You're the Reason - J. Nathan Page 0,62

and went to the police academy.” He leveled me with his eyes. “I don’t have a girlfriend or wife. I don’t even have a dog. Chase is my real name. And I’ve got a lot of groveling to do to win back the reason I’m about to finally crack this case. The reason I loved getting up in the morning and attending classes I didn’t even need. The reason I still smile just thinking about our time together.”

My eyes lowered to our conjoined hands. “It’s not gonna be easy.”

“Nothing worth having ever is.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Valerie and I sat at a table in the dining hall. Her normally styled hair, though concealed by the hood of her dark hoodie, hadn’t been washed in days, and dark circles plagued her eyes.

“Val, you need to eat,” I said.

She shook her head, sitting across from me with crossed arms, staring off into space.

“This isn’t healthy.”

She said nothing.

“Hey, Val,” Tina said as she passed by our table.

Valerie didn’t acknowledge her roommate as she continued to stare off into space.

Tina glanced to me with worried eyes, knowing as I did, that Val had been skipping all her classes for days.

I shrugged, the only answer I could give her, then looked back to my friend. “Do you think you’d like to go to health services?”

Valerie’s eyes flashed to mine.

“They have counselors you could talk to. It wouldn’t hurt.”

She cocked her head, her eyes pleading with me not to treat her like some fragile little flower.

I held up my hands in surrender. “It was just a thought.” She’d been through a lot. Talking to someone could help her.

I walked her back to her room a little while later, making sure Tina was there. I knew better than to leave her alone. So did Tina at this point.

I returned to my room and finished my Art History essay in record time.

My phone buzzed. I checked the screen, not recognizing the number. “Hello?”

“Is this Sophia?” Chase asked.

My nose wrinkled at his question. “Yes.”

“Hey, this is Chase Shaw,” he said. “I got your number from this other guy Chase I used to know.”

I stifled a grin, understanding what he was doing. “Oh yeah?” I lay back on my bed. “And what did this other Chase say that made you call me?”

“Well…he said you were a hell of a soccer and pool player.”

“Go on.”

“And you like football which is fucking hot.”

I chuckled.

“He did mention that you have this list of things you hope to accomplish before you graduate college.”

“I do.”

“I was thinking…maybe you need someone to help you with some of those things.”

I closed my eyes, feeling like a tween again when the boy I liked smiled at me. “I may.”

“Anything in particular I may be an expert at?”

“I’ve still yet to dye my hair blonde.”

“Not quite what I was thinking.”

I laughed. “Hmmm. I’m gonna have to think about it,” I said. “I mean, I don’t really know you.” I wasn’t lying.

“I’m actually a really nice guy,” he assured me, keeping up the charade.

“Says who?”

“Well…my mom, for one.”

I laughed, thinking back to the cute picture of him and his parents in his room at the frat. “An unbiased source.”

“Oh, my mom is as unbiased as they come. Maybe I could introduce the two of you sometime.”

My heart flipped over in my chest. Did he really want us to meet? Was he trying to prove this thing between us—or at least what could be between us—was still important to him? But the bigger question was…could I forgive him and move past the deception? Could we really just pick up where Chase Reed and I left off? “We’ll have to see how our first date goes.”

“So, you’re saying I can take you out?” he asked.

“You know where to find me.”

His laughter carried through the phone, and one of the cracked pieces of my heart slipped back into place. I disconnected the call, cutting off his laughter before I did something foolish like invite him over.

My priority was Valerie. And she needed me.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

I was jerked awake by banging on my door Sunday night. I jolted up, my eyes shooting around my pitch-black room. Had I been dreaming?

The banging started up again.

I slipped out of bed and opened the door.

Tina stood there. “Valerie’s gone.”

“What do you mean gone?”

“She went to sleep when I did, but now her bed’s empty,” Tina said, on the verge of tears.

“Okay. Let me think. Did you check with the other girls?”

She nodded. “No one’s seen her.”

“Chantel?”

“I can’t find her.”

“Text her.”

She nodded.

I