ELENA
Who is this?
UNKNOWN
Your snowboarding instructor.
I caught myself smiling at the screen and immediately felt guilty about it. But I still saved his contact information, my fingers moving of their own accord whilemy brain screamed at me to delete the message thread entirely.
ELENA
How’d you get this number?
CHASE
Tessa gave it to me.
The lie was obvious—Tessa would never—and something inside me was glad he hadn’t actually asked her. Which made me feel even more guilty.
CHASE
Well, she didn’t so much give it to me as I took the liberty of extracting it from her phone.
She really should be more careful about leaving her belongings lying around my parents’ house.
I pressed my lips together, trying not to smile again. The way he owned up to it, completely unapologetic... it was refreshing after years of Peter’s calculated manipulations.
ELENA
What is she doing at your parents’ house?
The question came out before I could stop it, along with a sharp stab of jealousy that I had absolutely no right to feel.
CHASE
Unclear, but if I was a betting man, I’d say she’s fucking my brother.
Heat rushed to my face at his bluntness. This man had no filter, and god help me, I liked it.
CHASE
But that’s not why we’re here
How was your massage?
I take it you made it home safely this morning
His concern was sweet, and while I relished the attention from this man, I was playing with fire. All it would take was Peter picking up my phone, reading my texts, assuming the worst, and taking things further than he ever had before.
ELENA
You shouldn’t be texting me.
My fingers trembled as I typed the words, hating how much I wanted him to argue.
CHASE
Why is that?
