easy.”
“Try me,” I said.
“I want to. But I can’t.”
“Sounds like the line you fed Chantel.”
His brows drew in. “What line?”
“You don’t have time to date anyone. But if you did, it would be her. You talk in circles.”
He rolled his eyes.
“Don’t roll your eyes. Those words are what keep her coming back to you. That or the sex.”
He burst out laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“Order three!” the guy from the food truck called, interrupting our discussion.
Chase stood and walked over to the truck. I took that moment to release the breath I’d unknowingly been holding. What the hell was going on? He liked me? He doesn’t want to, but he does? What world was he living in? What world was I living in?
He returned with our food, placing mine in front of me as he sat back down across from me.
We ate in silence for a bit, the crash of the waves the soundtrack to our meal.
He wiped his mouth with his napkin. “Why’d you choose Maine?”
“I wanted to get away from Texas.”
His eyes drifted toward the water as if he were considering my answer. “You mean you wanted to get away from a guy?”
Though he wasn’t looking at me, I shook my head. “I tore my ACL playing soccer my senior year in high school.”
He looked back to me, surprise filling his eyes.
“I had a scholarship to play D1 soccer at the University of Texas that went out the window once I got hurt.”
“That sucks.”
I shrugged, not looking for sympathy. “I just got sick of all the looks of pity around town, so I made the decision to get far away. To try to forget the dream I lost. To start over.”
“So, what happened that you’re back?”
“It snowed. A lot.”
He smiled. “Why aren’t you playing soccer now? Crestwood has a team.”
“I’m just not into it anymore.”
“Sounds like BS.”
“Excuse me?”
“I seem to recall you telling me you don’t back down from a challenge. When you’re pushed, you always push back.”
I chewed on my bottom lip, hating to have my own words thrown in my face. “Maybe I don’t want to admit I’ll never be as good as I once was.” Wow. I’d never actually admitted that out loud. Why of all people had I admitted it to Chase? “Why’d you choose Washington?” I asked, desperately needing to swing the conversation from me.
“How’d you know I transferred from Washington?”
“It’s a small school. Doesn’t everyone know everyone else’s business?”
He shrugged, neither confirming nor denying. “I guess I just wanted to see other places.”
“But now you’re back?”
“I was needed back home.”
“Your family needed you?” I asked.
“Something like that.”
“Is home Houston?”
He nodded.
“I’m surprised you’re in a frat.”
“Why?”
“Just doesn’t seem like your scene,” I said.
“How do you know?”
I cocked my head. “You have to talk and be nice to people when you’re in a frat.”
He laughed, and the raspy sound was slowly becoming familiar to me.
I grabbed a fry and said, “Can I ask you something?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“No.” I said, eating the fry.
He nodded.
“Did you ever meet Sydney Lane?”
Something unrecognizable flashed in his eyes. It was like the mention of her name put everyone at Crestwood on edge. He shook his head. “Why?”
“Her mom was on campus the other day.”
His head flinched back. “She was?”
I nodded. “She was so sad.”
“You spoke to her?”
“I could see she needed to talk to someone.”
“Jesus Christ,” he mumbled, as his eyes drifted out to the ocean.
“Chantel wasn’t happy when she saw us together.”
His eyes shot back to mine. “She saw you with Sydney Lane’s mom?”
“She thought I already knew her.”
“What’d Chantel say?” he asked, suddenly very interested.
“Just that Sydney’s family was to blame for the sorority being closed.”
“Sounds like Chantel,” he said.
“Did she ever show any kind of sadness after it happened—you did hang out last year, right?”
He nodded. “Chantel’s hard to read. Her emotions always contradict themselves.” He lifted his chin toward my empty plate. “You done?”
My lips twisted regrettably, knowing that was his way of ending yet another conversation. “Yup.”
He grabbed our plates and tossed them into a nearby garbage can. I followed him to the car. He pulled open the passenger door for me.
“Thanks,” I said, slipping past him and into my seat.
He closed my door and made his way into the driver’s seat. As soon as the car roared to life, he turned up the music and drove us back to campus. The volume left no room for conversation. And that was fine by me. The whole day had taken me by complete surprise, and