Free The Last Thing by Briana Gaitan Page B

have been the extent.”
    “ I can’t get you out of my head. I just need to see where
this can go. Can I see you tonight?”
     My mouth went dry. Was Chase really asking to hook up again?
I should have screamed no. I should have pulled my arm from his grasp and never
turned around. We needed to talk, though it wouldn’t be the night he had in
mind. I had to tell him before I lost my nerve.
    “What about your girlfriend back there?”
    “She’s not my girlfriend. She’s my co-star,” he clarified. I
pretended to be deep in thought for a moment. Of course, I wanted to say yes.
    Just invite him over!
    “Yes. Only because we need to talk,” I reminded him.
    “I hope to be doing a lot more than talking,”
    His voice dripped with seduction, and it made my knees go
weak. He ran his hand down the side of my face.
    “Can you come over to Ginger’s house tonight at midnight?” I
asked. It came out sounding more like a squeak.
    Being so close to him again made me want to jump him and tear
his clothes off. He leaned in to kiss me on the cheek. Yup, I could detect that
minty smell alright. My whole body tingled when his soft lips grazed my face.
The world spun around me, and my heart soared in exhilaration.
    “Chase?” The girl he had come in with appeared in the
hallway. Though he had only kissed me on the cheek, we stepped away from each
other hastily.
    “What?”
    “You’ve been gone a long time. Rhea asked me to come find
you….” Her eyes wandered over the both of us accusingly before she gave a sly
smile and grabbed Chase’s arm. She ran her hand down his shoulder and pressed
into him.
    “I had to use the bathroom.”
    “Come on…. I’m getting sleepy.”
    Without another word, Chase walked away, but not before his
co-star gave me a dirty look that screamed ‘he’s mine, bitch!’ She was already
in the long line of girls trying to gain his attention.
    It was surprising how quickly Chase caused me to forget about
Bash. One look at Chase’s intense eyes or cocky smile and I forgot all about my
self-pity. I went back to work and stayed by the front door for the rest of the
night. I tried to concentrate on folding napkins between customers.
    “Something is up with you.”
    I looked up from my horrible folding job to see my coworker
leaning against the table with a cunning look in her eyes.
    “I dunno what you’re talking about.”
    “You’ve had this dreamy look on your face all night. Who’s
the guy?”
    I slammed a napkin down a little harder than intended. 
Ashley had a history of butting in where she wasn’t wanted. She was harmless
though. She nonchalantly tucked her blonde hair behind her ear and picked up a
napkin to help.
    “Does this have anything to do with your baby daddy?”
    “No.” This wasn’t any of her business.
    “You know… we all think it’s weird that you have never
mentioned a boyfriend. In fact, a bunch of us thought you were a lesbian.”
    My jaw dropped as she continued prying.
    “Not that it’s any of my business or anything.”
    Damn right.
    “ But it’s not Percy from the kitchen is it?”
    “Oh lord, no!” I cried out.  My face flushed in
embarrassment. The entire wait staff thought I was some sort of slut.
    “You don’t know the father, but we are in a very, very monogamous
and exclusive relationship.”
    “Right.” She didn’t look too convinced, but she changed the
subject anyway. “Chase Crowley came in earlier. Did you see?” She grabbed a
menu and fanned her face with it.
    “I seated them,” I reminded her. I moved on to wiping down
the menus with a cloth.
    “He is so hot. I heard that he and Chloe James are going to
be filming a movie together. Lucky bitch. I wonder if I could get my number to
him.”
    My fingers curled tightly around the menu. He wouldn’t give
this gold digger the time of day. I immediately felt guilty for thinking it.
Ashley wasn’t that bad, a little nosy, but she still went out of her way to be
nice to me.
    “I