Page 52 of Mayhem

“Why wouldn’t I sit next to you?”

“Because you could have an entire bench to yourself.” I shiver.

“Yeah, but if I sat over there, I would miss the way your body reacts to mine.”

I glance down and sure enough, my arms are covered in goose bumps and my nipples are pebbling through my T-shirt.

“Whatever.” I glare, making him chuckle.

“Hey, I’m Cindy, I’ll be your server today. What can I get you?”

We both place our drink and food orders with Cindy.

She gathers up the menus. “I’ll be right back,” she says as she bounces away.

Now, without the distraction of the menu and with Chase so close, I don’t know what to do.

“So, tell me something,” Chase says as he angles his body toward mine.

“What do you want to know?” I ask as I turn toward him, leaning my head on his forearm.

“What’s your favorite food?”

“If I answer, will you answer my questions?”

Chase looks away before looking back. “Sounds fair.” He nods. “Favorite food.”

“Anything potato.” I shrug. “Such a simple vegetable, but a million ways to cook it and it fills you up.”

“I’m a fan of French fries myself.” Chase nods.

“Why did you get so mad when I kissed Nate?”

Chase raises a brow. “Pretty sure that’s obvious, Willow.”

I purse my lips at his non-answer.

“If you could travel to one place, where would it be?”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“You know as much as I do that getting out of here for most people is hard enough, why dream for something that probably won’t happen?”

“Just humor me, Willow.”

“Fine.” I hesitate for a minute, trying to think of someplace. “I saw an article once about a place where the lightning bugs don’t shine the white-yellow color, but blue. It’s in the Appalachia Mountains and it’s only for a short time. That would be pretty cool to see.”

“Interesting,” he murmurs as he plays with a piece of my hair.

“What is it exactly that you do?”

“Here you go,” Cindy chirps as she sets our drinks and appetizer in the middle of the table. “I’ll be back in a few with your entrees.”

“A little bit of this and a little bit of that,” Chase hedges as he grabs a fried pickle out of the basket and dips it into the ranch.

“Are you sure those are good?” I wrinkle my nose.

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