Blitz (Blast Brothers #3) - Sabrina Stark Page 0,96

in the first place?

Chapter 64

Mina

On the phone, Chase said, "I'll tell you why. I thought she was you."

It was just before dawn, and fifteen minutes ago, I'd sent Chase a text asking if he was still awake. And when he'd replied that he was, I'd called him almost immediately to ask what had happened.

As I listened, he'd explained that after he'd dropped me off at my parents' place, he'd gone not to his condo, but straight to his office in order to change vehicles and sort through some paperwork.

While up in his office, he'd glanced out the window and spotted my car parked along the same street where I used to park, back in the beginning, before Chase had gotten me an assigned spot in his underground parking garage.

Because he hadn't realized that I'd been loaning my car to my sister, he'd assumed that I was the one driving it, so he'd walked over to investigate.

Listening, I could only imagine what he thought he was investigating. But I was touched just the same when he explained that he'd arrived just in time to see my sister getting jumped from behind by – in Chase's words – some drunken barfly.

I asked, "But how'd you know she was drunk?"

"She smelled drunk," he said. "Acted it, too." He went on to explain that the woman had slugged him after he'd pulled her away from my sister.

Earlier, at the kitchen table, my sister had said pretty much the same thing – except she'd gone on to explain that the woman's two companions had joined in the fight.

On the phone, I asked, "But what about the two guys? I heard they jumped you."

"Eh, they tried," he said. "But they were drunk off their asses. Trust me. It wasn't a big deal."

He was wrong. It was a big deal. A very big deal. Maybe Chase didn’t see it that way. But I did. And so did my family.

I asked, "And the woman?"

"She was just as drunk," he said. "But I couldn’t exactly hit her back, could I?" His tone grew speculative. "Now, if you were there…"

"What do you mean if I were there?"

"I mean," he teased, "you could have totally kicked her ass."

In spite of everything, I laughed. "Seriously?"

"Hell no," he said. "I wouldn't have let you near that psycho. And the same goes for your sister."

Hearing this, I was beyond touched and more than a little ashamed, especially when I recalled all of my uncharitable thoughts when I'd seen Chase's car pulling into my parents' driveway.

Softly, I asked, "But what about the blood on your shirt?"

"Like I said earlier, it wasn't mine."

"So whose was it?"

"One of the guys," he said. "I think I broke his nose."

"But you don't know for sure?"

"Nah. When they ran off, I figured the most important thing was getting your sister home."

And he had. In fact, he'd driven Natalie himself rather than letting her drive home alone when she was obviously upset. As far as my car being left behind, I figured that was a problem for tomorrow – or today, considering that the sun would be rising soon.

Still, there was something I didn't understand. "But how'd you know she was my sister? Did she tell you?"

"She didn't have to tell me," he said. "She was driving your car. And I recognized her from the pictures."

I wasn't following. "Which pictures?"

"Those festival pictures," he said. "The ones you showed me during your sales pitch."

I smiled. Already, that seemed a lifetime ago. And yet, during the whole time we'd been together, Chase had never met my parents except for tonight, unless I counted the time they'd caught us making out along the roadside.

But all of this was my doing, not his. For weeks now, my mom had been urging me to invite him to dinner.

And even though I appreciated her efforts, I'd been putting it off – partially because I'd seen the friction between Chase and my dad, and also because, well, to be honest, I didn't think that Chase and I would be together long enough to justify such a thing.

This, too, was making me feel just a little ashamed. No wonder there was so much friction. I'd done nothing to make it better.

On the upside, I knew one thing for sure. My dad wasn't feeling quite so hostile to Chase now. With this in mind, I asked, "So when you drove Natalie home, why didn't you stick around?"

"Because it seemed like a family thing," he said. "I figured you'd want to