Chapter 21

"Looking at your performance in school, you look like a promising candidate."

I couldn't help the strained smile. I'd heard it a million times. Most jobs that I applied to and got an interview for ended the same way. It was a nice way of saying no without saying no. I knew this song and dance like the back of my hand. I hated the rejection. It was ridiculous how often I dealt with this. Why put me through the whole interview process? Most times, they had their minds made up before they even talked to me. They wanted someone with experience and not someone right out of school.

"Thank you for the opportunity to interview."

The man on the other end of the line chuckled, making my stomach curdle. "No problem. We'll let you know in the next few days if we want to interview you further."

That, of course, meant that I wasn't going to hear anything. Mom had wasted everyone's time by having them bring my laptop out here. It was great to see them and it still bothered me that I had no idea what Aiden talked to Chase about, but at least Chase and I were in a different place now. He seemed less guarded. I understood why he'd been so afraid to show me where he lived. It wasn't glamorous by any means. Not that it was any better living with my parents. At least he was on his own. Where were his parents? I hadn't seen Mr. and Mrs. Dawson since I'd been back in town.

No one talked about them either.

For a town as small as Ocean Shores, that seemed weird.

After getting off my call, I laid back in bed. Max bounded into the room, followed closely by my uncle. Uncle Drew brought me a glass of iced tea and set it on the nightstand before sitting next to me on the bed.

"So what's the plan, kid?"

"What do you mean?"

His smile was wistful as he stared at the window for a moment before he leaned down to scratch his dog behind the ears.

"I just mean that you've gotten really close to Chase again. Do you plan to leave him behind?"

My heart constricted. "I'd never do that. I didn't mean to do it, to begin with."

Uncle Drew nodded. "What has he told you?"

I grabbed the tea and took a big drink, letting the cool liquid soothe my throat before I answered him. "He hasn't said a lot. We're back to hooking up, not that you want to know that, but he finally let me take him home."

My uncle smiled at that. He patted my leg before he stood and shooed the dog from the room. "That's a start. I hope he tells you everything soon, then."

That had my attention. What else was Chase hiding? I also wondered if he would finally let me explain why I hadn't come back that first summer after I left for college.

Sweat trickled down my back as I stuffed the sheets into the machine. Why the hell had I volunteered to do the bedrooms again? This felt like a harder job sometimes. It really depended on who had rented the homes, but some people were downright slobs. In the future, I'd have to remember that people had to clean up after me, and I'd leave as little of a mess as possible whenever I stayed in a rental. It didn't bother me when people didn't make the bed. It was other messes people left that got to me. How could you not take the time to pick up the stupid candy bar wrapper and throw it in the trash can? It was always the dumb shit.

"Are you just about done in here?"

Chase's voice made me jump. My face burned as my mind focused on what had occurred at his camper. We still hadn't talked about it, no matter how much we needed to. I'd never had unprotected sex before, but I did with him on a whim. Not that he wasn't someone special, someone I trusted. We hadn't seen each other in four years and I certainly hadn't been celibate during that time. I'd been safe, but there was no guarantee he'd provided me the same courtesy.

"Just about. This room is taking longer than expected."

Chase's grin was naughty, like he wanted to get up to something. If this had been before we'd fucked the other day, I would have been all for that, but we really needed to talk before any of this went further. Not to mention that we'd gotten in trouble with my uncle once for fucking around on the job.

"Want to...?"

"Chase..."

"What?"

I sighed before threading my fingers through my hair. "It's not that I don't want to. God knows I want to. Here might not be the best place."

That seemed to be the wrong answer. His face screwed up as he marched out of the room. The last thing I wanted to do was upset him. When Chase didn't come back, I absently kicked at the air before continuing my quest to change out the bedding.

The biggest change was that Chase no longer rode his bike to the work sites. I now picked him up every day and drove him home. When he crawled into my passenger seat after we finally finished with the house, he turned and stared out the window instead of focusing on me. I turned the engine off, and that seemed to get his attention back on me.

"You aren't taking me home?"

"I'll take you home as soon as you talk to me."

"What is there to talk about?"

I huffed and crossed my arms. "Like you don't know."

The look that spread across Chase's face could only be described as evil. "Fine. You want to talk about how I let you fuck me bare? How much I wanted to feel your cum shoot inside of me?"

My whole body ignited. It was magic how his words could set me off. My irritation was instantly replaced with arousal as his words settled into the space of my car. The need to fight the throb between my legs was unbearable.

"Chase..."

"Summer hookup. Remember?"

I groaned. "Is that really all this is?" My eyes pleaded, begging him to change his mind.

Something softened, gave in just the tiniest bit, but then instantly went back to whatever dark hole it had been hiding in. "It's all that I can allow it to be."

When he tried to get out of my car, I tripped the locks and started it again. I backed out quickly, refusing to let him walk home while he was upset. What I wanted was to get on track to where we were headed before yesterday, but it seemed we were back at square one. Chase didn't want to fix things. And I deserved that.

The second I pulled into his lot, Chase didn't even let my car come to a complete stop before he was out and heading into his camper. I fought the urge to turn off the engine and follow him inside. Forcing him to talk would fix a lot of things, but it would also make him angry in the process. He was pissed enough today, and if I set him off further, it would be like poking a hornets' nest. I wasn't ready to get stung.

My hands slammed against the steering wheel, setting off the horn. Chase stuck his head back out the door, and I gave him a sheepish wave before driving off. Instead of driving back to my uncle's house, I drove down to the beach. It was still early enough in the day.

It was a lot hotter than normal. With the sun glaring off of the sand, I had to shield my eyes as I approached the water after climbing out of my car. There were more people out today as well. Families dotted the whole stretch of shore as far as I could see. Children chased pets as parents sat in camp chairs behind their vehicles. The horse rescue was leading a group on a tour and I was caught up in the chaos of it all.

I collapsed into the damp sand, kicking off my shoes and sticking my socks inside. The surf rushed up and met my toes, and I wiggled them in the white foam as the water swept back to the sea. I didn't know how I was going to get Chase to talk to me about anything, but he was making it clear that sex was all he wanted from me. My chest and heart constricted. While easy hookups had been my life over the last four years, I was different with him. I needed him to come around.