Chapter 17

Chase seemed like he wanted to protest, but I shoved him forward to give him a head start. He stumbled a bit and started jogging, glancing at me over his shoulder in alarm. I checked on Bryce and noticed two other men stepping out of the office, while Bryce pointed to us. When I saw their faces, I cursed under my breath and held onto the strap of my bag tightly before dashing after Chase.

Now I was starting to regret not bringing my bike with me today.

I swiftly caught up to Chase, motioning him to go right once we reached the gates. He did as told, and once we rounded the corner, I could see from my peripheral view the men getting in their cars. I quickened my pace and noticed how Chase was already panting, faltering in his steps. I could hear a faint pair of running footsteps behind me, and I cursed for like the fifth time this day.

Chase kept faltering, coughing slightly and doubling over. "I can't—I need to breathe." Chase panted and slowed down to a walk.

Did I say fifth? Make that tenth.

I hastily grabbed him by the elbow and forced him to run behind me into an empty alleyway. He whined loudly as he strutted behind me awkwardly and suddenly yelped. His elbow was harshly snatched from my grip and I turned around quickly, coming face to face with one of Bryce's companions, who was holding a rather pale Chase in a headlock.

"Fancy seeing you again, Amelia," he said with a smirk. His features were familiar. Curly, long black hair, dark eyes and tall frame. His voice was deep and intimidating, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand still.

"Tyler Crawford," I spat in his direction. "Let go of him this instant."

Chase struggled to get out of the headlock, but Tyler only held on tighter. "Seems like I've caught a struggler here."

I glared at him and leaped forward, not hesitating to kick him hard on his free side. He grunted lightly and loosened his grip on Chase, making me use that as an advantage. I grabbed Tyler's wrist and twisted it rather painfully, making him fully let go of Chase. Tyler kneed me on my stomach, leaving me breathless for a short moment before I twisted his arm over his back.

"Run!" I yelled at Chase who was staring at us, wide-eyed.

He readjusted his bag and scurried off without a second thought.

I kicked the back of Tyler's knee, making him fall on his knees, and brought my elbow down on his shoulder. Before he could do anything else, I grabbed the pocket knife that I always had inside my back pocket and used the handle to strike him on the temple. Once he fell unconscious on the ground, I didn't waste time to run away and shove the knife back inside my pocket.

It took me a minute to catch up to Chase; he still panted next to me. I looked around and noticed two sleek black cars stopping at a red light not so far from us, and I hastily rounded a corner. I opened the door to a crowded ice cream parlor and pushed Chase inside, quickly following behind him. We both panted as I dragged us both across the sea of people and into the bathroom hallway.

"Who was that?" he asked in bewilderment, still not recovering from the shock of being in a headlock.

"Take off your sweater and give it to me," I ordered him, avoiding his question.

"But—"

"Now, Chase," I urged, and he took off his sweater. I rapidly took off my flannel shirt and shoved it inside my bag before throwing Chase's sweater on. I draped the hood over my head and took my glasses off to not draw any attention toward us. Ignoring the sudden whiff of his cologne, I focused on what was currently happening. I walked calmly toward the back of the line and noticed the cars racing by the parlor, making me let out a deep breath.

"Amelia. Will you please talk to me? I am very freaked out right now," he whisper-yelled at me and I sighed.

"Not now, Chase," I said and looked up at him. "Look, let's just calm down and buy some ice cream. Then we'll go to the motel I'm currently staying at and I'll explain everything."

He held my stare for a minute and nodded reluctantly. "Sounds good."

I nodded at him and let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. We stood there in silence for seven agonizing minutes until it was our turn to order. I easily ordered a cookies-and-cream ice cream with a strawberry topping while Chase ordered a simple vanilla ice cream with caramel on its top. I eyed him strangely and paid for the ice creams before walking to an open booth and sat down. We started eating our ice creams in silence, until I spoke up.

"Look, Chase. I'm sorry," I said, cringing slightly at my own apology.

His head snapped up and his mouth hung slightly open. "Huh?"

"I'm not good with apologies, so bear with me," I grumbled. "I didn't mean to drag you into so many problems this week. So I will give you the option to decide for yourself this time."

"What do you mean?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

I smiled slightly at that habit that I found strangely cute. "I pretty much didn't give you much option into this self-defense training, because—me being me—I always push things on to people without even realizing it. So I will let you decide if you want to keep this up or not," I explained, taking a spoonful of ice cream.

His eyes widened momentarily and then looked down at his bowl of ice cream, as if deep in thought.

I stayed silent while finishing my ice cream and stared at him intently.

After a moment, he looked back up with tender eyes. "I don't think you ever forced me into anything," he spoke softly. "I mean, you kind of—at first—but then I started thinking about it, and for some odd reason, I trust you. I'm aware that we barely know each other, but something tells me that I can trust you. I already knew that you attracted problems like a magnet due to how you act, so I kind of expected you to bring me problems as well."

Ouch, I thought. For some reason, hearing him said that made my heart ache, and I frowned a bit. I knew I made other people's life hard, but hearing it come from someone like him hit deep.

"But," he continued, giving me a warm smile. "I pretty much chose this on my own. I knew for a fact that it wouldn't be easy, yet I still chose this."

"Why?" I blurted out.

"Because I don't want to hide behind my books for the rest of my life," he admitted as he looked down, his cheeks flushing in embarrassment. "Seeing you practically rescue me from every scene where I could get hurt makes me realize just how weak I am. I sort of hate myself for it." He sighed, and I frowned. He scratched the back of his neck nervously and stared at his unfinished bowl of ice cream.

I narrowed my eyes at him and leaned forward on my elbows. "Look at me," I ordered firmly. He tensed his shoulders, yet didn't look up at me. "I won't repeat myself, Chase."

Finally, he looked up at me timidly, his eyes widening in a fraction of a second once noticing our close proximity.

"You may be a goody-two-shoes who have never been in trouble until I barged in, but just because you have never been in one, and also not knowing how to react when you're facing a problem, doesn't mean you're weak. That just makes you kind and vulnerable. Now listen carefully and listen well: if I ever hear you say you're weak again, I will certainly punch some sense into that brilliant brain of yours. If you really want to be confident and face your own problems, self-pity won't do that for you," I said fiercely, staring straight into his eyes.

He stared back at me in shock, completely speechless. I could feel his breath fanning my lips and I licked them instinctively. My eyes darted around his face, and only then I noticed the faint freckles coloring his cheekbones. My eyes found a way to his lips, then to his eyes that were gazing at my lips in a daze. His lips parted slightly and let out a faint breath before someone cleared their throat.

Our heads snapped to the side to see an employee avoiding our gazes while cleaning the table beside us. "PDA." The girl coughed, and I chuckled under my breath.

I leaned back in my seat and grabbed my empty bowl of ice cream before standing up. I didn't wait for Chase as I threw the bowl in the garbage bin and walked out of the ice cream parlor. Soon enough, Chase reached me and scratched the back of his neck.

"Thanks," he muttered.

"Fifth time you've said that this week and counting," I stated with a smirk and ignored the random flutter in my chest as I walked beside him toward the motel.