Chapter 50 CHLOE
Chapter 50 CHLOE
My eyes flitted between Jason approaching us, keys dangling from his fingers, and Stancy, still talking but now in a slightly raised tone. Disheveled didn’t even do justice to his unshaven jaw and the dark circles under his eyes. His gaze mirrored mine, only flicking between Stancy and me.
“—I don’t need to like you before helping you,” she was saying in that bullshitting, saccharine voice. “If you don’t want him finding you, then you need to leave today. Book a flight or whatever. I can help you find—”
“Does he know you’re here right now?” I asked, suddenly comprehending the look of betrayal on Jason’s face. “Because if he didn’t…”
“It’s not a ‘need-to-know’ thing,” she said, looking me right in the eyes as she spilled her crap.
“Funny that,” I smirked, crossing my arms across my chest. I knew there was a literal eat-shit expression on my face, but I couldn’t control it. “Cause he’s standing right behind you.”
Her eyes widened comically as her mouth snapped shut. Then, as though she decided I was playing her, she raised her jaw imperiously. “I’m not ten, Chloe.”
My brows shot up. Would you look at that?
Chuckling, I cocked my hips, gesturing with a hand behind her. “Have a look then.”
Right on cue, Jason cleared his throat loudly.
An unfiltered laugh broke out of me as she turned so fast her hair swung. The color drained from her face the second she saw him; her eyes actually bulged for a second before she recovered enough to square her shoulders.
“Jason,” she laughed awkwardly, lifting a hand to straighten her hair. “I wanted to confirm if she was here first before I told you. I didn’t want to raise your hopes for nothing.”
I narrowed my eyes in sheer disbelief as I watched the wheels turn in his head.
God… How slow was this guy?
“Yeah, right,” I said, eyeing her. “By telling me to hop on the next flight out?” I asked her. Ain’t no way this bitch was getting away with this right under my nose.
Jason turned to her. “Is that true?”
‘Ain’t no way,’ I gasped. I fucking gasped, my mouth falling open first in shock, then anger.
Why was I standing here listening to this bullshit? I broke up with this man for a fucking reason.
I turned to the front desk, as the clerk tried to act like she hadn’t been eavesdropping. “I’ll take the room. And I’ll be ready to move in thirty. Please have room service bring lunch up to me — tuna melts and some toast. Coffee too.”
And then, without looking back at either of them, I walked away, toward the elevators. I’d just pressed the call button for the car when I heard footsteps hurrying after me.
“Chloe! Babe, wait up, please!”
Fuck no.
The doors opened, and I stepped inside, willing them to close. At the last second, his hand shot between them, forcing them apart long enough for him to squeeze through.
“Babe—”
I held up a hand, so over him and just… everything in general. “Just stop with the ‘babe’ talk. Did you not see the ring I left behind? What part of that told you we were still together?”
His eyes widened. “I did see the ring. That's why I’m here. So we can discuss things like rational adults.”
Rational adults?!
Oh my gawd.
“I’m not doing this with you, Jason,” I announced, turning my attention to the glowing floor numbers.
“Chloe—”
I tuned him out, willing the ride to go faster.
When the doors finally opened, I stepped into the hallway, striding across the floor quickly. I hadn’t fully comprehended just how much of a nuisance he was until I stopped in front of my room and realized he’d been following me… And I refused to let him into my room, for however short the visit might be.
I turned to face him. “What exactly do you want from me? I returned the ring, which, in case you didn’t get the memo, means the engagement is cancelled. So, do tell, why are you following me?”
Jason groaned, letting out a sound so animalistic it sounded like he was in physical pain. He shoved his hands into his hair, tearing at the strands roughly.
“Chloe. Babe. If there’s something wrong or if I did anything… anything at all to make you mad, then you let me fucking know!”
I flinched as he got all up in my face to roar — well, maybe not roar — those words at me.
“I’m not going to be intimidated,” I said with false bravado. In truth, I was just a little bit scared of him right now. If this was indeed a part of his personality, then it must have been one he kept tightly on a leash, because I’d never seen it before.
“I’m sorry,” he said, backing up. “I’m not trying to scare you. I’m just asking that you give me a reason why you suddenly decided to call it quits. Come on, things were so good between us, babe.”
My brows arched at that.
…things were so good between us… Really?
“Now—”
The clink of the elevator interrupted whatever I was going to say. We turned in unison towards the waitress approaching us, wheeling a trolley stacked with my lunch order.
“Room four-eighty,” she said aloud, stopping in front of the door. Taking a moment to eye Jason appreciatively, she turned to me belatedly when I cleared my throat.
A look passed between us — hers saying, ‘What a fine specimen you have here. I’ll take him if you won’t, and mine sending warning signals to her as if I were saying, ‘That’s my fucking fiance. Touch him and die.’
“Miss Davis?” she asked, a little nervously.
I nodded at her. “That’s me.”
“Okay. So I have your food right here. If you’d open the door, I’ll set it up for you.”
My gaze shifted to Jason, only to see his eyes already trained on me.
Guess he was getting in after all.
The next series of events happened in a blur; I still couldn’t wrap my head around it. The moment my keycard beeped and the door opened, Tiny dashed out in a mad frenzy, startling the waitress and toppling the trolley.
I squeezed my eyes shut at the resulting shattering of plates and cups on the tiled floor, the sound almost ear-splitting in the otherwise quiet hallway.
And when I peeled them open, it was to meet Jason’s uncanny stare at me, dark shadows lurking in the deeper corners of his eyes
“What the fuck is that cat doing here?”