“Hey,” he greeted, his voice like velvet.
She pulled out her earbuds. “What are you doing?” she asked, grinning.
“I missed you, and I needed to do this.” He pressed his lips against hers. She sighed into the kiss and into his embrace.
Inside she was blooming with happiness. The kind of happiness she had never felt before. This was the first time she had actually felt like she belonged. Everything here felt right. She could live in this moment, basking in Travis’s kiss forever.
It ended far too quickly. The noise from the halls returned to full force. Interlocking their fingers, she gazed into his sea-green eyes.
He smiled down at her glowing face. “So how do your parents really feel about us?” He asked his hand warm in hers.
She shrugged her shoulders smiling gently. “It went better than I imagined. I guess maybe I didn’t give them enough credit.”
“So does that mean I can take you out on a real date?”
Her grin spread. “Maybe.” He wove them into the sea of students lingering in the halls between classes. “So has Chase warmed up to the idea that I know?”
Travis snorted. “I don’t think he’ll ever warm up to any idea. This one might take him a lifetime to forgive me.”
She hated that she had caused any kind of rift between them. There had to be a way to patch it up and makes things normal again. Well as normal as they could be considering. “I’m sorry. This is all my fault. The last thing I want is to cause problems in your family.”
He tugged on her arm stopping them in the middle of the hall. Kids shuffled around them. “This isn’t your fault. I don’t want you blaming yourself. Chase and I will always have a difference of opinion. He is just so stubborn and cocky. If it wasn’t us it would be something else,” he passionately assured.
She wasn’t so sure she was convinced. Maybe there was something she could do or say to convince Chase that her knowing wasn’t the end of the world.
After her last class Emma searched Chase out. A swarm of butterflies swam in her belly. Who knew how he would react. He was like a live wire waiting to ignite. There was a small part of her that wished she wouldn’t find him…but she did.
He had a hand propped against the lockers boxing in an extremely beautiful redhead. The girl looked at him with a sultry glare, loving his attention. It was evident she was captivated by him. The same couldn’t be said for Chase.
Emma shivered. She fought the need to flee. He scared the daylights out of her. She was at a lost for what the redhead saw in him. Sure he was gorgeous if you are into egotistical assholes, but under the surface, those silver eyes were hard as steel and looked just as ruthless.
Coming up behind him, she cleared her throat. The redhead stared her down and looked ready to rip off her head. Suddenly she was thinking this was a very bad idea.
Chase slowly turned around seeing the flames flare in Sierra’s amber eyes. She didn’t look pleased, not that he cared. He was getting tired of her always throwing herself at him.
It was embarrassing.
He hadn’t expected to fall upon a large pair of doe green eyes that looked ready to dart. Lifting a brow, he waited for her to say something.
Emma swallowed the lump in her throat blocking her speech. She would have to freeze up now and end up looking like a complete imbecile. Taking a deep breath, she ignored the stink eyes from the redhead. “Can I talk to you? Alone,” she added. She didn’t want to say what she had come to say in front an audience, especially one that looked like she wanted to stab her.
“Beat it Sierra.” He didn’t even turn her way.
What an ass.
Now her nerves were shot. He gave her a look of boredom as he leaned his back on the lockers in a lazy pose. “I – I just wanted you to know that I am not going to tell anyone about–”
“And why should I trust anything you say?” he interrupted, crossing his arms over his chest.
Oh man. He wasn’t going to make this easy. “Because I care about Travis, and I know you do too. I would never do anything to hurt him.”
He studied the dainty girl who had the gall to approach him when it was obvious she was scared shitless. Had to give her credit for that, he might be leery of people by nature but something in her mossy eyes told him she was sincere.
She would keep their secret, maybe even protect it. Well at least Travis he was certain He hoped he wouldn’t regret this. “Surprisingly I do believe you.”
She was stunned. The argument she had ready was rendered useless. “Oh…good,” she replied, slightly feeling puzzled. “I don’t want to get in-between your relationship.”
He smirked, reminding Emma of a predator. “Rest assured I won’t disown him just yet.”
This whole conversation was more than she had hoped for. It made her cautious and had been far too easy. And if there was one thing she was certain, nothing with Chase was easy. “Okay. Can we keep this between us?”