Chase had killed someone to protect me. Protect his family.
There was a different ambiance that lingered in the Winters home now. Travis shut himself off from those who cared. He was unrecognizable to me. Every time I saw him, I prayed for just a glimpse of that boyish charm I loved. Just a hint at one of those dimples that made his smile so addicting. I missed my video game partner.
Mostly, I missed my friend.
But I didn’t know how to bridge the giant gap that separated us.
Without Chase and Lexi, I don’t think I would have been able to move forward. I knew that I was the lucky one. I still had the person I loved more than anyone. It was a bittersweet revelation. Yet still I couldn’t help but feel sorrow even after what Eric put me through, or what his plans for me and the rest of us might have been. It still didn’t make what happened any easier to digest.
The days following the death of Eric were hard on everyone in their own way. Emma was MIA, which was expected to Travis’s dismal. It didn’t matter how much he blew her phone up, she had once again fallen off the map. Travis mopped around. He went through the motions of day-to-day life, but he wasn’t really living. He didn’t eat. He didn’t sleep. And more than not, his eyes sparked yellow. The demon inside was breaking to the surface more and more.
That scared me.
Chase might not have said it out loud, but he was worried about Travis. Seriously worried. They all were. Devin, especially.
Me…well I was doing my best to pretend it never happened. Yeah, I was totally going through a denial faze. That and I was biting my nails in nervousness, waiting for the police to rap on my door and accuse me of murder. Chase assured me that everything had been taken care of, but it was hard to believe that we would get away with killing a man.
My mom picked up on my odd behavior – on everyone’s. Devin knew what had really gone down, but my mom thought it was a tragic hunting accident. Ironic. Hunting had definitely been involved except the target hadn’t been Bambi, and I wouldn’t have called it an accident either.
Oh well. It was better this way for her. Better that she not know the real horrors that roamed the earth, better off left in the dark. The less she knew the safer she was.
As much as I tried to resume my life as normal, forget what we’d been a part of or the hand I played in a man’s death, my mom could see right through me. She knew something was weighing on my mind, that my smiles were fake. Regardless, it didn’t stop me from trying to keep on pretending.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay home tonight?” Mom asked for like the gazillionth time. She was concerned about me, probably with good reason. Today was one of my off days. I just couldn’t shake this ominous feeling.
I gave her one of those false smiles that didn’t reach my eyes. “Chase is coming over. Go. Have fun with Devin. You deserve it.” I knew she would feel better knowing I wasn’t going to be alone.
She slipped on a pair of heels and smoothed a hand over her caramel hair. “Behave yourselves.” Her blue eyes twinkled behind the concern.
From the couch, I snorted. “I think maybe I should be saying that to you. Trust me. There won’t me be much going on around here.”
Her heels clicked on the floor as she strolled across the room. “I’m just saying…I know how hard it is to resist a magnificent butt.”
“Mom,” I groaned. Some things never change. Like mom always saying inappropriate stuff. Little did she know that it actually made me feel a little better. It was the small things that could make a world of difference.
She opened the front door just as Chase was about to knock. He gave my mom a dazzling grin. “Hey Ms. Morgan.”
“Chloe, call me Chloe. Anything else makes me feel old.” Turning in the doorway, she winked at me. “Behave.”
I rolled my eyes and watched her shut the door.
My mom was impossible, and the absolute best. I couldn’t imagine life without her in it. Thinking about Emma, I knew that she and her dad didn’t have the normal father-daughter relationship, yet he still had been important to her. She still loved him even though she realized how messed in the head he was.
Chase raised a brow. “What was that all about?” There was still a shadow of guilt lurking behind his silver eyes. It saddened my heart to see it lingering.
“My mom has it in her head that I need to get laid or something,” I explained, scooting my legs up to make space for him on the couch.
“Your mom is seriously amazing,” he replied, the corner of his turned up.
Chase’s deep voice wove itself into my chest and my stomached squirmed. I smacked him on the chest as he sat down beside me on the zebra print couch. “I didn’t have the heart to tell her that my boyfriend is a tease.”
Stretching out my legs across his lap, he gave me a cheshire grin. “Can I help it if I am irresistible and you just can’t keep your hands off me?”