Page 30 of Tormented Bastard
“It’s nice to see you loosen up a bit, Mitchell.” Chase chuckled and opened another beer for each of us. I made a mental note to drink this one a bit slower. I needed to be some semblance of sober when around this man.
“What do you mean? I know how to loosen up,” I protested as he bit into a fajita.
He chewed and swallowed. “Oh yeah, of course you do.” He lifted a finger. “Tell me, what do you do on a Saturday night in New York?”
I thought back over the past few months. I couldn’t remember the last time I went out for drinks with my friends. And the last time I did, my phone had been glued to my palm. I have no idea what was going on with their lives.
I blinked and then huffed. “I’m running a business, Chase. Who has time for recreation?”
“Is that what you’re calling sex now?”
The blush burned my cheeks. “No. I…no,” I stammered.
“I’m running a business too, Eden. But I still find time for…recreation.”
I lifted my bottle and tilted my head. “At least until recently, right? When whatshername moved away?” I averted my gaze as I took another bite.
In spite of the casual question, my blood boiled. Jealousy wasn’t a pretty thing and was an emotion I tried to check at the door when it came to Chase, but I was epically failing. The man was straight up gorgeous with all that chocolate-brown hair and those green eyes. And he’d had groupies hanging around the dugout, even back in college. I’d trusted him back then because he’d made it clear I was it for him. But trust was a high-dollar commodity that was easy to lose and hard to win. It was a difficult lesson I’d had to learn.
When he didn’t comment, it made me feel awkward, and I looked down at my plate, pushing my food around like a little kid. I cleared my throat. “You said we needed to talk. What did you want to talk about?”
He sipped and swallowed his beer. The wind, rain, and thunder battered the house. He blew out a breath and then met my gaze. “I can’t be the speaker for your fundraiser.”
My blood ran cold, and my dinner threatened to make an encore appearance. He held up a hand before my pleading words could tumble out of my mouth. “I know how much this means to you, Eden. I really do. But I need you to understand why I can’t go back to New York right now.”
I wanted to kick. I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. But there was something in his tone, a shadow that crossed those green eyes, and the tightening of his jaw that made me sit up and take notice. I pushed aside the panic and nodded. “Fine. Make me understand. Because right now? I need something to keep me from spinning out of control.”
Chase pushed his plate aside and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. The sleeves of his T-shirt pulled tight over his biceps, the muscles in his forearms on full display. For long moments, he sat just staring into space, but it wasn’t a vacant stare. It was one of a man reliving a period of time he’d rather forget but knowing he never could.
I narrowed my eyes, trying to read his body language. Once upon a time, I could read the man like a book. Instinctively, I knew what made him a closed book now had to do with the death of his wife and career. But my gut also told me there was more to the story than a tragic car accident that ended with her dead.
“I don’t even know where to start.”
“How about from the beginning?”
He blew out a breath and nodded once. “Right.” He paused and then it was as though he mentally took a step off the cliff. “You know about the car accident.”
“I think the whole world knows about the car accident. And your subsequent release from your contract.”
A muscle in his cheek ticked as he held my gaze. “Yeah, what they don’t know is the truth.”
