Page 84 of I Hate You More

I grinned brightly at him. “It seemed necessary.”

He shook his head at me. “Not sure why Chase ever changed his mind about you,” he muttered before stalking off. He shot me a smile and a wink over his shoulder as he walked away though.

“I still can’t believe you’ve dragged me to an old folk’s home on a Saturday,” Tessa said, as she joined me and passed me a drink. She’d someone managed to score us a couple of glasses of champagne, but I was pretty sure they were only serving nonalcoholic drinks. “Where’s your brother going?”

“Beats me,” I said, taking a small sip, enjoying the way the bubbles tingled in my mouth. Tessa nodded, but her eyes continued to follow him as he walked across the room.

“Do you think that now your Dad’s agreed to let you date, and has seen that it’s not the catastrophe he always assumed it would be, that Shane might start dating too?”

A small smile curved the corner of my lips. Tessa had never admitted to liking my brother, but it had been obvious to me for years how she felt. Shane was too oblivious to see it for himself though. A fact she was probably grateful for.

“Well, we’re still ‘on probation,’ and I don’t think Dad’s ruled out catastrophe just yet.”

“He totally has. Your grades are doing better than ever, and if they keep improving, he’s going to start planning the wedding.”

I laughed and shook my head. Dad was still coming around to the idea of me dating. There were a million rules we had to follow, but I’d follow a million more if it meant I got to keep Chase.

“So, Shane?” Tessa prompted.

“I honestly have no idea,” I replied. “Why do you ask?”

Tessa’s cheeks went pink, and her eyes dropped to the glass in her hand. “No, reason, just a thought. Anyway, I’m going to find the bathroom.” She was off before I could respond.

As I turned to look at the dance floor, I caught sight of Chase dancing slowly with my grandma. They looked so sweet together as he gently guided her around the floor. If I weren’t in love with him already, watching him now would probably have sealed the deal. It was easy to see why everyone at the nursing home liked him so much. He had The Three C’s completely wrapped around his little finger, which he was never afraid to remind me about.

“That boy of yours sure looks handsome today,” Cora said, linking her arm with mine.

I nodded in wholehearted agreement. He was wearing a dark navy suit that fit him perfectly. He’d taken his jacket off to dance, but it only made him look sexier. His white shirt was unbuttoned at the neck, and his sleeves were rolled up to show off his strong forearms. His hair was tousled like always, and I found myself itching to run my hands through it.

“Got any more juicy gossip about him you want to share?”

I laughed and shook my head. “Cora, you’ve got to stop asking me for details.”

She pouted. “Well, you’ve got to give me something. I live for this stuff.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll tell you this: we fight pretty much every day, but every fight ends when he starts laughing and kisses me on the nose. He almost always lets me win.”

She let out a sigh. “That boy’s a keeper.”

“Yeah, I was planning on keeping him,” I said with a grin.

“What’s this I hear about keeping?” Chase interrupted.

I turned and stared up at my gorgeous boyfriend. I still couldn’t believe I used to compare him to a thundercloud. I always thought of him as a dark storm that you needed to seek shelter from. Chase was anything but. He was like starlight in a dark night’s sky and glowed all the more vividly when you truly focused on him.

“I said I was thinking about keeping you,” I said.

“Like in a zoo?”

I laughed and shook my head. “Not quite.”

He turned to Cora. “Do you mind if I steal this troublemaker away for a moment?”

“I’m not a troublemaker.”

“You are around me.” He grinned.

I couldn’t help but smile in return. When Chase was happy, I was happy, and his smiles were damn contagious.

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