’t help but fall for you because the two of you are made for each other.”

A saddened smile tugged at my mouth. “Maybe. I could be reading everything wrong, and he could still hate me as much as he did when he woke up a little over a week ago.”

“I doubt that,” Samantha said.

“The entire block,” Anna repeated her earlier words, enunciating them loudly.

“I have to pee,” Litany announced cheerfully.

“Of course you do,” the rest of us said in unison between laughs and lighthearted groans.

Litany scoffed in mock offense as she pulled the scrunchie out of her long blonde hair. “Brats,” she muttered as she re-did her bun.

“The most random timing,” Anna said, telling her the same thing she always did.

“Take it up with my bladder,” Litany shot back as she gathered her things and blew a kiss at me. “See you at brunch.”

A soft laugh danced along my lips when I said, “Bye, friend.”

“I love brunch so much more than workouts,” Anna said after LT disappeared into the house and began grabbing her things as well. “Scarlet doesn’t try to kill us there.”

A huff left me. “Um...excuse me.” I gestured to the makeshift gym around us. “I seem to rememberallof this was your idea.”

Anna pointed at Samantha. “Don’t put this on me. Blame her too.”

“Not blaming anyone,” I said easily, a smile lighting my face. “Just reminding you that you’re part of why I started this.”

“Well,pastme didn’t realize I would hate you for kicking my ass twice a week.”

I lowered my voice to an impish whisper. “Your ass looks fantastic though.”

“Yeah. Not the point.” Anna’s eyes rolled as she put on her sunglasses, a smile of her own tugging at her mouth. “Brunch is still better.”

“Always,” I agreed, then looked to where Samantha was just watching the entire thing with amusement. “And I thought LT was the dramatic one.”

“They’re battling for the title,” Samantha teased.

“No, no,” Anna argued. “LT is dramaticallthe time. I’m like a Mogwai—you can’t get them wet or feed them after midnight. This is what happens when you make me work out before coffee. I turn into a Gremlin.”

I pressed my lips together to suppress a laugh as Samantha mumbled, “She just stole the title.”

“And on that note,” I began with a soft clap, “I need to get ready for my next class.”

“It won’t be nearly as entertaining as ours,” Anna said as she pulled me in for a quick hug.

I winked at Samantha before saying, “None of them ever are.”

“Let us know if anything changes before tomorrow,” Samantha whispered as she hugged me.

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