Page 81 of Hard To Love

Chase jerked his head back forcefully then pinned his brother with a death glare. “The fuck it is! Not going to happen.” He then directed his glare to me, “Don’t even think about it. You are not to have any contact with him. Period. Understand?”

He did not just say that to me, did he?I thought to myself as my emotions whipsawed from sad and helpless, to ticked off and annoyed in a nanosecond.

“I don’t remember asking for your permission, Chase.”

Nick raised his eyebrow, playfully patting Chase on the shoulder. “I think you may just have met your match, my friend.” He then glanced at me and smiled apologetically.

Chase was clearly not used to being contradicted by anyone, especially his girlfriend. For a split second, he looked stunned and unable to respond, but the intense coolness in his blue eyes told me he was pissed.

“I didn’t mean to snap at you. I’m just stressed, don’t take it personally. But to answer your question, I’m sorry, but I can’t let you do that.”

I lifted my eyebrows in a challenge, “Is that so?” I was not backing down on this. He would have to find a way to get over it.

“Come on, Emily, you know how I feel about this.”

“And you should know me well enough to know that I’m not just going to sit back and do nothing.”

As much as it pained me to fight with him, I saw no other option. There was only one way to get to Brad and that was to play off his feelings for me. The thought of using him like that sickened me but as I glanced around the room and realized what was at stake, it paled in comparison to my need to fix this.

He shook his head looking frustrated “That’s not what I meant. Can we please talk about this later?”

Nick was enjoying this little showdown. “I can see who wears the pants in this relationship.” He said, laughing.

His hard, blue eyes shot Nick a look that said, you better shut your fucking mouth now or I will kick your ass.

“Emily,” he tried to soften his voice, “I don’t want him anywhere near you. I want you to stay as far away from him as possible. I don’t trust him.”

I let his words hang in the air momentarily, “But you trust me, right?” I replied back, forcing him to think carefully before he gave me an answer.

“Of course I do but this can be handled without you getting involved.”

We all stayed silent for a moment as I blinked my eyes away from him and glanced around the room. “I know this plan makes you nervous, but I’d rather you be uncomfortable for a while instead having to visit you in jail for the next ten years!”

He seemed taken aback by my outburst, but I continued to let the words roll off my tongue. “Let’s be realistic about this, I’m already involved. If you and I never met, none of this mess with Brad would have ever happened. Maybe I can convince him that there’s still a chance for the two of us. Let me do what Ineedto do to help you.”

Chase’s body went completely still and anger filled his eyes as he stared at the golden liquid, patiently swirling it around in his glass. Every muscle in his body twitched as he took a sip.

Nick leaned in, looking to diffuse the situation. “Listen buddy, you need to calm down. We’ll find a way to fix this.”

“Calm down? You want me to calm down? Are you fucking kidding me?”

Chase quickly downed the rest of the drink and threw the glass tumbler up against the brick fireplace. The crash of the glass startled everyone. He rose out of his chair and walked over to face Nick, throwing his hands up in the air in frustration.

“So, help me understand the plan, Nick. I’m supposed to let her get all nice and cozy with her fucking ex-boyfriend who is trying to send me away to prison, so he can get his woman back?”

I could feel his anger building like the pressure inside a volcano. He was ready to blow and I knew he would not listen to reason unless I could calm him down.

The growing rage I had sensed earlier was now pouring out of him like a fiery lava flow. Sighing deeply, I took a moment to gather my thoughts and chose my words carefully. This was my last shot to convince him that this was the best plan we had. My hands shook as I looked into his eyes and delivered my appeal.

“Brad is obviously having a hard time accepting the fact that I’ve moved on. In order for him to trust me, he needs to think that you and I are over. If I approach him defending you and demanding answers, he’s only going to get more pissed off. He will find a way to make things worse for you. If anyone can get him to talk or back off it’s me.”

Nick rubbed his chin, drawing his eyebrows together. “You know, Emily, you might be onto something here.”

“No.” Chase replied. We turned to see him standing up against the wall with his arms crossed defiantly across his chest.

My eyes shot up to his “Why not?” I pleaded with him to consider all that had been said.

Slowly, he moved towards me so that our faces are inches apart. “I thought I made myself perfectly clear. I said that you are to have nothing to do with this guy ever again.”

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