CHASE - Volume Three (The CHASE Series Book 3) by M.L. Young

made me feel good, warm, and I thought I missed it. Maybe it was good I didn’t send that text earlier today. Maybe fate was working out, and this was all a sign, a sign from where I didn’t know, but a sign regardless. Maybe I needed to finally hear him out. He had been trying to tell me all this time that I saw something wrong, and I even began to think that earlier, so maybe I should just listen.
    “Okay,” I said calmly.
    “I know you don’t want to, but—” he said, pausing. “Did you just say okay?”
    “Yes, I did. I’ll listen to what you have to say. Would you like to come in?” I asked.
    “Yes,” he said, in a completely shocked voice.
    Chase walked inside, me locking the door behind him, and stood there rubbing his palms against his pants. He turned around, looking at me, as if he were unsure of what to do next.
    “Would you like to sit down?” I asked, motioning to the couch.
    “Yeah, that’d be great,” he said, as we walked over to the couch and sat down, both of us slightly turned so that we could talk to one another.
    We sat there, looking at each other, as I could see Chase was stressed and trying to think of what to say. Quite honestly, I didn’t think he even thought he’d get this far. I think he thought I’d say no, slam the door in his face, and that would be the end of it. After all, I’d ignored all of his texts and pleas.
    “How do I even begin? Wow. Um, I guess I’m just going to speak from the heart, as that’s all I really can do,” he said.
    He took a deep breath, twiddled his thumbs, and kept looking around, his nervousness peaking. I stayed calm, giving him his time, knowing that what he was doing likely wasn’t easy for him, especially a man like him. I didn’t want to seem like a bitch, and I didn’t want to rush him. I just wanted him to say what he meant and mean what he said.
    “That girl, Jasmine, who you saw me with, I met her once on a date after we first had problems. I met her at a restaurant, she was gross, and literally within ten minutes I walked out on her. She chased me down, I was in my car, and she yelled at me and tried to emasculate me and tell me I’d regret doing this and everything like that. You and I got back together, things were great, and our night together at my house, the date, was the most amazing time I’ve ever had with a woman. We had a special time, I think we can both agree,” he said.
    “Yeah, we had a great time. I’ll agree to that,” I said.
    “Well, the next morning I woke up, was sad you weren’t there, and went into my living room and kitchen to get breakfast. As I was there, there was a knock at my door, and I thought it was you, because of what you left there. I opened the door and there she was, Jasmine, still drunk from the previous night, in old clothes, looking like an absolute mess. I didn’t want to let her in, asking her how she even got past my gate and said that I wanted her to leave. She pushed past me, and because I don’t use force with women, she didn’t leave. I asked her a dozen times to please leave, that I didn’t want her there, and that we had a ten-minute date that meant nothing, but she didn’t care. She got on the floor and acted like a child throwing a tantrum, and I was about to blow a gasket because of it. Then, another knock came to my door. I opened it, frustrated, and saw you standing there. Your eyes…I can’t forget your eyes or the disappointment I saw in them. I knew I had hurt you, and I hadn’t even done anything wrong. I tried getting rid of that woman so many times, but she wouldn’t go. I tried to say something, to tell you and plead with you that I was being truthful, but you left, crying, and I knew things got fucked up. I made Jasmine leave, picked her up and tossed her out on the curb outside my gate, and I haven’t seen her since. I’ve tried to tell you this so many times, but it’s hard over text, and you wouldn’t answer my texts or calls or anything,” he