13. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

Susie

NoOneCanOwensUs is in sixth place in my fantasy league. A win this week is a must if I want to make the playoffs this season.

I should be writing, but instead, I’m sitting cross-legged on the couch, eating popcorn, with ESPN playing in the background, catching up on stats, and getting my lineup for the week together.

Fantasy football is usually the ultimate distraction. This year, it’s just another thing that feels like a chore, and my record reflects that.

A handful of popcorn stops midstream as a notification pops on my screen. For a moment, I’m frozen before my heart starts to thump its way around my body.

Dropping the popcorn back in the bowl, I grab my drink and take a big gulp.

I open the Blitz Brigade app with shaking hands, nearly falling off the couch when I read Chase’s message.

PullTheLine: Do you still want to meet up? PullTheLine: I’d like to meet up.

It’s been a full thirty-six hours of silence since I asked Chase if he wanted to meet up. Emotions vibrate through my body.

Heat fills me, and I pick up my drink, finishing it in one fell swoop. It doesn’t rid me of the cotton that’s taken up residence in my mouth.

Do I still want to meet up?

I rub my palm down my pant leg and take a deep breath. Instead of the excitement I thought I would feel at his response, a chill runs through me as anxiety takes hold.

“Meeting up is what I want, right?” Still staring at the screen, unable to drag my eyes away, indecision takes my thoughts prisoner.

Setting the phone upside down on the coffee table, I return to my popcorn and the talking heads on ESPN.

I pop a popped kernel in my mouth and mindlessly chew. I watch the commentators’ mouths move, and images scroll across the screen, but I can’t hear anything except the loud pounding in my ears.

Pushing off the couch, I take a deep breath and head to my desk, grabbing some paper and a pen. I drop into my desk chair and start to draw a line across the top and one through the center.

Reasons why I should or shouldn’t meet Chase.

Reasons To Meet Chase: Confirm he’s real. See if there’s any chemistry in real life. Because I want to.

Reasons Not To Meet Chase: He could be a serial killer pretending to be a sports fanatic.

A high-pitched, unhinged laugh escapes me. It’s official, I’ve lost my mind.

Running a hand through my hair, I stand up to pace the living room.

I’m struggling to write my next best-selling novel. My best friend and my brother are now ‘fake’ dating, and I’m pining after two men—one very real and one possibly a complete fake.

Everything in my life is currently drama-filled. I feel like the main character in my romance novel.

Would he want to meet up if he wasn’t real?

“If he wanted to kill you, sure,” I say to no one, lifting up one shoulder to my ear. “I mean, that’s what serial killers do, right? Arrange clandestine meetings with unsuspecting victims…”

Wait a second! When did I step out of a romance novel and into a horror book?

J Anthony would find this quite humorous, especially since one of his ideas was to have my happily married couple tortured in one of his books—a type of crossover idea.

I would never do that, of course. I can’t even imagine something so sinister happening to my characters! Just the thought of it gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Bruno Mars’ Just The Way You Are blasts from the phone, dragging me from my morbid thoughts. I plop onto the couch, answering the phone.

“Brie, he. Said. What should I do?” I rub my hand up and down my face.

“For one, you could try speaking English.” Brie chuckles. “Want to try that again, please?”

“Chase,” I push from my dry mouth, stomach whirling. “He said he wants to meet up.”

“Isn’t that what you want?” I sit chewing on my fingernail, but I'm not sure how to respond. Confusion is teeming over me in waves. I have no clue what I want. “I think you should.”

The phone falls with a thud, and my mouth drops to the floor.

“Susie?” Brie, calling my name, snaps me from the shock filling me. “Are you still there?”

“I’m sorry, but I think I heard you say I should meet up with him?” Disbelief floods my voice, and I stare at the name on the screen, making sure it is indeed Brie calling. Because the person suggesting that I take a risk and meet some strange guy from the internet does not sound like my play-it-safe best friend. “What if he’s a serial killer pretending to be a sports fanatic?!”

“Come on! A serial killer wouldn’t live in Pleasant Hollow!” It’s Brie. Only she would think that crime never happens in small towns—especially our small town. I won’t tell her about the true crime series featuring small towns and horrible murders. “What do you have to lose? Live a little!”

My eyes nearly pop out of my head. The fact that Brie is saying all of this has my entire world reeling. “What has my brother done to you? You haven’t even been fake dating for a week, and you’re completely corrupted. First, we don’t know that he lives in Pleasant Hollow; second, that statement is untrue. Serial killers live everywhere!”

“How do you know it’s not from reading your books?” Her laughter rings through the phone, skipping over my small-town serial killer comment, and I’m rendered completely speechless. She has me there. How many times have I had my main characters meet and immediately fall in love? Every reader and author knows that Insta-Love is an extremely popular trope. “It wouldn’t be the first time strangers met and fell in love.”

What parallel universe am I living in, where Brie encourages me to do something daring, and I’m the one hesitating?

“You know what to do,” she continues like she’s an expert. “Meet somewhere public and make sure that someone knows where you are.”

“I’m finding it ironic that we’re in this position—” A snort escapes me, and a rumble moves through my body. I’m overcome with a bout of hysteria. Before I know it, I’m doubled over, laughing at this entire situation. “You…me…how?”

Brie joins in, and I laugh even harder. I wipe my eyes and take a deep breath, just as Brie does. The laughter starts all over again, and I grab hold of my stomach.

After a few minutes of this I pull myself together.

“Suse,” Brie’s voice still has a chuckle, but it’s also serious. “Do this. Who knows, you just may meet the man of your dreams. Again, I’ll ask…what do you have to lose?”

I suck in a deep breath and slowly blow it out. She’s right! What do I have to lose?

“Okay. I’m gonna do it!” I say, rubbing my hands together.

“You are?” She sounds surprised. Why does she sound surprised? “I mean, yay. You are!”

“Are you sure?” I rub the side of my neck. “You don’t sound so sure. Do you really think I should do this?”

“I do! I surprised myself for a second.” She chuckles. “We both know this is really out of character for me. I’m not the daring one…you are!”

“Okay. I’ll do it!” Before I can second-guess myself, I open Chase’s message and respond.

NotJOsSis: Sure. I’d like that. smiley face emoji

“Oh. My. Gosh! He’s typing back.” My heart is racing, and my palms are sweating. “Brie, what do I do?”

“How about you take a deep breath and see what he says?” That sounds logical. I swallow hard past the lump in my throat as I watch the three dots move. My heart is hammering against my ribcage, and a swarm of butterflies is trying to make its way up my chest.

My stomach feels like a volcano, ready to erupt.

“Well?” Brie asks anxiously.

“Nothing yet. He’s still typing.” Seconds feel like minutes, and minutes feel like hours. Finally, his response pops up.

PullTheLine: Really? Great. Are you available Saturday? We can meet at Thanks-A-Latte.

My eyebrows shoot to my hairline.

Maybe he does live in Pleasant Hollow? Nah. I’d know him if he lived in town.

“He wants to know if I’m available to meet up Saturday.” My voice sounds breathless even to my ears. “What do I say?”

“Say YES!” Brie yells, her voice filled with excitement.

“Okay, I’m saying yes. But if I die, I’ll come back to haunt you and Josh in Mavs gear.” A smirk crosses my face as I message Chase that Saturday works.

NotJOsSis: Saturday at Thanks-A-Latte it is.

“Why would you haunt Josh too?” Brie questions.

“Because after the two of you get married, you’ll be living in the same house,” I rush out before all but hanging up on her. “Gotta go. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Hey! Josh and I—”

I roll my eyes and laugh at Brie’s protest, and feel the tension gripping my shoulders leave. Brie will be my sister-in-law. She just doesn’t realize it yet.

I lean back against the couch as the corner of my lips lift.

NotJOsSis: I’ll be sitting in the back corner booth along the front of the shop wearing a Mavs hat.

PullTheLine: The back corner booth.

NotJOsSis: Along the front of the shop.

PullTheLine: With a Mavs hat on. PullTheLine: Got it! PullTheLine: See you then, Amelia. smiley face emoji PullTheLine: Good night.

NotJOsSis: Night.

The slight lift of my lips spreads into a full grin, and my heart does a little leap right before panic grips it.

Please don’t let him be a serial killer.