Chapter 8

Avoiding Chase's mention of Drew last night seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I can't help but wonder if I should've just casually told him we aren't together anymore. That he and the rest of the guys can stop pretending to like him, because I know they couldn't stand him.

When I walk into Chase's apartment this afternoon, I expect to see Abby greeting me with homemade cookies and telling me all about the most recent thing she has going on with the Rec Center. But instead, I'm met with her sleepy gaze as she lies on the couch. CeCe perks up from her coloring book, giving me a big smile and a wave.

"Um, hi. When you texted me saying to just walk in the door I thought maybe your hands were full of dough or something. I didn't expect to see you all cocooned up." I wave my hand around as I stand over her.

"Sorry. I've been so exhausted."

"Why didn't you have me come over earlier? I was off all day, I could have helped," I say, scolding her for her stubbornness. Two peas in a pod, Abby and that brother of hers, I swear.

"I felt bad doing that last minute." She shrugs, getting up from the couch.

"Well, go home. Now," I say, grabbing her purse and cell phone for her, practically pushing her out the door.

Abby never leaves her brother's home in any kind of disarray. I imagine that's because he's pretty tidy and has a place for everything. Down to the way the coaster sits on the coffee table. But right now, looking at this place, it's a giant shit storm.

CeCe is still seated comfortably at the table coloring, so I don't bother her aside from refilling her water and placing some snacks on the table next to her.

The Alexa on the counter has Chase's calendar on the home screen and looking at today's date, it seems he'll be home in just over an hour. That gives me enough time to try and clean up the kitchen and living room at the very least.

I take ten minutes to create a playlist on the device, naming it Summer's Cleaning Jams and set it to a moderate volume before I get started. The nice thing about Chase being so particular about his house is that everything is where you'd assume it would be. Dish soap under the sink, the broom in the laundry room closet—nothing is randomly placed.

Before I know it, I've got his kitchen smelling like a freshly squeezed lemon, nice and squeaky clean with the dishwasher running and clean water for the flowers on his counter. I will say, the flowers—well, it was a little bit of a shock to see fresh flowers, but my guess is CeCe suckered him into buying them.

"Can we go outside?" CeCe asks the minute I sit down after I just speed cleaned. I get it now when parents say the moment they relax their kids immediately need something.

"I can't bring you to the park or anything downstairs, but we can sit on the balcony if you want to. We can people watch."

"What's people watch?"

I forget that a three-year-old doesn't understand the allure of this yet. Maybe this means I'm getting older if people watching is an activity I offer a child.

"People watch. It's just like… Well, we'll just watch the people downtown walk around. Is that weird?" I ask, laughing while I pull a bag of popcorn from the box for myself.

CeCe shrugs and stands beside me, and I can't help but feel like I'm about to really age this sweet girl with my people watching tendencies.

"Four dogs, she must be a professional dog walker," I say, motioning to the young girl on the sidewalk across the street.

There hasn't been as much activity as I was hoping for, creating a pretty boring experience for the last twenty minutes. And I'm pretty sure CeCe has lost all interest, but at least she's occupied with the Swedish Fish candies I let her have.

The sliding glass door opens and I turn around to see both Chase and Liam walk through. Chase smiles when he sees CeCe and then glances over at me, but I stay seated on the couch that I moved closer to the side so it was easier for CeCe to see.

"What are you girls doing?" Liam asks, holding his fist out to me for a fist bump.

"Watching people," CeCe proudly declares.

Chase's brow creases and he directs his attention toward me.

"What?" he asks.

"We were just eating and people watching… you know," I say, casually shaking my head as Liam laughs.

"Teaching her how to judge people so soon, Summer? Shouldn't you wait until she's at least, I don't know, five?"

I stand up, shoving Liam's arm as I walk over to where Chase is standing. "We weren't judging anyone. In fact, I was pointing out cute dogs." My arms cross over my chest and both of them scoff, walking inside after me.

"Abby's a clean freak like you, isn't she?" Liam comments, running a finger over the counter I just cleaned.

"Why would you assume that Abby cleaned?" I butt in.

"You cleaned?" Chase asks, stopping mid stride as he hands CeCe a box of apple juice.

"Well, yeah. I mean I did a little cleaning. Abby was exhausted when I got here, so I just picked up a few things." I shrug my shoulders and lean against the kitchen counter across from Liam. I watch the corner of Liam's lips curve into a devilish smirk as he stares at me.

"And you're not even paying her?"

"I don't work for him," I say in response to Liam.

"You don't have to clean, Kincaid." Chase sighs, flipping his baseball hat backward, and I instantly can't focus on what he just said. My eyes stay glued to the bicep muscle that flexes with that simple movement.

"It was just a few things," I finally spit out.

Liam walks over to the living room and sits on the couch with CeCe just as Chase walks up closer to me. His scent engulfs me, nearly paralyzing me from any movement. My feet want to take a step to my right, but my brain won't connect with my body to force any readjustment.

"Thank you," Chase whispers in a low voice, letting his brown eyes connect with mine for a millisecond.

I finally swallow the lump in my throat when he brushes past me to the pantry and invites me to stay and watch a hockey game with him and Liam. I'm sure it's just him being polite, I can't see him actually wanting me to stick around.

"I work tomorrow and have a few errands to run before I get home, so thanks, but not tonight."

"Okay," he says, standing still with both hands shoved in the pockets of his jeans.

"Bye, Evans," I say as I'm hugging CeCe. I offer a smile in Chase's direction before I head out the door.