The Replacement Girlfriend

Chapter 56

56. Darkest Sin

            It was an illness. He had some kind of illness – that, Chase was sure of. Otherwise why would every fibre of muscle inside his body go limp when he heard her say the words? He felt a bit dizzy, and a bit silly, and a bit angry, and a bit giddy, and he wasn’t sure what to do with all of that swirling inside his thumping chest. Krislynn’s expression was one filled with awkwardness and anxiety, but she waited patiently for his reply with her blushing face lowered, staring intently onto the top of her lap.

            Try as he might to think of a reasonable reply, Chase’s head was as blank as a freshly pressed white piece of paper. He looked over her, his expression probably equally as blank as his mind. “You do?” He muttered after a moment, raising one eyebrow at her like he wasn’t sure if he’d heard her correctly.

            “Mm… Mm-hmm.” She pursed her lips together and though it looked like she wanted to glance up at him to see his reaction, she was too timid to do so. She bit her lips. Her hands were shaking and seeing how nervous she was, Chase reached over and took one of her hands in his.

            “You said you wouldn’t,” he murmured. “That no matter what happens, you wouldn’t come to like me. You promised.”

            Immediately, she turned toward him and all the giddiness that was visible before were now replaced by disappointment. “Oh,” she mumbled. “I guess I… I did say that.” She paused and waited a moment before suddenly getting up on her feet, her face twisted with pain. “Sorry then. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that just now. I didn’t mean to complicate things.” Quickly, without taking another glance at him, Krislynn turned to run.

            Chase didn’t say anything. He stared at her back absentmindedly and let her go… or at least, he allowed her to go as far as she could go with his hand still holding onto hers. Airheaded as always, Krislynn only seemed to realize the chain that bounded her when she couldn’t go any further than a couple of feet. Confused, she peered back at him before Chase released a low sigh. “It doesn’t matter what you said now,” he muttered. “Just sit down. I’m not done with you yet.”

            He could tell from one glance that he had made her completely unsure of herself, but since she couldn’t get away, she eventually sat back down beside him, making him smirk a little. Chase didn’t know why he was being such a bully to her, especially since she had openly admitted she felt the same way. Maybe it was a because he was childish and vengeful about what happened with Jace, but now that that was out of the way, and the cloudiness he was feeling before had dispersed, he wanted to talk to her seriously about what she said.

            It was odd when Chase found himself embarrassed during the rare occasions it did happen; usually his ego was big enough to crush everything else to smithereens, but today, he felt the uneasiness Krislynn must have been feeling earlier when he clenched her hand. “Do you really?” He asked again, unable to hide the smile on his face. “You’re not shitting me to get yourself out of trouble, right? Do you really have feelings for me?”

            Krislynn scowled, her eyebrows clumping together as she turned away from him angrily. “Maybe,” she spat. “I don’t know anymore.”