Page 8 of The Chase

I shrug, sipping my coffee and instantly wrinkle my nose. "Do you have a sugar shortage?"

Austin growls as he gestures for me to hand him the mug. He adds sugar, the silence in the room telling me a few things, one of them being that this doesn’t happen often. Have women never given them hell before? I mean, I have a whole drawer full of comebacks if they want them. He gives me the mug back and I still avoid eye contact.

"History?" Sawyer pushes.

God, he's almost as persistent as Austin. "We dated."

"When?" Austin asks, the question cutting into me.

I still avoid his eyes. "Once. A few months ago."

"He won't be bothering you anymore."

That grabs my attention and I lift my eyes to his. The connection makes my throat feel tight. I sip the coffee. "You think so?"

Austin nods. "Iknow so."

“I’m a big girl, I’ve managed without you, and I’ll manage just fineaftermeeting you.”

I notice Kit smirk before he saves Austin from his response. "We need to head to Revere, unless we want consequences." Olive green set within an almond shape smile at me.

"Sawyer, you're on duty."

I frown, looking between the two of them. Does that mean what I think it means? "You have got to be kidding me!" I slap my hands down on the island.

"I never kid when it comes to protecting someone."

The challenge in his hazel eyes hold back the cusses I want to throw at him, and that has never happened before. I growl as I turn away from him and his friends, Lucas is already chuckling as I head into the bedroom to grab my bag and leave as soon as Ican. I can hear Avery scrambling after me. If that is to be my one night with Austin Whitlock, then I've had it, and let me tell you, the experience hasn't been as satisfying as gossip had suggested.

CHAPTER THREE ¦ PANCAKES

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Austin

The crowd at Momma's is larger than usual, and we all know why. Word has gotten out about my note to Mia, shaped like a boat because I’m charming as fuck. She’s avoided running past the boathouse, and that shit gnaws at me, so I’d used Red as a way in.

"Dude, stop."

I risk flicking my eyes from the door to Kit for a second. "Stop what?" My eyes rush back to the door as it opens.

"With the jitters."

I shrug. I want her to show but from our limited time together I also know how stubborn she is. It’s likely she won’t show just to string my balls up.

"No one has ever said no to the wolf before," Lucas assures me.

And we all know that the wolf has never asked before. I really fucking hate the name and the connotations that come with it. “I hate that name,” I tell them for the first time, even though I’ve never lived up to the rep, and they know it.

Sawyer nods, dunking his fries into his shake. “It sucks, and the type of college shit we’d expect.”

“Why can’t you eat your fries like normal people, that’s pure filth!” Kit heckles.

I don’t know how he can eat fries before demolishing ten pancakes, but it’s Sawyer, he looks like Henry Cavill, but with ten times the muscle.

Her no show is bothering me, but there’s another issue I’ll be dealing with in the corner. Storm clouds stare at me. The dude doesn't even blink. His ash brown hair is hidden underneath a hat. BS for bullshit, or Bay Scullers and their unfortunate, but completely apt, initials. Why come here knowing that I've asked Mia on an unofficial date? Breakfast with three hundred other people and my boys hardly says romantic, but if it had been romantic, she would have refused, even with Red forcing her tocome. Despite my own reservations regarding the success of thisdate, I throw a smirk at Zac, his lips thin as he turns away. I can deliver this kind of pain all day long.

The door opens, and the whole place hushes, so much so, Momma's becomes a fucking library. Lucas also sits up, telling me she's brought Avery with her. My eyes track to her as she stumbles her way to our booth. Has she always struggled to walk? I frown and look down at her sneakers, they are standard, aren’t they? Either way, it’s fucking adorable how she stumbles her way through life. I want to scoop her up and carry her.

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