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“Since kindergarten, you,” I answered honestly.
“Have you ever considered that winning me might not be all it’s cracked up to be?” she suggested. “That once the challenge is over, you’ll see just how boring I really am?”
Chasin leaned forward, placing his arms on the table. “Who ever said that I see you as a challenge?” I asked. “When did I ever make you think that?”
“Well, isn’t that what this is?”
“If that’s all that this was, I would have been done with you after taking your virginity at the bridge,” I informed her. “You aren’t, nor have you ever been, just a challenge to me, Jett.”
“Then what am I?”
Before I could answer, Michelle was back with our plates, and loud enough for our waitress to hear, I said, “If you ever come eat here without me, you better eat every fucking thing on your plate or there will be hell to pay, Jett. Do I make myself clear?”
“You’re an asshole,” was my answer.
“An asshole that’s going to do whatever he needs to in order to take care of you,” I countered. “Especially, when it’s clear that you’re shit at taking care of yourself.”
“I don’t need you taking care of me, Chasin,” she argued, because that was the only way that she knew how to communicate with me.
“Ask me if I give a fuck, baby,” I shot back, Michelle scurrying away wisely. “Now eat your fucking food before you piss me off more.”
Blessedly, Jett didn’t argue, and we were able to eat our dinner with some relative peace. Knowing that she wasn’t going to want to go home after this, I was going to force that conversation because we couldn’t go on like this much longer. I was too close to the edge, and it wasn’t going to take much to push me over where Jett Morgan was concerned.
Chapter 16
Jett~
Pulling off onto the Millcreek dirt road, I didn’t say anything as Chasin drove us far enough for some privacy to fuck or kill me, either possibility was real at the moment.
When he parked, then turned off the ignition, his car was hidden nicely in a thicket of trees that blocked the road on this side of the creek. You could easily walk around the trees, but that was about it. The other side stretched cleanly the entire length of the stream, though I’d never had the desire to see where it led to. Enough of this city belonged to me that I didn’t need to go looking for anything more.
I was staring out the window, doing my best to avoid the talk that he was going to force us to have. Back at the diner, things had been tensed enough that even Michelle had stayed away from us throughout our meal, ruining her record as the perfect server with a smile. Chasin had been knocking on the door of the truth, and I had barely escaped with some very well-crafted practiced lies. Still, Chasin was relentless when he went after something, so I couldn’t see holding him off for much longer.
“Give me one good reason why we shouldn’t be doing this?” he said, breaking the silence. “Just one, Jett.”
I finally turned to face him. “What? Screwing by the creek? Screwing at school? Causing scenes whenever we’re together?” I arched a brow. “I need you to be a little more specific, Chasin.”
Instead of taking the bait, he said, “Give me one good reason why we shouldn’t date.”
“Oh, I have a million,” I answered flippantly. “However, I think the best answer is the obvious one; we become toxic whenever we’re near each other.”
“So?” he challenged.
My brows rose in surprise. “So?”
“We’re only toxic because we were living different lives,” he replied. “Now that we’re on the same page, I see things differently.”
I could only stare at him as he sounded so damn serious. I had no idea what had changed for him, but it was finally obvious to me that he was serious about this thing between us. He was serious, and I wasn’t sure what to do about it. In a perfect world, I might date Chasin Carver. Hell, I might even be excited that a guy like him had even looked my way. However, I’d been so focused on my future for so long that I wasn’t sure if I even knew how to choose a different path at this point.
“Chasin, it doesn’t matter,” I said, feeling so damn tired. “I’m not going to California with you.”
His jaw ticked, but at least it wasn’t his left eye this time. “Why not?”
“And do what?” I asked. “What will I be doing in California while you’re off preparing to rule the world?” There was also something else to consider while we talked about this. “And what happens after that? We come back here together, or do you come back here alone?”
“You go where I go,” he automatically replied. “I don’t care where it is.”
The thought of coming back here made my stomach sour. I wanted to get away from everything that represented my childhood, and unless my father strived for a bigger political career, he was still going to be in Carver, Connecticut in four years. Even if I wasn’t coming back to live with him, with Chasin taking over for his father, there’d be no way to avoid Thomas.
