Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 84227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
I shook my head, unable to make words come out.
“Shit. I’m so sorry, baby boy. I’ll fix it, okay?” Chase pulled me close and kissed the top of my head. “I’ll find a way to fix it.”
“You can’t fix it any easier than I can.”
“I know, but I gotta try. We gotta try.”
“I like the we,” I replied.
“Me too.” He kissed me again, and then I pulled away.
Josh cleared his throat. “Listen…I know I haven’t always been fair to you, and I’m sorry about that. Kellan is important to me, and I didn’t want him to get hurt.”
“I understand,” Chase replied. “I’m glad he has someone like you. We all, um…we all need that.” Chase ran a hand through his hair, and I knew he was thinking about Griff.
“If there’s anything I can do, for either of you, let me know.” Josh and Chase shook hands. “I should get going. Call me later, okay, babe?” Josh hugged me, I kissed his cheek, and he walked out.
“I’m so sorry you’re on leave,” I told Chase again.
“It’s fine. It’s only temporary. I spent the whole damn day driving around, trying to work through my shit, so it’s a little easier to handle right now.”
“Do they have any leads? Anything else to go on?”
Chase looked away, and I could tell it was a sore subject for him. “They’re talking to a couple of people today, Buck being one of them. He’s going to be pissed, Kellan, so you keep an eye out, okay? I’m trying not to make you feel like I don’t trust you to take care of yourself, because I do. We both need to be careful. We don’t know how dangerous whoever did this is.”
A shiver raced down my spine. How did this happen? I couldn’t imagine anything like this happening in Havenwood, and two out of the three times it had, my family was involved. “Can we go home? I don’t…I don’t want to risk seeing anyone.”
“Yeah, yeah, of course we can. Should we stay at your place? Will you feel more comfortable there? They were out at my house investigating today.”
I hadn’t thought of that, that the police would have to go to Chase’s. That someone had been watching us, at Chase’s. But then, Chase’s house had become our place; at least, that was how it felt to me. It was like we were in our own little world there, and now someone had tried to take that away from us.
“I want to go home…to your house, I mean. I don’t want to lose that. It’s us.”
“Okay.” Chase nodded. “I agree.”
I grabbed my things, locked up, and then the two of us went outside. I didn’t have my car since I’d left with Griff that morning, so I hopped into Chase’s truck with him.
“Maybe we should get a dog,” he said, his eyes on the road.
My heart felt like it jumped through my chest and floated away. “Together?”
He shrugged. “Yeah, sure, if you want. We can pick it together. I’ve never had my own dog before, but I loved Ranger.”
I smiled at the memory of our old Rottweiler. He had been the best dog growing up. He was protective but also had the sweetest disposition. “I haven’t thought about Ranger in a long time. Remember when he used to try to squeeze between us if you sat by me?”
Chase laughed, a rich, happy laugh that wrapped around me. “I do. He was protective of his Twerp.” He winked.
We spent the rest of the ride home telling stories about Ranger and trying to figure out which breed of dog we wanted for our own.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Chase
It felt strange being in my own house, and I hated that. I’d taken a walk around the property to be safe. There was an area marked off where they thought whoever had been watching us had stood. A chill raced through me at the thought.
When I got back inside, I locked the doors and made sure all the blinds were closed.
The dog conversation earlier had been spur-of-the-moment, but now that I’d mentioned it, I liked the idea. It would be nice to have an animal around the house. It made things feel more homey, more settled, in a way I’d never wanted before but suddenly found myself thinking about. And there was the added benefit of someone watching out for people who didn’t belong.
Kellan called Griffin to tell him he wouldn’t be home that night. His brother wasn’t happy, and I hadn’t expected him to be. He’d wanted us to stay at their place, and hell, maybe he was right. Maybe it was stupid and selfish to bring Kellan back here, but when he’d said my place was us, I’d felt a warmth spread through me. I felt that way too. Our whole adult relationship had been in there, and I didn’t want some asshole to take that away from us.