Then the words land and a noise escapes my throat. “Huh?”
“Yeah,” Dylan says. “I can see it.”
My heart is thudding too hard, too fast. This isn’t a blindside tackle I didn’t see coming. It’s being hit so hard I can’t tell which way the field’s facing anymore. “You think she loves me?”
Flic shrugs. “I don’t know how she’s feeling right now, but…”
“But what?” I press.
“There was a New Year’s Eve party years ago, after you got drafted to the Trailblazers. I was in the back by the restrooms, and I could see Serena crying. I asked her friend if she was all right. The friend clearly didn’t know I knew Serena or you, because she let slip that she’d just had her heart broken by the best friend she’d been in love with since she was sixteen.”
“And you’ve kept this to yourself all this time?” I blurt out, mind still scrambling.
“Hey, there’s a code at the bar,” Flic fires back.
“What goes on in the back of the bar stays in the bar,” Izzy adds, laughing as Dylan groans beside her and the pair share a private look that at any other time would have me teasing them to get a room. But right now, my head is spinning way too fast.
“She never told me…” I trail off. Because in the back of my mind a memory surfaces. It’s beer-hazy, the shouts of “Happy New Year” ringing out. Serena beside me. Then her lips on mine. The surprise. The heat. I told myself it was a drunken moment. One neither of us would remember and I refused to let myself think about since.
“Just because she was in love with me before, doesn’t mean she is now. We’re different now. We want different things, remember?” I look from one face to another. “What do I do?”
Dylan rolls his eyes. “Tough break, man. A gorgeous, smart woman might be in love with you and actually thinks you’re funny. That’s a real hard choice.”
“But it’s Serena,” I say helplessly.
Mama steps over and wraps her arms around me in a hug. “Only you know the answer, Chase.”
That’s when my phone buzzes. Serena’s name lights up the screen, and my pulse kicks up. Relief and longing, and something that feels dangerously close to hope, pushes to the surface. That damn voice is still in my head, telling me it can’t last. And I still don’t know—don’t believe—I’m the man Serena wants, needs, or deserves, but I’m done fighting these feelings and how much I want her.
“Chase—”
“I was just thinking about you,” I say, trying for lightness, but my voice comes out rough.
“Can you come over?”
“Sure. How about coffee and donuts tomorrow morning?”
“Right now?”
That’s when I hear the quiver in her voice. The fear wrapped in those two words. My whole body goes tight.
“What’s wrong?” I’m already moving.
“Ryan’s outside my apartment,” she whispers. “I think he’s trying to break the door down.”
“I’m on my way.” I grab the first keys I see. “Borrowing your truck, Dyl. I’ll bring it back later.”
In one second, the world narrows. I don’t think about the Stormhawks or the loss or the swirling mess in my head. I don’t think about my game or my future or the bombshell Flic just dropped. There is only Serena. I start Dylan’s truck with a roar of engine and power and drive fast. Protecting Serena is all that matters.
TWENTY
SERENA
CHASE:I’m on the fire escape. Open the window.
I’m gripping my phone when Chase’s message lands. My breath catches. Relief rushes in. I unlock my bathroom door, and lunge for the window, fingers fumbling the latch. It’s stiff and takes me a moment, but then thewindow is open and there is Chase, all broad shoulders and stormy eyes, crouched on the fire escape like a knight who took a wrong turn at a fairytale castle. All the fear leaves me in a whoosh, and my legs go soft with the rush of adrenaline and safety.
Chase is here.