Page 27 of Chasing Lyric
“So, you and Rip, huh? You guys competitive with each other?” I ask, trying to work something out.
His face is blank, like he’s completely in the dark. “Rip and me? No, not at all. Why would you think that?”
I shrug. “I have a theory.”
He rolls his shoulders. “Okay, detective. Hit me.”
Bringing my hands together, cracking my knuckles, I sit taller in the seat. “You and Rip… you had a thing for the same girl. You liked her first, then she met Rip, and he took your girl. Or, you met at the same time, but he won her over you?”
His eyes widen like he’s having a heart attack at the thought, then he glares at me. “Fuck! What?Hell no. Why would you think that?”
“You were weird when Rip asked for my number. There’s history. With you two, and a girl, maybe? I just figured that’s why the weirdness.”
He bursts out laughing, making me rethink the situation.
Have I read it completely wrong?
“Oh, Starlight, you don’t know how to read me at all. Do you?”
I grimace.I really don’t.“So no girl thing?”
“No! No way. No… fucking… way. The women Rip likes are… not my type.” His body physically shudders as if the thought repulses him.
I rack my brain, trying to figure out what the hell was going on between them. “Then why all the weirdness? The attitude when I gave Rip my number?”
He glances at me sideways like he’s trying to decide how to play this. “I think you’re funny. I think you’re intelligent. I think you have no damn filter, and I like that about you. I think you’re gorgeous. But that’s not important, Lyri. Rip was able to get something I want without having to work for it. I know you and he aren’t going to be talking to each other romantically, inanyway, but it stung when he got what I want so badly, so easily, especially when I know I’m going to have to work my ass off for it.”
I sit, stunned.
Chase, Hallmark, with the face and body of a damn god, wantsmynumber.
“But why? I’ve been nothing but all over the place with you.”
“I know, that’s only ’cause you want me,” he quips, then smirks.
I roll my eyes. “There you go, Hallmark. Making yourself out to be an asshole again.”
He turns to me briefly before glancing back to the road. “I’m enjoying our day, Lyri. I think our Rip encounter means something. I didn’t intend to go on a drive with anyone to theValley today, but seeing Rip has put some things into perspective for me.”
I sit back, taking in his pristine suit. The way his strong hands grip the steering wheel.
What would those hands feel like against my skin?
Jesus, Lyri, get a grip and focus on the conversation.
“Oh yeah, like what?”
“I work too much.”
I purse my lips. “In themysteriousfamily business.”
“Yeah… I need to get out more. Spend time with people I care about.”
“People like Rip?”
His eyes meet mine. “Him, and to take a chance on new people, too.” He winks at me.
My insides shake, seeing him so in control of himself. He knows what he wants, and he’s going for it. I just wish I knew what life was throwing my way.
