Page 48 of #Starstruck

He nodded, trying to catch his breath. It had to have been worse for him. I felt shaky and nauseated, and I wasn’t the one they wanted attention from.

Braden kept apologizing, but Chase wouldn’t let him. “It wasn’t your fault. This could have happened to me anywhere. I should have remembered to put on my hat and sunglasses after the ride finished. I was ...” His eyes wandered over to me. “Distracted.”

Now I felt even worse. “I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. That’s not what I meant. None of this was your fault, either.” Having composed himself, Chase pushed off the wall. “I probably need to buy a new shirt, but do you want to head over to California Adventure?”

That was the Disney park directly across from the Magic Kingdom. My phone started beeping frantically. I had forgotten I had set up a Google Alert with Chase’s name. It sent me link after link of pictures and posts on social media about how he was at Disneyland. Everyone in the world knew where he was right then. He wouldn’t be able to keep a low profile any longer. I showed him my screen. “Maybe we should go home.”

He nodded and took me by the hand. It was amazing how right it felt to hold hands with him. To lace my fingers through his. Like this was how it was supposed to be. Braden escorted us out the way we’d come in, still trying to apologize, but Chase told him, “This is on me. I should have brought security. I was just hoping I could have one normal day.” He sounded so sad I wanted to hug him.

Braden walked us all the way back to Chase’s car. Chase opened the door for me, and I saw him hand Braden a very big tip. Chase let out a deep breath when he got into the driver’s seat, and he took a moment before turning the key and starting the car.

Once we were clear of the parking lot, he reached over and took my hand, and that feeling of rightness, of being where I belonged, returned. “Do you want to come over and hang out?”

“Yes.” I didn’t even let myself think about it. I didn’t want to leave him yet.

Half an hour later, we went through an In-N-Out drive-through, and Chase smiled as the cashier about peed her pants when she saw whose order she had just filled. I tried to give him my debit card, but he wouldn’t take it. He pulled his wallet out and passed some cash to the girl. The workers at the second window were expecting us, and they crowded behind the teenager handing us our food. Chase thanked her, and she looked like she was about to start crying.

“Eat now or at home?” he asked, handing me the bags of food.

“Home.” I almost started babbling about how I knew he hadn’t meant it wasmyhome and that I wasn’t trying to imply anything or move things along too quickly by thinking of his house as home, but I stopped. He didn’t look scared by my answer, so I decided not to make a big deal out of it.

Plus, I didn’t want him to let go of my hand, because he probably would have needed it to eat and drive at the same time.

He didn’t let go until we got to his place. He excused himself to go upstairs and grab another shirt while I put the bags of food on the kitchen counter. Not even a minute later, Chase came back downstairs, putting his new shirt on and giving me the full visual of his delicious abs before he covered them. I tried not to frown. He grabbed the bags off the counter and took them into the family room, where he set them on the coffee table. He flopped down on his couch and rubbed his eyes. He looked worn out. I figured I should probably let him rest. “Do you want me to call an Uber?”

Chase sat up, giving me a weak smile. “No. I want you to stay.”

I couldn’t tell if he meant it or if he was just being polite. I decided to take him at his word and handed him his food. We ate in silence, but it was a comfortable one.

He finished way before I did, used a napkin, and threw it in the bag. “Earlier this week they messengered over a movie I filmed a while ago that hasn’t been released yet. It’s calledThe Storm. Interested?”

That made me sit up straight. “Absolutely.”

“Normally I don’t like watching myself.”

I totally got that. I didn’t like hearing myself on somebody else’s voice mail.

“But this was the first thing I filmed after rehab. I want to see how it turned out. I’ve been waiting to watch it with you.”

Aw.My heart fluttered. He was seriously the cutest.

He used his universal remote to queue up the move and turn off the lights. I put my uneaten food back in the bag. I wanted to give this my full attention. I knew a little bit about it already. He played a Maine fisherman who dreamed of going to college but gave it all up to take over his family’s fishing business. His character ended up in one of the worst storms on record, and he refused to tell me whether his character survived. “You’ll have to wait and see.”

Just like last time, Chase made comments and told me anecdotes about filming. Like how he had done all his own underwater stunts and how in each of those scenes he had been surrounded by a team of divers with oxygen, ready to swim in and save him if something bad happened.

On the screen, the first massive wave appeared and knocked him off his ship and into the ocean.

“You’re holding your breath,” he observed.

I let it out. “Okay, I know it’s weird, but whenever I watch a movie like this and someone goes underwater, I hold my breath to see if I would have survived.”

“It’s not weird. I do that, too. But I almost died watchingFinding Nemo.”

That made me laugh harder than I had all day. He grinned and reached out for my hand, then pulled it to his lap. He didn’t put his arm around me, didn’t pull me closer, but each circle he rubbed with his thumb on the inside of my palm sent a shiver down my back.

Then he shot me one of those sexy smirks, like he knew exactly what effect he had on me. I tried to focus on the movie.

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