Chapter 5

Kailee

" Y ou have a self-esteem problem," Lorelei says, putting banana bread ingredients into the stand mixer and turning it on.

We're working an adult birthday party on someone's private farmland. A food truck that sells pub food and beer is parked across from us, and partygoers come and go, grabbing samples and food between the two trucks, some of them stopping and remarking they've never tried a marijuana edible. Lorelei hands out some business cards that advertise private parties and events like festivals and concerts, but our focus is getting food out to the ravenous partygoers. The party planner pre-paid us for all food and ingredients, so we're both working the baking aspect and not having to fuck with a cash register. The only thing we have to do by law is scan the ID of anyone wanting something from the truck and make sure we only serve them a full-sized dessert once or a couple of minuscule samples. It's against the law to give them more than a certain amount.

If we run afoul of the rules, Liam comes to spank Lorelei.

"That seems to be the consensus," I say. I don't look at her as I pull brownies out of the oven. Wiping my face on my apron, I set the brownies on the cooling rack and grab a bottle of water, downing it in one go. "Is it hotter than usual in here?"

Lorelei shrugs. "It's unseasonably warm out. I'll open the back door. Don't think you're going to change the subject on me, though. Spill. Did you go out with the shop teacher?"

I sigh and lean against the counter as I open another bottle of water. "Not yet. I was supposed to go out the night he asked me, but I got home and just wanted to curl up in pajamas and never leave again. I texted him and rescheduled. We go out next weekend."

"So, you just didn't feel like it? Isn't that a bad sign?"

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"If you like a guy, you should be chomping at the bit to see him. I know I can't wait to see Liam every night now. It's almost painful to go to work."

I make a gagging gesture and roll my eyes. "Yes. I forgot. Liam, who you hated with the fire of a thousand nuclear reactors two months ago, is now a mythological savior. He's everything you wanted in a man, and his dick tastes like powdered sugar. "

Lorelei throws a dish towel at me, and I catch it with one hand. "I'm just saying that I'd like you to find a guy you couldn't wait to be in the same room with."

"What is it with people who are newly in love? They want everyone coupled up."

"It wouldn't hurt you to get out and mingle."

"I am. I'm going out with Leo next weekend." I give her a side-eyed look. "Unless you need me to work the metal concert with you. I mean, you'll be busy. You'll need an extra set of hands."

"Nope. Not going to weasel out of a date with a nice guy. Liam can help me. Nola's offered to help now that she's feeling better and on her feet.

Nola is Liam's mother and fighting cancer. Her chemo just ended, and the doctors say she's on the upswing. She's going to make it. Nola and Lorelei were fast friends and adore each other. Part of me feels replaced because Lorelei doesn't shut up about her.

"So, if you're not avoiding the shop teacher, who are you avoiding?"

My eyes widen. Shit. I told Lorelei that my new sub job was exhausting, but it isn't because of the kids. I've been on edge all day at work since Wednesday. I can't relax, and I'm constantly watching the little piece of glass in the door, hoping to catch a glimpse of Chase walking by the room .

I also hope he comes nowhere near me. I've never wanted to see someone and not see someone at the very same time. It's an odd and unsettling feeling. I told Lorelei I was avoiding a great guy at work, and that's when I got the lecture about having low self-esteem. I was hoping she'd still think I was talking about Leo. Where is my brain?

"Is there another guy you're avoiding?" she asks.

I clear my throat and chew on the inside of my cheek like I do when I'm nervous. Unfortunately, Lorelei knows all my tells and puts her hands on her hips. "Spill, Kailee."

I close my eyes and prepare myself. She's going to lose her shit, but I need to talk to someone about this. "Do you remember that night we ran into Liam at the bar and he drove you home?"

"Oh, yeah. I also remember you giving me shit because I let him bend me over the counter and come on my asshole after spanking me with his belt." She squints at me. "What about that night?"

"You know how you left me at the bar with Liam's friend?"

Lorelei stills. Even the oscillating fan passes her face without a single blonde strand of hair moving in the breeze. "Oh, my fucking God! Did something happen with Chase?"

I clasp my hands at the back of my neck and catch my breath. Here it goes. I look away, ashamed. I have no idea why I'm ashamed, though. It could be because I didn't tell my best friend I fucked her man's best friend, or it could be the filthy things I let Chase do to my body. It could be that I enjoyed everything he gave me. "Yeah. Something happened."

"Damn it!" Lorelei yells. Her face reddens until I can hardly see the freckles across her nose.

Looking closer, she's smiling and not angry. "Are you mad or not?" I ask. "I can't tell. You're yelling, but you're grinning like the cat that ate the canary."

"I owe Liam twenty bucks. He suspects something happened, but I said you'd tell me. I'm mad about having to pay up, but I'm totally stoked that something happened with my best friend and the hero I love for saving my Liam."

I squint. "What do you mean that Liam suspected?"

"Oh, he said Chase was all kinds of shifty about the timeline of that night. He changed the subject when Liam flat-out asked if he tapped you."

"Tapped me?"

Lorelei raises her eyebrows. "Did you get tapped while I was bent over the counter?"

I sputter a laugh. "Ironically, I also got bent over the counter. I wasn't just spanked, though. I got fucked into the granite. I stayed over and then panicked in the morning. I left without saying goodbye."

"Well, that explains why he hasn't mentioned it to Liam. Why did you hurt Chase's feelings like that?"

"Wait, wait, wait." I hold up my hand in a stop motion. "We don't know that Chase's feelings were hurt. "

"Men are human, Kailee."

"I know they're human," I huff.

"They have feelings, even if they don't always put them into words."

"They also like one-night stands. Anyway, guess who walked into the teacher's lounge on Wednesday? Totally scared the shit out of me. Truth be told, it also made me excited for a few seconds. I thought that maybe, well, maybe he was looking for me to talk. Turns out, he's just filling in as a resource officer. He's a temp like me."

"Liam told me Chase was doing that, but I didn't put two and two together. Let me get this straight. You're working with Chase now. You fucked him nice and dirty, and now you need to work with him and the guy across the hall that wants to date you."

"That's the sum of it. Yes."

"I can't believe you didn't tell me any of this."

"Things were heating up with you and Liam. Chase is Liam's work partner and best friend. I didn't want it to be awkward."

"You need to dump Leo."

I shake my head in surprise like I'm clearing cobwebs from my mind. "What?"

"Don't go out with him."

"Why not? You were just advocating for the guy."

"I need you at the metal concert next weekend. "

I push myself off the counter and nail Lorelei with an angry glare. "I know you, Lorelei Rogers," I scold, shaking my finger like she's one of the third graders I regularly sub for. "You're going to tell me you need me for the concert, make me cancel the date with Leo, and a confused Liam will show up to the concert with an even more confused Chase Barnett tagging along. You'll smush us together until we can't avoid each other, and it'll be awkward as fuck. Nope. Not happening."

"Why not?" Lorelei whines. "He's amazing."

"That's the problem."

"Why?" she asks again, louder this time. A partygoer passing the truck startles, grabs a business card, and scurries away.

"I don't know what I'd do with a guy like him long term. I don't do relationships. You know that."

"Times change. We're not nineteen anymore. It's nice to have someone who has an extra set of keys when you lock your keys in the car and can save you from a locksmith charge."

"I'm so happy to hear that your relationship with Liam is so convenient," I chuckle, turning to the counter and grabbing a mixing bowl. "Allow me to drop everything for Chase Barnett and put everything on hold so I have someone to call when I lock my keys in my car. That's kind of why roadside assistance exists."

Lorelei grabs a bottle of vanilla from the cabinet before coming to my side and staring at me. Fuck, she really isn't going to let this go. "It's been six or seven weeks since that night. Can't you set aside any awkwardness from then and give the guy a chance? I could casually set you guys up and…"

Her voice trails off, but I shake my head. "I don't want us pushed together."

Lorelei hums. "But you'd be OK with it if something happened naturally?"

"He's not my type."

"He's what you need, Kailee. Stop running away. Those guys in punk bands won't be there when you're eighty. Let's not talk about the guy with the failed bungee jumping business who disappeared on you after that unfortunate lawsuit. Why can't you admit that Chase is a good choice?"

"I can. He's a great choice, I'm just…well, I'm just scared, OK? There, I said it. I'm scared that it could be real. I'm scared of guys like him. But it's a moot point because he hasn't begged for me back. I haven't even seen him since Wednesday. We're obviously avoiding each other."

"What if he just feels the same way? What if he liked your time together but thinks you don't want something?"

I walk to the minifridge and get out a serving of cannabutter that Lorelei premeasures for certain recipes. "Let me make your cookies and leave me be. If it happens, it happens. I don't need you to push us together, and I'll deal with any feelings for Officer Chase Barnett as they arise. "

Lorelei holds her hands up and walks to her mixer. "I sincerely hope the universe gives you a swift kick in the ass one of these days, Kailee."