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Troy and Vivian stepped out with rumpled clothes. Vivian’s blonde hair was in disarray. Some of it twirled on top of her head. The rest stuck out on the sides.
Releasing my arm, Chase turned their way and glanced at them as they held hands. Horror creased over his face. “Are you two. . .dating?”
“Yes.” Vivian smirked. “If that’s okay with you, Mr. Stone. Jasmine, we’re going to go unless you want us to stay. Do you?”
“No. I’ll call you later.” I headed over to the door and opened it for them.
“You are . . . dating?” Chase continued to sit on my couch as if someone had scared the crap out of him.
“Yes. Why?” I asked.
He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
“What’s up with him?” Troy asked.
“I don’t know. We’ll talk later.” I wanted to say at home, but I didn’t want to startle Chase. The sad truth was I didn’t think I could walk away from him if he stood right in front of me, so I planned on sneaking away while he argued with Dawn.
Speaking of Dawn.
She stepped into my apartment as Vivian and Troy walked out. “Is he still in here?”
I motioned behind me.
“You need me to stay?” Vivian asked one more time and scowled at Dawn.
“Nope. I’m fine.”
She combed her fingers through her hair and trailed behind Troy.
“You’re disrupting this house,” Dawn said.
I figured she was talking to Chase, but instead, she targeted me with her blue eyes.
“Dawn, I’ll talk to you in your apartment.” Chase got up and headed my way. “Jasmine and I have to talk now.”
“No. We don’t.” I shook my head.
“Trust me. I have to tell you something,” he said.
“Whatever you have to tell her can wait until after we talk.” Dawn jumped between us. “Right now, we need to discuss why you think you can just piss on all the rules we’ve established over five years.”
I eased away from them.
Chase’s eyes followed me. “We need to change the rules.”
“Excuse me?” Dawn said.
“Jasmine.” Chase rushed to me and whispered in my ear, “This conversation with Dawn won’t take too long. Go up to my apartment through the pathway and wait in my living room. I have to show you something.”
“What?” I asked.
“Just listen to me,” Chase muttered.
“What are you whispering about?” Dawn’s voice screeched. Her eyes watered. Her hand touched her chest. “Chase?”
Tears spilled from her eyes and streamed over her cheeks. Something bit at my own chest. In that moment, my aggravation for her vanished. Desperation was etched all over her face, from her trembling lips to her pleading eyes. She’d known him a lot longer than I had. If I were consumed by him in a few weeks then she’d been utterly devoured.
If I stay, this is my future. I’ll be standing in the living room of girl number eight or ten, full of desperation and grief, clinging to the rule system just so my heart wouldn’t continue to break over and over again.
