Center Chase

Chapter 40

Lindsey

It was great seeing my parents for a few days. Going back made me realize how much I've missed them, but it also showed me how much I've grown over the last few months. It hasn't been without trial and tribulation, for sure! But the things I've learned about myself since I've been away have made me stronger, less afraid of change.

When it was time to leave, I felt a little sad saying goodbye, but I was ready to go. I didn't feel panicked or queasy like I did before. It felt right. And I knew as soon as we pulled away that I wasn't leaving home, I was heading home- to my new home in the city. The home I was starting to build with Chase, Liam, and Taylor.

It took a few hours for us to make it back to the city. When we started to see heavier traffic, bright lights, and bustling sidewalks, I knew we were almost home. I smile at the thought. Everything is falling into place.

I have a great job, amazing friends, and an incredible boyfriend who I love. I haven't told him yet- it's a scary thing, ya know, letting someone have that part of you- but I do. I love him. And I feel like I'm almost ready to tell him.

I look up at Chase in the passenger seat next to Liam. They're talking away about something hockey-related. And I can't help but admire the man sitting in front of me. His deep laugh filters through the car, and I find myself staring at his upturned lips, then his sparkling eyes. He must sense me staring because he looks my way and holds my gaze. He gives me his sexiest lopsided smile- the one he knows makes me swoon- and winks.

Yep, I'm a sucker for this man. I melt back into my seat and remain that way- a swooning puddle- until we pull up in front of our building.

Liam parks the car and helps Chase grab the bags from the back. We make our way through the lobby to the elevator, discussing what we should do for dinner. Mom insisted on making us lunch before we left, but now the guys are hungry again after the long car ride. We're still debating between Thai and Chinese food when we get inside the apartment.

I don't know what I was expecting to find when we got back, but it certainly wasn't this. There's no one here. No T.J., no Taylor. Just an empty apartment. I guess I should be glad there's no caution tape or blood splatter- not that I think either of them would go that far. It's just things were so tense between them when we left; I just wasn't sure what would happen when Chase, Liam, and I were gone.

I shake off the strange feeling I get and move my bags into the bedroom to start unpacking. We're still no closer to deciding on dinner when Taylor comes in with arms full of groceries. Looks like we don't have to decide after all. She got everything to make homemade Thai food.

Taylor welcomes us home as she unloads the groceries. She asks us about the trip, and how my parents took the relationship bomb we dropped on them. We tell her how the visit went and that mom and dad were both supportive of the Chase and me news that we sprung on them. Chase tells her that he now has two Barnett men to worry about if he ever does anything to hurt me. She laughs and tells him he better keep me happy then.

After I put most of my things away, I start to help make dinner. It's our new normal, we all pitch in to help cook when we're all here, and we chit-chat as we go. It feels nice to have our little group together doing things like this. I feel like we're our own little family, and that makes my heart feel so full.

When dinner is just about ready, T.J. returns from wherever he was. He gives us all a quick wave and mutters his greetings, but he's acting weird. He won't look anyone in the eyes. What's up with that?

Chase snaps me out of my musing when he asks if I'm ready to eat. Yep, so ready. I'm starving, and everything smells so good. We all take our seats and dig in. Taylor starts asking more about the trip, and we share all the details we can with her. Then we ask her and T.J. what they did while we were gone. Taylor tells us she had to catch up with a few things for work, and she did some shopping. T.J. just shrugs and says he worked out a lot and hung out.

Sounds like they had a wild time. I'm just glad they're being civil to one another. Dinner continues, and Liam and Chase are telling everyone about one of our adventures, Upstate. Everyone is so engrossed in their story until T.J. freaks out and nearly falls out of his chair. All eyes snap to him, and he starts turning red.

Liam eyeballs him. "Hey, you okay, man?"

T.J. clears his throat. "Yeah, sorry. Just thought I saw a spider. I hate those things." He runs a hand through his hair and rubs the back of his neck.

I see Taylor, out of the corner of my eye, clamp a hand over her mouth. Her shoulders are bobbing as she tries to contain her laughter. T.J. shoots a glare at her over the table.

Liam and Chase exchange a look before Liam claps T.J. on the shoulder. "It's okay, buddy. We won't let the little spider get you."

T.J. narrows his eyes at Liam. "Gee, thanks, asshole."

With that, everyone starts laughing. T.J. rolls his eyes and starts digging into his food again. After a minute, I notice he looks around the table as everyone starts to calm down. His gaze ends on Taylor, and he sends another sharp glare her way. She doesn't seem to notice as she continues chatting away with Liam and Chase with a big bright smile on her face.

What is it with those two?

~

As the week goes on, things fall back into the usual rhythm. Well, mostly. Things are still kind of weird with T.J. and Taylor. They seem to be avoiding each other more than usual. We hardly ever see the two of them in the same room at the same time.

He's always gone before anyone else in the morning and says he's been getting up early to hit the gym before practice. And Taylor seems to be working more and going to the gym a lot. Okay, so maybe that's not unusual for her- but I feel she's been gone more than normal. It's just strange. It makes me wonder if they had some sort of confrontation while we were away.

I asked Taylor about it one day. She said she hadn't noticed anyone being weird, but if anything odd was going on, it was on T.J.'s end and not hers. What the hell does that even mean? I tried to get her to elaborate, but she insisted she had no idea what could have caused the elevated tension between the two of them.

Chase said he and Liam asked T.J. the same thing and were met with a similar answer. Liam thinks T.J. hit on Tay again, and she slapped the shit out of him. Chase thinks they had some sort of verbal confrontation, and Taylor likely won, so T.J. is just butthurt. I'm not really sure what to think, but something definitely caused the elephant in the room to grow in size while we were gone.

The rest of the week continues like that- T.J. and Taylor avoiding each other and refusing to clue the rest of us in about what exactly happened while we were away. It's awkward, but no one knows what to do about it, so we just decide to ignore it. Maybe one day we'll find out what went down.

By the end of the week, we get some good news. T.J. announced that he should be able to move back to his place on Monday. Thank goodness! It's not that I don't like having him around. But the whole weird tension thing going on in the apartment is starting to wear on me. It will be so nice to get back to normal. We just have to make it through the weekend.

I hope the two of them can cooperate that long.