Chasing McCree (8 page)

Chase and I were very different. Would
we be too different to be together?

I guess only time would
tell.

At the prier we parked in the parking
garage and headed for the boardwalk. On the beach at night,
especially on weekends, some of the locals set up tables and sold
their crafts. A few people were pretty strange, like the lady who
printed pictures of cats and glued them to cheap jewelry. Some of
it was pretty cool too. One man made nightlights out of seashells,
another lady braided hair. Guarding the entrance to the boardwalk
was a man dressed as a Star Wars Stormtrooper. Forget the cops. We
had the Galactic Empire on our side.

But my favorite part of the beach was
the outdoor cinema. A giant inflatable screen placed in a grassy
area every Friday and Saturday night, and anyone could lounge
outside and watch the movie. It was family friendly, and they were
showing a classic Disney movie.

Chase happened to have an old blanket
in the bed of his truck, and we spread it out on the grass under
the massive screen. It was a little noisy, and the lights from the
traffic in the roundabout flashed annoyingly. But we relaxed on the
blanket, allowing the speakers to drown out the night.

“
This place is fun.” Chase
said, lying on his back next to me.

I kicked off my shoes and buried my
toes in the grass. “I knew you’d like it.”

“
I thought it was just a
beach.”

“
Nope, it’s more than
that.” I scooted a little closer to him and lay back, looking up at
the movie screen. “You know, this night couldn’t have started any
worse.”

“
Couldn’t have ended any
better either,” he smiled.

We didn’t speak for the rest of the
movie, just stayed close to each other. Every so often I’d glance
at him. A couple times I caught him watching me. I blushed. He
grinned and scooted even closer. By the end of the movie we were
shoulder-to-shoulder, smiling and stealing glances. I thought maybe
I’d let him kiss me if he wanted, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready
yet. I was happy having him beside me, and he seemed just as
satisfied with my company too.

As the pier started to close down,
Chase grabbed the blanket and we began the long walk back to the
public parking garage. There was plenty of light from the street
lamps and cars, but the traffic had gotten crazy. I stayed close to
his side as we kept to the sidewalk and passed the lifeguard
station. After that, the sidewalk ended and we navigated our way
through a parking lot. We weren’t in the thick of the traffic until
we started to near the garage. He didn’t like it. I didn’t
either.

“
Why did we come here
again?” Chase glanced around us.

I flinched as someone leaned hard on a
car horn. “We have a hidden desire to be hood
ornaments?”

We got back on to a sidewalk, leaving
the parking lot. There was a crosswalk brightly lit
ahead.

“
Hey,” a man
shouted.

Chase stopped and I bumped into his
side. I saw a young man walking toward us. He was dressed in baggy
clothes and it looked as if his greasy hair hadn’t been washed in
forever.

“
You smoke?” the man
asked.

Chase shook his head, “Sorry,
no.”

“
What about
you?”

I frowned. “No.”

He came closer and lowered his voice.
“I’m not talking cigarettes. You got any weed?”

Whoa, really? People just came up to
other people and asked that question? I looked up at Chase and he
seemed just as stunned as me.

“
Man, we can’t help you.”
Chase placed his hand on my back and gave me a gentle push to get
me walking. But the man kept pace with us.

“
Hey, you know this place?”
he held up a blue flyer for one of the restaurants in front of
me.

“
Yeah,” I pointed behind
us. “Past the playground behind the t-shirt shop.”

“
They deal?”

At first I was thinking cards, but then
I realized he was still talking about drugs. “I have no
idea.”

Chase smiled. “Maybe you should ask
them like you asked us.”

The man’s face brightened and he headed
in the direction I pointed. “Hey, I will, thanks.”

Chase’s hand pressed firmer on my back
and we darted for the crosswalk. The traffic stopped and we entered
the parking garage.

I let out a breath. “Is it just me, or
was he crazy?”

Chase shook his head. “It wasn’t just
you, trust me.”

There were two elevators packed with
people, so we took the stairs, not wanting to wait around for more
potential druggies.

“
What are you doing?” I
asked after we’d made it up one flight.

Chase stayed a couple steps ahead of
me, close to the wall. He’d make it to a landing, swing wide, and
peer up the next flight before motioning me to follow. “I’m making
sure it’s safe.”

I shook my head, fighting a smile.
“This place isn’t exactly a hotbed of criminal
activity.”

“
Yeah, but things change
when you’ve got a pretty girl with you.” He stopped on the landing
near the entrance to the fourth level and opened the
door.

I faltered, looking out his
outstretched hand, then back up at his dark eyes and reassuring
smile. He was just so genuine and honest. “Thanks.”

“
You’re
welcome.”

I took the last three stairs, my heart
slamming with excitement, and reached out to slip my hand into his.
I wanted to sigh with relief. His fingers were rough and his palm
swallowed mine, but our hands fit perfectly together.

We walked hand in hand to his truck,
and drove hand in hand the whole way to my house. He walked me to
my door, still not letting go.

“
I had a great time,” I
said, opening the door and catching the fancy smell of my mom’s
candles. They were from France and handmade by nuns or something.
“See you at school Monday?”

He nodded, giving my hand a gentle
squeeze. “I’m looking forward to it.”

I backed into the doorway, reluctantly
letting go. “Well, good night.”

“
Night,
princess.”

“
Briar!” my mother’s voice
bounced off the marble floors, her anger reverberated in my ears.
“What the hell did you do to Alex?”

I glanced over my shoulder and saw her
storming down the staircase with her cell phone pressed against her
ear. If she hadn’t seen me, I would have run back to the truck and
asked Chase to take me to Grandma’s house.

“
Alex is a jerk.” I said,
turning to face her.

“
You are going to march
your little…” she stopped, teetering in her red heels. Her eyes
went round as she took in my dress. “What in the world are you
wearing?”

I swished the skirt. “Do you like
it?”

“
It’s hideous.” She
snapped. “What happened to the one I bought you?”

“
I didn’t like
it…”

“
Come again?” she closed
her phone. “You didn’t like it? Well, I’m sorry I can’t cater to
your needs better. Dress aside, I told you to fix this. And you
screw it up even more!”

I backed up a step, my fingers seeking
Chase’s. When I felt his warm grip, I inwardly sighed and felt a
renewed courage shoot through me. “Alex and I are history. I’m not
apologizing. In fact, I’m leaving.”

“
Briar Elizabeth Thompson,”
I ignored my mother’s shouting and tugged Chase’s arm, pulling him
with me down the sidewalk to his truck.

“
Where to?” he asked once
we were inside.

“
Some place safe.” I held
tight to his hand and didn’t look back as we drove away from my
house.

He chuckled. “Grandmas it
is.”

Chapter 7

Chase

Monday morning came. I went to school
like every day before, trying not to step on anybody’s toes and
staying out of the way. I wasn’t one of those social butterflies,
but it’d be nice to have a friend or two. I hoped when Briar saw me
at school she didn’t high tail it in the other direction. Would she
ignore me so as not to endure any glares or snide remarks from her
friends? Or would she ignore me because I witnessed what happened
between her and her crazy mother? I didn’t think so.

Peer pressure was a bitch. This was my
first time in a real school setting. The only thing I’d known about
city high schools was what I’d seen in the movies, and that didn’t
seem all that accurate. Over the past few weeks I’d learned it
wasn’t an over exaggeration.

But I was a cowboy. I herded and took
the lead. Every one of them halfwits could follow each other right
into the slaughterhouse.

After the first half of my day passed
without incident, I went to my usual spot by the band room and sat
under a tree in the grass. The air was warm, but it smelled kind of
sour and musty like the classrooms. I was opening the lunch I’d
packed, when a pair of black shoes stopped in front of me. They had
lacy pink bows on the toes.

Shading my eyes, I looked up, and was
slightly shocked to find Briar smiling down at me. “Hi,”

I nodded, “Hey.”

She shifted her books, glancing around.
“Uh, mind if I join you?”

Seriously? I nodded and she sat on her
knees next to me. “How’s your day so far?”

She shrugged and took a sip of the diet
drink she pulled out of her purse. “Well, no one is giving me a
hard time.”

“
What about your
parents?”

“
We’re not speaking to each
other…”

“
Really?” I thought they’d
be all over her.

“
Because they are
pretending like I don’t exist, just like everyone in school.” She
laughed, shaking her head. “The people I used to hang out with
won’t even look at me.”

“
Assholes,” I said. It was
probably best no one could really see us here. We were blocked by a
low wall and walkway. Last thing either of us needed was to be
hassled. “Only two hours left.”

“
Thank god,” she sighed.
“So what was your high school like back home?”

“
I was home schooled.” I
opened the paper bag and pulled out a sandwich and a bag of trail
mix.

“
Sounds nice.” She
smiled.

It was. I missed it. “Did you bring a
lunch?”

“
No, I don’t normally
eat.”

I raised my eyebrows, thinking that I’d
heard everything now. “You had a burger and fries the other
night…”

“
No, I mean. I don’t eat in
front of people at school.” She looked a little embarrassed and
nervously sipped her drink.

“
Why?”

“
Well, since I joined the
cheer squad, Rachel decided we should diet.”

“
You’re kidding.” I didn’t
mean to stare, but Briar looked good to me, maybe even a little
thin. So what was the point of being on a diet when she clearly
could use a sundae and a slice of pizza?

“
We need to fit in our
uniforms.” She set her drink down, crossed her arms and glared at
nothing particular. “And then a few weeks ago Alex said my butt
looked big in my jeans.”

I wasn’t going to even touch
that.

“
What do you
think?”

Oh, hell. “It looks normal to
me.”

“
That’s what I
said!”

I held out half of my sandwich,
“Hungry?”

She wrinkled her nose. “I’m
good.”

“
Okay, more for me.” I
watched her mouth twist into a shy smile and she scooted closer. I
temped her a little. “It’s got all the bad stuff on it.”

“
How bad?”

“
Cheese, mayonnaise, sweet
pickles, bologna…”

She held out her hand, “I
hate pickles, but I can’t pass up anything that
bad
.”

The rest of the week Briar and I had
lunch together. She’d pack something, I’d pack something, and we’d
have a picnic of sorts by the band room. We started to see each
other after school too.

I began to think it was fate I found
her in the park. She was unlike anyone I’d ever met. She was sweet,
but she had sass too. She’d make a bold statement, then reel
herself back in, a little embarrassed.

Briar Elizabeth Thompson was a
firecracker waiting to go off.

I could see it in her bright green
eyes. She’d be a hell of a handful once she let go, but it was
better than her acting like she was reserved and timid. She always
tried to say the right thing and be the good girl her mother
expected.

I knew the second Briar’s fuse was lit
there’d be no stopping her. She’d take the world by storm and have
a hell of a lot of fun doing it.

She was still naive, and way too
sheltered. The night we went to the beach, she never realized the
man asking for drugs had had a gun on him. The small automatic had
been shoved in the waistband of his pants and covered by his
shirt.