13. Three is a Crowd
Jace’s eyes glittered like 500,000 watt light-bulbs---that was the first time Krislynn realized that. With just a white dress shirt, a navy vest much too big, brown pants a size too short and bright red socks pulled way too high and peeking out, Jace looked insanely adorable.
At the sight of her, his head tilted to the side in confusion---almost unsure if he had come to the right place. “I’m looking for Seth,” he said softly as he ran a finger up the bridge of his nose to keep his glasses from falling. His eyes darted to the ground immediately after---as if the mere thought of speaking to her made him shy. “I do have the right house, don’t I?”
Krislynn’s heart, which she thought she had completely lost a moment before, pounded violently inside her chest. It was like she was skydiving from out of space and each second longer she stood in front of this magnificent creature, her heartbeat increased. Suddenly feeling rather conscious of her attire, Krislynn straightened the hem of her shirt and nodded. “He’s just inside.”
“Oh.” Jace smiled nervously. “And um... sorry, you are?”
“I’m Krislynn Reimer. I’m Chase’s new gir–” Krislynn stopped halfway and let the syllables trail off her tongue before picking herself up. “Friend,” she corrected. “I’m Chase’s new friend.”
“I’m Jace,” he said politely as he held out his hand. “It’s an absolute pleasure to meet you.”
Smiling, Krislynn slid her hand into his, and felt an immediate shockwave flash down her spine. His hand was unbelievably small, almost as tiny as hers, but it was definitely softer by a long ways. Suddenly overwhelmed by the desire to embrace him in her arms and squeeze him until he couldn’t breathe, Krislynn backed away and let him inside the house.
“Since you’re here, is Chase here as well?” He asked, but Krislynn didn’t need to answer his question because Chase showed up at the mention of his whereabouts.
“Hey Jay,” he muttered sluggishly while Seth followed loyally behind him. “What’s up man?”
Jace’s face brightened when he saw Chase. “Oh hey! What happened last week? You just disappeared after delivering that present to LaCienega for me. I didn’t even get a chance to buy you dinner to thank you. She said she enjoyed your company.”
Chase’s entire body stiffened as he forced out a shrug. “Yeah. Well. Don’t worry about it.” His gaze lowered as he stuffed his hands inside his pockets. He hadn’t realized how guilty he felt for sleeping with LaCienega until this very moment---face to face with the man he had been friends with since he was a tiny babe.
“He had some business down in Mexico and just came back today,” Seth offered as he steered Jace towards the dining room. “Anyways, we’re almost about to sit down for dinner. Why don’t you stay?”
“Are you sure?” Jace asked uncertainly. “I’d hate to intrude, but LaCienega is out with her parents tonight and I’m actually starving.”
“Yeah, it’s all good. I’ll just tell Michelle to set another seating. Whatever.”
Sighing, Chase reluctantly turned to follow his best friends when Krislynn’s abrupt singing caught him completely off guard. “I’m walking on sunshine,” she sung as she skipped passed him, “wo-o-oah. I’m walking on sunshine, wo-oo-oah.”
“What the hell are you on?” He snarled as he latched onto the back of her shirt to stop her from moving ahead of him. Her cheery skipping came to a halt as she spun around to confront him with a dark glare---so much for wanting some of her happiness to rub off on him.
“Nothing,” she snapped defensively. “I’m just happy! Can’t I be happy?”
“No, you can’t,” he said stubbornly, irritated that she always made such annoying expressions at him and even more pissed off that she didn’t want to share her thoughts with him. “That’s illegal here.”
“Piss off Chase,” she hissed as she wedged herself loose from his grasp. “I was just singing. Why do you have to be such an asshole to me all the time?”
Without another word, she stomped off leaving Chase with an odd knot in his chest. He had no idea what just happened or why she was so upset with him. He didn’t necessarily mind being called an asshole when he was actually being one, but this time, he was frankly only trying to start a conversation with her. Was that so wrong?
Irritated that she had snapped at him for no apparent reasons, Chase joined the rest of them in the dining room as he mused over her odd behaviour. At first there didn’t seem to be an explanation for her sudden over-cheerfulness, but by the middle of dinner, the reason was as obvious as a sore thumb.
Krislynn had the hots for Jace. Jace of all people!
Chase was so livid; he could barely swallow down his dinner. All the guilt he had been compressing inside up until now evaporated as he watched Krislynn flirt shamelessly with his best friend. What was it with Jace trying to outdo him with every girl he came across? First, he shows up with the hottest fiancée imaginable and now he was trying to steal his rebound girl?!
“Sometimes I just want to tape my glasses to my face,” he was saying. “They always slide down my nose and it’s so unbearably annoying sometimes. I wish I didn’t have to wear these dreadful things.”
Krislynn, who was inappropriately seated between Chase and Jace, shook her head frantically. “No way,” she gasped. “I think you look adorable with glasses on!” Embarrassed by her own blunt honesty, Krislynn covered her mouth with her hands as Jace’s face went tomato red.
“R-r-r-really?”
She nodded, her cheeks reddening just ever so slightly. The two of them stared at each other curiously before they burst into a soft fit of nervous giggles---all the while oblivious to Chase’s unimpressed stare. “I look adorable in glasses too,” he muttered. “In fact, I look good in anything and everything.”
Krislynn simply ignored his comment and moved onto another topic with Jace which caused him to scowl and take an angry jab at his steak. It was one thing if she snapped at him with a smartass remark, but completely another when she degraded him to not even worthy of her time. Who the hell did she think she was?
Snickering resonated from across the table and Chase sullenly looked up to find Michelle and Seth laughing at his expense. Only a moment ago they were disregarding their guests and feeding each other like the lovesick couple they were. How convenient of them to pay attention now---when Chase absolutely didn’t need or want them to.
Smirking rather pitifully at him, the both of them shrugged before getting back to their playful antics. “Here baby boo,” Michelle purred. “Say ahh.”
Seth grinned enthusiastically before popping his mouth open. “Ahh!”
Disgusted, Chase shifted his gaze when he unexpectedly caught Krislynn’s expression as she leaned back on her chair. His heart skipped a beat at her smile and found himself enticed by the sound of her bubbly laughter. It shouldn’t have been anything special. He had heard her laugh before, seen her smile before, but not like this---not like the way she did for Jace.
He had never witnessed this particular expression of hers and an undeniable part of him wanted her to smile and laugh like that---not because of Jace, but because of him. The realization shocked him and Chase found himself trying to figure out the reasoning behind his motives once again.
After a minute of trying to comprehend with no avail, he turned his attention back to Krislynn and Jace’s conversation, hoping he could get into it and not just sit around and eat in boredom. “Wow. You’re a lawyer?” Krislynn exclaimed.
“Well, I’m still sort of an apprentice,” Jace replied timidly. “But I’m getting there.”
“Apprentice or not, that’s still impressive,” she shrieked. “What is that---like seven or eight years of schooling? I could never stay in school for that long!”
Chase snorted as he took a gulp of his beer. “Well I’m glad you stayed at least long enough to learn how to count,” he muttered.
Krislynn simply ignored him---nothing more, nothing less. “So then what do you like to do on your spare time Jace?” She asked ecstatically. “You seem like the really intelligent type. You must have some pretty interesting hobbies.”
A muscle beneath Chase’s eye twitched and in sheer resentment, he kicked Krislynn beneath the table. “Did you just completely ignore me you stupid pig?” He hissed just loud enough for her to hear.
Krislynn didn’t hesitate to kick him back before shifting her chair away from him and closer to Jace, whose ignorance to the situation deserved a noble prize all on its own. “Well I do have one or two weird hobbies,” he murmured as a soft blush rise to his cheeks. “But they aren’t very interesting and I’d much rather listen to what you like instead.”
“Aww...” Krislynn cooed with adoration. “You’re really one in a million Jace, did you know that? I’ve never had a guy tell me that before. Most of the time, they just like talking about themselves.”
“Look, I’ve seen the guys you’ve dated,” Chase muttered. “Are you sure they’re even real guys half the time? I mean, if you ask me, your last boyfriend looks more like a lab rat experiment gone wrong than a human being.”
Again, Krislynn ignored his remark. Only this time, she went as far as shifting her chair 90 degrees to her right so that her entire back faced Chase. “I know this is totally going to sound weird,” she said cheerfully, “but I like helping people.”
Chase let out a displeased snort as he raised an eyebrow at Krislynn’s direct gesture. She loved helping people and he hated it. The one time he decided to do something nice for a change, the little bitch turned her back to him during dinner at his friend’s. This is what he gets for helping people. God forbid him to ever help anyone again!
Deciding that he didn’t care, Chase returned to his dinner just to find out that he felt the exact opposite. Why should he be forced to endure this Cold Shoulder treatment from her? He paid for her to get out of Mexico! He was taking her under his roof and she was probably going to eat off of him like a parasite for at least several months! Why should he be the one to take her crap?!
Suddenly furious that she was playing such a childish game, Chase grasped the back of her chair and spun her 180 degrees to her left so that she sat face to face with him. “Excuse me Chase,” she snapped, her blue eyes all but delighted to see him. “What the hell do you think–”
Chase smirked and before she was anywhere close to finishing her sentence, he cupped her face in his hands and smothered his lips on top of hers. Almost at once, he was surprised by the velvety touch of her flesh. They were soft and fluffy beneath his own and much to his amusement, he let his lips linger just a few seconds longer than intended.
Needless to say, Krislynn’s face was a look of horrified shock when he pulled away. Her eyes gazed into his absentmindedly and her lips quivered open from their brief skin to skin contact. He could only smile at the dumbfounded girl. “Try ignoring me now Piglet.”