Cocky Bastard(9)

“I guess I am.” I smiled. This guy was starting to grow on me, and that was making me really uneasy. I didn’t even know anything about him. “Your turn. Who are you, Chance Bateman? How long have you been in the U.S.?”

“I was born here, actually. I’m a citizen. I moved to Australia when I was five. My father was recruited into professional soccer in Australia to play and eventually coach. I grew up in that world.”

“That’s really cool.”

“It was for a while…until it wasn’t anymore.” He swallowed, his expression turning sullen.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a bit of a long story.”

My phone rang, interrupting the conversation. It was Harrison. Shit. Shit. Shit.

I flipped it around to show Chance the caller I.D.

He took it from my grasp and answered, “Harry! You wanker!”

Harrison’s voice was muffled. “Put Aubrey on the phone.”

“Aubrey and I were just talking about you! We’re out to brekky, and she picks up one of these tiny sausage links and says, ‘See this here? This is just about Harry’s size.’”

He sounded irate through the phone. “You fucking asshole. Tell Aubrey if she’s taking up with trash like you—”

Chance hung up the phone. “Ready to go?”

“That was awesome.” I high-fived him after he lifted his hand. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

“Bye, Bertha!” Chance winked at our waitress.

“Bye, hot stuff.”

Rolling my eyes, I shook my head in laughter as I followed his hot ass out the door.



It was a beautiful, clear afternoon. I told Chance I wanted to drive this round. In all honesty, I needed a break from staring at his eyes and stubble for a while. My unwanted attraction to him was really starting to make me uncomfortable. Having control of the radio was also a plus to being in the driver’s seat.

“Michael Bolton? Really, Princess? You’re gonna make me sit through this?”

“What? He’s good! His voice is…hearty…robust!”

Chance started singing loudly over the lyrics to When a Man Loves a Woman. He sounded horrible. The impromptu duet between Chance and Michael was enough to make me switch to another song.

Soon after, we stopped for gas, and Chance went inside the mini-mart to get us some snacks after he finished pumping my fuel.

When he reentered the car with a large paper bag, I looked over at him and froze just as I was about to turn the ignition.

He had powder under his nose.

Shit! Was he a coke head? Had he gone to the bathroom to snort it?

“Are you gonna start the car sometime today?” he chided.

My breathing became labored as I geared myself up for a major disappointment. “Tell me the truth.”

“Alright…”

“Were you doing drugs in the bathroom?”

His eyes darkened. “What the fuck?” He was angry. “Why would you ask me that?”

“You have powder under your nose!”

He closed his eyes and suddenly erupted in laughter that lasted for at least a minute. He’d never laughed so hard in the time I’d known him. Chance kept trying to speak but would keep losing it, having to clutch his chest. He looked at himself in the sun visor mirror and swiped the powder from above his lip.

Practically shoving his finger into my mouth, he said, “Taste.”

I pushed it away. “No!”

“Taste!”

I hesitantly ran the tip of my tongue along his finger. It tasted like grape Kool-Aid or something. “It’s sweet.”

He opened the paper bag and took out one of those Pixy Stix with powdered sugar inside and threw it at me. “Your cocaine, madam.”

Relief washed over me. I also felt stupid. “Pixy Stix? You like these?”

“I love them, actually.”

“That’s pure sugar. I haven’t eaten one of these since I was a kid.”

“They were all out of Fun Dip, so these had to do.” He looked down. “I can’t believe you thought I was snorting coke. I’m not perfect by any means, but I’ve never done drugs in my life.” Chance looked seriously hurt by my assumption.

I still hadn’t started the car. “I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions. It’s just…I don’t really know you.”

“So, get to know me,” he said softly.

We were silent for a while before I spoke, “Why are you headed to California?”

“I live there.”

I knew what I really wanted to ask but wasn’t sure why it mattered so much. My heart started to pound. “Who were you talking to on the phone this morning?”

He looked startled by my question. “What?”