Crazy Love(61)

“I was skeptical when you said you had made it, but damn, that was better than your mom’s,” he said truthfully, knowing that the comment might pull her out of her pout.

That got the smile he had been hoping for. Lifting her eyes from the salad on her plate, she grinned sassily. “You should know better than to doubt me.”

The moment the words left her mouth, the energy between them shifted from lighthearted to serious. He wasn’t sure why or what significance those words had had, but her green-blue eyes had turned very serious.

Setting down her fork, she took another drink of wine and then a deep breath. “Speaking of doubting people, I have been wanting to talk to you about something.”

“Okay,” he said encouragingly. The fact that she wanted to do anything with him was good news in his book.

“The night you left town—”

“I’m sorry, Krista,” he quickly apologized. Chase had wanted to talk about the same thing, but he hadn’t wanted to rock the very shaky boat that they’d been floating in since he’d returned. “I shouldn’t have left. I should have talked to you and—”

Holding up her hand, she stopped him. “You don’t have anything to apologize for, Chase. I do. In all the years we were together, and even the times we were apart during that time, you never gave me any reason to doubt you. But I did. I was just… I just thought… I felt so…”

The tortured look in Krista’s beautiful eyes was breaking Chase’s heart. He wanted more than anything to reach out to her. To pull her on his lap. To tell her that everything was okay and kiss her until she believed it. Something stopped him though. He sensed that what she needed to say to him was important to her. So even though every fiber in his being was straining to touch her, he didn’t. He waited.

Tears filled her eyes, testing his resolve to keep his hands to himself. Instead of reaching out to her, he said, “I swear to you, I never cheated on you.”

“I know.” She nodded as she took in a shaky breath. “I found out later from Larissa Peters that she was the one who planted the panties in your truck.”

“She was?” He had actually thought that he and Larissa had been friends. She’d been in a few of his classes in school. He’d give her rides home sometimes when they’d had to work on the yearbook project. Which must have been when she’d planted the underwear that changed his life.

“Yeah, and there’s more. She told me that there was a whole group of girls that would actually have weekly meetings to come up with new rumors and plans to try and break us up.”

“Why?” Chase figured it must have been retaliation from the falling out Krista had had with her three friends freshman year.

Krista smiled through her tears as she shook her head at him. “You really don’t know.”

“What? Was it that stuff with those girls that you had drama with?”

“No,” she said as if that were the stupidest thing she’d ever heard. “It was because of you. Because they wanted a chance to be with you.”

“They thought if they broke us up, I would hook up with them?” Chase was trying to make sure he’d gotten this straight.

“Yes,” Krista said emphatically, looking relieved that he’d finally caught on.

“And Larissa just told you this?”

“Yep. Apparently it was part of her twelve-step program.”

“That’s crazy.” Chase was having a hard time processing what Krista was telling him. It made sense now that he knew the facts. There had always seemed to be some new rumor about him flirting or cheating. So much of the time he’d felt like it had been him and Krista against the world, and now he knew that there was a sliver of truth to that. Because in high school your “world” consisted of your friends and classmates.

“I know. But the point is I shouldn’t have doubted you. Ever. Especially that night. I am so sorry.” Tears began flowing down her smooth cheeks. She lifted her hand and wiped them from under her eyes. “When you needed me the most, I wasn’t there for you.”

“Only because there were girls actively trying to sabotage us. It wasn’t like you were just pulling shit out of thin air.”

Shaking her head, she sniffed as she said, “There’s no excuse.”

Chase sighed and leaned forward, cupping her beautiful face. She looked at him with so much sadness and guilt. There was no one in the world who Krista was harder on than herself. Chase did not want her carrying that kind of blame around.

“Not an excuse, but a reason.” His thumbs brushed the tears off the soft skin of her cheeks. “Krista, we were young, and you aren’t the only one who should have done things differently that night. You’d just found a pair of girls’ panties in my truck and I gave you an ultimatum. Declare your unwavering trust in me or we were done. That wasn’t fair. I was scared and mad. I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong, but I didn’t for one second try to see how things looked from your side. I’m sorry.”