Chasing McCree Read Online Free PDF

climbed into the truck, but Briar
grabbed the door before I could shut it.
    “ Uh,” she licked her lips.
“Do you, maybe…that is, if you want, I could give you my phone
number. We could hang out sometime, when I’m not drunk.”
    “ Sure.” I grinned, saving
her number in my phone as she rattled it off. As far as stalling
went, I dragged out this goodbye session as long as possible. And I
got the feeling she didn’t want me to leave yet either. “How is it
that we’ve never met, Briar?”
    “ What do you mean, at
school?”
    “ Yeah. I recognize you, but
I know we’ve never talked.”
    “ Well, I don’t think you’re
in any of my classes. Where do you sit at lunch?”
    “ Wherever I can find a
spot. Sometimes it’s outside under the tree by the band
room.”
    “ Oh, I sit in the
cafeteria.” She backed up from the truck, eyes flitting away from
mine. Her face pinched with a fretful worry. “At least, I think I
sit there… It’s possible that I won’t have any friends when I go to
school Monday. Alex and Rachel could ruin me.”
    “ Aw, Briar.” I laid my hand
on her shoulder, not knowing what made me want to hug her and tell
her everything would be all right. We didn’t know each other very
well. I’d never been the territorial or confrontational kind of
guy, but Briar was bringing out a side of me I wasn’t familiar
with. Someone had to protect her from those assholes if they gave
her trouble, and I was the only one good for the job. “I’ll be your
friend.”
    She blinked up at me. “Really? Just
like that?”
    “ Why not?”
    “ Uh,” she opened her mouth
and closed it. “No one’s ever told me they’d be my friend before.
People just don’t say that.”
    “ First time for
everything.”
    “ I’ve never been friends
with a cowboy, either.”
    “ Well, I’ve never been
friends with a princess before.”
    “ I’m not a princess, Chase,
far from it.” She crossed her arms, avoiding my gaze. That nickname
really riled her, but there was a small smile tugging at her
lips.
    “ You’re the prettiest girl
I’ve ever met. In my book, that makes you a princess.”
    “ That wasn’t a smooth come
on,” she teased, glancing back up at me. “You’re going to have to
do better.”
    “ I wasn’t trying to be
smooth. I was just being honest, and paying you a compliment.” I
waited for her to react, but she stared at me with a vacant
expression. What kind of world had she grown up in? Hadn’t anyone
given her a compliment without any expectations or innuendo behind
it? “Let me guess, no one’s done that either.”
    “ Er, no.”
    I started the engine, shaking my head.
“Well city girl, this is going to be one interesting
friendship.”
    “ What makes you say
that?”
    “ We come from vastly
different worlds…might as well be another planet.” I winked, unable
to help myself. “See you at school.”
    When I pulled up in the driveway my
mother and her husband Todd were doing their cool down stretches,
while my younger half-sister Amy snoozed in her stroller. I parked
the truck and started for the house, thinking I’d grab a few
carrots for Ash and groom him.
    “ Hey, honey.” My mom said,
hefting Amy out of the stroller. She was tall for a three year old,
or so I’ve been told. “Where were you out so early in the
morning?”
    “ I went to have breakfast
with a friend.” It wasn’t exactly a lie.
    She beamed. “Oh, sweetie, that’s great!
See, I told you you’d start to like it here. Didn’t we tell him
Todd?”
    “ Many times.” Todd folded
the stroller, not quite managing it while trying to have a
conversation.
    Mom sighed, propping Amy on her hip.
“I’m thinking we should all go out to dinner tonight. How does the
steakhouse sound?”
    “ Good.” I didn’t have
anything better to do.
    Todd nodded, smoothing back his
white-blond hair. “Why don’t you take Amy in the house? Chase will
help me finish up out here.”
    I watched my mother disappear