Page 20 of A Touch of Heaven

“That is the most horrifically heartbreaking story I’ve ever heard, Chase.” He chuckles, holding his chest before reaching out to wipe the tear forming in my eyes.

“It’s okay, Princess, you see that man, every so often, gets to see his goddess from afar. He watches how happy she is, how her light still shines, and it grounds him for a moment. Her light, however far away, helps him try to fight the darkness away. He has hope every time he sees her that he won’t be lost forever, and he knows when the time is right, she will help him find his way once and for all, if only as a friend.”

I smile sadly at that story. I don’t even know why I suddenly remembered it.

He’s holding my hand as we walk down the beach back to the house. Neither of us is talking. I don’t think either of us want this day to end. I just wish he would say it. I pull on his hand, stopping us in our tracks. Having enough of this game that we play. The words on the edge of my lips, wanting to spill out.

He frowns at me as he turns to face me, dropping his hands to my waist. “Brooke?”

“You were right… What you said at the diner. I have thought about what it would be like to be yours.” I run my hands up his muscled arms tentatively. “I still do because I want to be. Chase… I’m completely crazy about you. I can’t help it. I’ve been crazy about you from the day we met, since the day you kissed my hand like a real prince. I want to be yours… I know what you said earlier, but I think you do like me more than that. The things you said back at the diner. The way you look at me. The way you’re holding me right now… And if you do feel the same, then please just tell me… And if I’m wrong, then”—I swallow hard, trying not to crack—“then that’s fine, but we need to stop this, whatever this is.” I gesture between us.

I stare up at him, trying to read his expression. He takes one of his hands off my waist and tucks a stray hair behind my ear. I watch his gaze drop to my lips, and I think this is it. This is when he will kiss me, to tell me he likes me back.

I smile up at him, but he drops his hands and steps back, a mask in place covering the cheeky smile I’m used to. My face falls at the loss of his touch. This is wrong. This isn’t how it’s meant to go. He’s meant to pull me into his arms, kiss me, tell me he feels the same way.

“I really don’t know how much clearer I can be, Brooke. I don’t feel the same way. I told you earlier, and it’s the truth.”

“No, no, you don’t say that stuff to me and tell me I’m beautiful and the light in your darkness. I know you like me, Chase. Just admit it. I don’t know if you’re ashamed of how you feel or if there’s something holding you back, but just tell me, please, because I feel like I’m going insane.”

I swallow hard, exhaling long and heavy. My stomach is in absolute knots.

Did I imagine the whole thing after all?

“You are insane, Brooke,” he snaps. “The stuff in the diner… You were going to cry. It was embarrassing, so I said what I said to stop you. Chloe was right. You’re nothing to me, Brooke. You couldn’t give me anything that I could ever want. I mean, you’re a virgin, for Christ’s sake. How could you ever compare to Chloe? That girl is a real woman. You’re just a girl playing princess, trying to find a hero to save her from her sad life. Well, guess what, Brooke, I’m not the hero in your story. I’m the villain. I only put up with you because of Nate. I took you out today because I felt bad because you put the tears on just like you’re doing now.”He starts walking away, and I chase after him.

I know I’m crying, and I can’t stop. I wipe the tears away, but they just keep coming.

“Chase, why are you saying this to me? This isn’t you?” I feel like the air has been taken from my lungs. I can’t breathe and don’t know how to, even if I wanted to.

“Because I’m sick of it, Brooke. I’m sick of babysitting you when Nate has a girlfriend because you’re too fucking prissy to give it up to get a boyfriend yourself. I’m sick of watching you with those doe eyes of yours as you follow me around like some love-sick puppy. I mean, I might have fucked you last night. I haven’t had it in a few days. I was horny, but the second you started begging me, my dick went limp. I don’t fuck frigid girls that beg. I like my women with a little more self-respect than that.”

He rolls his eyes and sneers at me, and I wonder if the Chase I knew for all these years was an act.

“Chase, that’s not true. You used to spend your nights with me on the docks, just us. If you felt that way, you wouldn’t have done that.”

“Get it through your head, Brooke. I thought putting in the work so as you got older would get me laid. I mean, any guy would look at that body and want it. You think I enjoyed those nights?” he scoffs. “Oh, come on, surely you can’t be that naïve that you genuinely think a guy would spend his nights with you like that without thinking he was getting something in return? I mean, you grew up into being a hot little piece of ass. Plus, nailing the town’s only virgin. That’s hot!”

I take a step back from him before slapping him hard, so hard his face turns with the impact as I hear the sound of my hand meeting his cheek. My hand stings, but I don’t wince. I allow that burning sensation in.

“You’re a bastard, Chase Anderson, and I wish I had never met you.”

“Call me what you want, Princess, but you and I both know I could never be with someone like you…”

With that, he turns away and disappears out of my sight.I crumple to the ground, my legs unable to take my weight anymore. I feel physically sick as I recognize the last fourteen years have been a lie. I bet he joked about me with his friends. Him having to babysit the poor little virgin.

Did he tell them about last night?

I sob, and the tears keep coming. I close my eyes, bringing my knees up to my chest as I sit there, and let the pain overwhelm me. I cry for what feels like forever. The sun sets as I let enough tears fall I could fill the ocean itself, that is, until I feel someone approaching me.

I look up and wonder if it’s Chase coming back to tell me he’s sorry, but it’s not.

Instead, bright blue eyes meet mine.

CHAPTERNINE

CHASE

Islam the front door so hard it makes the glass in the window rattle. For a second, I feel like it will shatter, just like I did to Brooke’s heart. Asher and Jax jump on the sofa, shocked.

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