Page 83 of Prey Tell
I have no idea why he reacted the way that he did. Why he seemed completely spooked when he saw the blood that was currently drying. When he inspected my ankle—which is still throbbing with every movement.
Iwouldtrip over myself and sprain my ankle. Juliet Parker… ever graceful.
I contain my smile as we continue walking. I don’t know if we’re still in the scene. If I should initiate small talk. I let out a giggle at the thought of asking him about the weather.
“Something amusing, Parker?”
Despite carrying me and walking at a brisk pace, he doesn’t seem winded at all. It puts my fitness to shame—and I run twenty miles a week.
“You’re so brooding and quiet.”
He frowns but doesn’t look down at me. “Brooding?”
“Yeah. I’m okay. In fact, I’m pretty sure I could walk back—”
“Not happening.”
I open and close my mouth a few times, deciding on my next course of action, when he begins speaking.
“Your brother said the same thing about me. That I was brooding.”
I grin. “Of course he did.” And maybe it’s because I may have a concussion, or because we had sex—God, I’d nearly forgotten—but I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. “He’s the exact opposite of you. I never understood how you two became friends.”
This elicits a rumbling chuckle from him. “He’s never told you how we became friends?”
“No. I mean… I was young. Nine, I think, when you met.”
“You were. I remember meeting you. You didn’t look up from whatever book you were reading on the couch. Your parents were cooking, and Jackson and I had come inside from playing football outside. You had on these pink cat ear headphones…” he trails off.
My heart pounds against my ribs as a thousand emotions claw through me. “You remember that?”
“Of course I do.”
I bite my lower lip so that I can ruminate on his words for a minute, but he continues talking.
“I remember you and Jackson were new to Saint Helena,” he starts, adjusting his hands under my knees as he walks.
I snort. “We were so out of our league. But my parents had come into some money and wanted us to have the best education.”
“I was sitting in algebra class, trying to ignore the taunting from the other kids. Something about my driver, about my father being too drunk to drive me to school,” he says, his voice low. I swallow thickly. “And in walks this gangly, happy-go-lucky guy with thick, horn-rimmed glasses. He wasso fuckingsure of himself. I wasn’t paying any attention to him. I assumed as a new student, he would be trying to fit in and he wouldn’t want anything to do with me. But then he sat down in the seat next to me, introduced himself, and when I said my name, he looked completely unfazed.”
I go completely still as he continues his story.
“And then he followed me out of class, and I turned around and told him that he didn’t need to put on a show. That he must know who I was, must know the story of my father, of our family. But Jax cocked his stupid head and said, ‘Yeah. I know who you are. You’re Chase.’”
I huff a laugh. “Sounds like him.”
Chase chuckles again. “Anyway, despite my suspicions, he hung out with me day and night. Standing up for me. Welcoming me into his family, which, at the time, was completely different than mine in the best way possible.” He stops walking for a second, and I look up at him as his brows flicker with uncertainty. He looks down at me. “You asked me earlier why I was taking on Saint Helena Academy as a client. It’s because of Jax. Because I have the capital and the resources to change his environment. Whether he chooses to utilize the new clause or not, it’s there for him. I did it all for him.”
My eyes prick with tears as he walks on, and we’re quiet for the rest of the walk.
Thirty minutes later, we’re entering the back door of Ravage Castle. Chase sets me down on a stool and walks over to the iPad charging on the counter, tapping a few buttons.
“I’ll have Luna call for a doctor,” he mutters, tapping the screen.
“Chase,” I warn, sighing. “I’m fine.”
He ignores me, bustling around the industrial kitchen shirtless as he grabs a bottle of water for me.
