Page 49 of Collision

“Because I happen to know that people don’t always hurt you.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

His eyes looked straight into mine. “I will never hurt you.”

I foolishly held his stare, allowing myself to dive head first into the depth of his eyes. It was easy to believe them. They looked into your soul, and could convince you of anything.

“You believe me, don’t you?” He lifted his hand and brushed his fingertips against my cheek.

I allowed him to linger there, as my skin tingled under touch. “I want to.”

“I promise you, I will always take care of you. I-”

“Where are we?” A sleepy Khloe sat up in her car seat. She rubbed her eye with a tiny fist. “Are we home?”

“Yes, we’re home. I’ll carry you up to bed.” Chase looked at me. “Will you stay? I’ll only be a few minutes.”

“I think I’m going to call it a night.” I felt terrible bailing on him in the middle of our conversation, but I just wasn’t ready. “I’ll see you tomorrow, though.”

“Okay. Goodnight.”

“Night.” I got out of the car, and leaned into the back seat to give Khloe a quick hug. “Goodnight, little nugget.”

“Bye, Merry,” she replied sleepily.

I watched as Chase carried her up the driveway to the front door, her little hands clutching his shoulders. Part of me wanted to run after him, to tell him that I wanted to hear all that he wanted to say. Instead, I walked up the concrete steps to my apartment and locked the door behind me. Safe in my castle.

10

Halloween

“Pearls or choker?” Shelly held up two different necklaces. She wore a black sequined headband around her forehead to match her black shimmery flapper dress. Her red hair was tucked underneath her blonde pin-curled wig. She looked flawless.

“You should definitely go with the pearls,” I decided.

“Good. This choker will go great with your dress!”

It made me happy to see her so excited about her birthday party. With my wild hair under the black wig, I looked like a different person. My dress was one-shouldered, hiding the surgery scars perfectly. It was a tad shorter than I had wanted, but the silver fringe sparkled as it moved. I slipped my silver heels on while Shelly fastened the string of faux diamonds around my neck.

“We look fabulous!” she squealed. She unlocked my bedroom door, and walked out.

Admittedly, I was eager to see how Chase looked as a 1920’s gangster. When we stepped into the living room, he was sitting on the arm of the couch with his black hat dipped over one eye. His pinstriped vest was buttoned tightly around his midsection with a white tie tucked into it, and his black dress shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. He looked incredibly sexy.

We had not spoken about our interrupted conversation all week. He was undoubtedly waiting to see if I would bring it up, while I was hoping he wouldn’t.

His grin spread from ear to ear when he saw me. “Lookin’ good, doll face.”

I pulled at my dress nervously. “Thanks. It’s a little short.”

“Stop trying to pull it down! Show off those legs! Let’s go. I can’t wait to see Brody!” Shelly practically dragged me out the door and down the stairs to Chase’s car.

The party was in full effect when we arrived. Music could be heard from down the street as we turned the corner to park. Fake webbing decorated the bushes and trees outside the Beta house. Orange string lights wrapped around the railing leading to the entryway. Chase pushed open the door, and the blaring music instantly hit us.

As expected, there were sexy variations of every profession walking around with their cleavage exposed. Skeletons, zombies, and ghosts hung on every wall. A space was cleared near the back for the dance floor, where an orange and black disco ball hung from the ceiling. The usual birthday banner hung from the wall in honor of Shelly. One of the frat brothers stood behind the DJ booth with one ear in his headphones.

“You guys look amazing!” Kenzie cried as she rushed up to us in full Batgirl costume.

“You, too! Have you seen Brody anywhere?” Shelly’s eyes searched the first floor.

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