Page 106 of Collision

I stifled a laugh. Shelly actually looked like she was genuinely upset.

“This is crazy.” She shook her head. “What about the shop? What will Tanner and Beverly do without you? What about Khloe? She would be heartbroken with you.”

“Geeze, Shell. Don’t use the kid to guilt her into staying.”

I nodded. “She’s right. These are the things I brought up to Chase last night.”

“What did he say to that?” she asked, with hope in her eyes.

“He said that his mom might be selling the place.”

Brody’s eyebrows lifted. “Really? That’s surprising.”

“That’s Tim’s shop – how could they sell it?”

“I don’t know their finances or anything, but I don’t know how they can manage with Tim gone. I told Chase to go without me, and that I would help his mom and Tanner in the shop. Maybe we could hire an extra person so the workload wouldn’t be too much.”

Shelly’s eyes widened as if I had just told her I had one day left to live. “Merritt, no! You cannot let him go without you. That’s the kiss of death!”

Brody shook his head. “Don’t listen to her.”

“I’m serious. You’ve seen how girls act around Chase. California would be like high school all over again; only this time, the girls would have fake boobs and modeling contracts.”

I grimaced at the thought.

“Don’t go putting these crazy thoughts in her head.” Brody leaned towards me. “Chase loves you, Merr. He’s crazy about you, and everyone knows it.”

“All he has to do is tell those twits about the time he saved someone from a burning car.” Shelly shook her head. “They’ll be dropping their panties like it is Spring Break at Cabo.”

“You’re like a demonic Jiminy Cricket, you know that?” I laughed it off, but I wanted to vomit at the thought of Chase and panty-dropping models.

She shrugged. “It’s my job as your best friend to keep it real.”

“Keeping it real would mean you help her weigh the pros and cons of a major decision like this – not scare her into making the decision you want her to make.”

Brody was right. Shelly knew it, and I knew it.

A knock at my door signaled Chase had arrived. Shelly was closest to the door, so she got up to open it. She rolled her eyes when she saw who it was. “Why are you even knocking?”

He walked in, his eyebrows raised. “Hello to you, too.”

Brody laughed, shaking his head. “Watch out, man. Your biggest fan has turned into your worst nightmare.”

Chase flopped onto the couch, leaning over to give me a kiss. “Uh-oh. I’m guessing you told her.”

“Yes. Apparently, going to California with you is a terrible idea; but if I don’t go, you’ll be cheating on me with panty-dropping models.” I used air quotes to emphasize the model part.

Now Brody was not the only one in the room shaking his head. “You really think that I would do something like that, Shell?”

Her arms were crossed over her chest. “You’re Chase Brooks.”

He almost choked as he laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding me! You’re the one who was pushing us together this whole time, and now I’m back to being that Chase Brooks?”

Shelly stood, frustrated, with her little girly hands clenched into fists. “I almost lost my best friend in a horrific car accident, and now you want to move her across the entire country? Do you have no heart?!”

Chase sat up, a soft, sincere expression on his face. “I told her: if she doesn’t want to go together, then I don’t want to go at all. Her happiness means everything to me.”

“Well, she’s very happy here with her best friend,” Shelly replied matter-of-factly.

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