Brooke and Chase by Amicia Bianchi (good book recommendations .txt) 📕

"Are you in charge of cooking the food?" one of the girls around me asked when I invited them to an upcoming party at Amanda's house.

Normally I wasn't a frequent party goer but since the end of our month long bet was coming to an end we decided to have one in order to commemorate it, similar to how Chase's birthday marked the beginning everyone thought it was only fitting. I, for one, would've been celebrating the end of, what should be considered, a cruel and unusual punishment regardless. When we were trying to pick a venue Amanda had eagerly volunteered to host it at her house. She told us her parents would be gone by that Thursday, leaving the house empty for the entire weekend until they returned on Tuesday of that next week. Since Amanda was hosting that meant Chase and I would be oust from the planning thus I'd already resigned myself to simply inviting people while Chase felt showing up was good enough.

"No, that's someone else's house…" I responded. Sophie and Jen exchanged looks before bursting out into laughter. "What?" I asked confused.

"You hear that, ladies? 'Someone else's house' she says but what about Chase's party?" Jennifer taunted.

"That was different-" I tried to justify.

"Oh please, what are you two living together?" she told me, cackling.

"You don't actually believe that, do you?" I asked incredulously. "You can't possibly believe that's true, right?" I pressed when none of them said anything. It's one thing if they were only saying it but I don't know why they'd truly believe it as well.

"I can't be sure," she replied then.

"You just never know sometimes," someone spoke, cosigning.

"Well the truth is often stranger than fiction, isn't it?" came another one and they all started giggling like hyenas.

As I opened my mouth to tell the cackling bunch a word or two Chase approached us quickly.

"Hello ladies if you'll excuse me for a moment I just need to borrow Brooke," he said as he reached out for my hand and pulled me away from my friends to his side.

"What's going on?" I inquired as he started trying to pull me down the hall but I didn't move.

"We need to talk," he said simply.

"Okay," I replied waiting for him to start. With all their teasing I didn't think they needed anymore ammunition and I didn't think there was anything that he couldn't say in front of my friends. Especially considering the fact that we were still 'just friends'.

"In private," he cleared his throat, looking pointedly at my friends.

"Oh, well okay," I said, surprised. Shoot. I hadn't thought that there was really anything that we needed to talk about 'in private' but if he felt it was necessary than there was no way I could be anything but excited even knowing that Jen and the rest would have something to say later.

"Go on, don't worry about us," Jen egged on among various other catcalls from the other girls.

This time I let him pull me with him down the hall and all the while as we got further and further away I couldn't figure out what he might want to talk about that warranted all of this. Once he felt that we were far enough away he finally stopped and I started to ask him what this was about when he pulled me flush against him then proceeded to kiss me. Unlike the first time my response was much quicker although I was just as unprepared for it and I got just as caught up. Also different, this time it didn't last as long before Chase retreated.

"That's all I had to say," he told me. He turned to walk away but I stopped him before he got even two steps away from me.

"That's not how this goes," I called to him. I instantly knew he'd kissed me because somehow he and Amanda kissed and as much as I didn't want to think about why that happened I could take comfort in the fact that he immediately came to find me and that meant we got another opportunity to kiss. Now, the deal had been if Eric and I kiss he gets to kiss me so if he and Amanda kiss I should get to kiss him. Therefore I feel that I'm supposed to be the one kissing him.

"Then show me," he turned back around with a wolfish grin, his eyes alight with mirth, and a face full of mischief. I strutted up to him and grabbed his head, pulling his lips down to meet mine. He let me lead for a while before he started trying to take control of the kiss but I wasn't one to easily give it this time. Somewhere in the middle of it I wrapped my arms around his neck to keep him from getting too far away from me but I apparently didn't have to. After taking a break for air he continued his assault on my senses with his kiss to the point that I felt like I was flying.

"Good 'talk'," he said when we parted the second time and started chuckling. His laughter lulled me back to reality and I smiled at him.

"Oh it was a great talk," I giggled, "very productive," I teased.

"Now is when, I guess I should take you back to your friends like nothing happened," he joked back. As I began to speak I noticed Jen and the rest peeking around the corner.

"You don't have to, I'll just stay with you," I offered a solution, "I'm sure we have other things to 'talk' about as well."

"Oh I know we could find something," he said suggestively, "but are you sure? Your friends are waiting for you..."

"Yes, I know and they've done enough teasing for today," I complained, hoping they'll have forgotten about it later when I see them.

"So you noticed?" he laughed.

"How could I not?" I laughed too.

"By the way, you should keep Saturday open we're going to the amusement park," he said as he took my hand and began walking again.

"Oh? When was this decided?" I asked, I knew it had to be for a double date yet the choice of venue had my interest piqued. It wasn't something Eric and Amanda would come up with when left to their own devices...

"Just now when I got to class they were talking about it," he answered.

"And let me guess, they didn't know where we should go?" I asked smiling because I knew the answer already.

"Nope," he answered simply.

"Good job," I intertwined our hands.

We ended up in the library after that. While we were still in the library I asked Chase about the kiss and what happened. When he told me Amanda kissed him on the cheek I couldn't stop laughing partly out of relief since nothing actually happened but also because I thought it was cute. With the way things were going I was starting to think maybe I was wrong before and he actually wanted more after the bet was over as much as I did. Although we hadn't talked about what would come next I felt as if we could really be together. As the week went on I found myself more and more convinced that this was the case and I couldn't help my excitement.

[Chase]

By the time Saturday came Brooke and I had already made our plans. Once she got to my house we headed to the amusement park. I paid for everything before she could get her wallet out and we went to get a snack while we waited for Eric and Amanda.

I wouldn't mind if they didn't show up, in fact I'd be happier that way as I was thoroughly enjoying Brooke's company, perhaps more than I should but who was complaining? I certainly wasn't and the way Brooke was looking at me she wasn't about to either. After we finished eating we sat talking as Brooke unconsciously traced an invisible pattern on the back of my hand with a finger and all the while I just wanted to kiss her.

Eric and Amanda arrived and things went the way one would expect considering how the last double dates had gone however today Brooke was in high spirits, with all of Amanda's usual jabs falling on deaf ears. I found myself smiling at this and it wouldn't go away. We'd tried to stay together by riding all of the same rides but eventually Brooke excused herself.

While Brooke took a restroom break Amanda didn't want to wait. She tried to convince us to ditch Brooke and get on a ride nearby saying that the line was short. As she knew I wasn't of a mind to leave Brooke behind, she tried to make it sound like Brooke was 'taking so long', it would be fast, and we'd most likely get back before Brooke came out but I knew better. In the end she and Eric went to get on a ride saying it would be 'really quick' and they'd be back by the time Brooke was finished. Brooke came back shortly after I lost track of whether they were still in line or if they had gotten on yet.

Brooke seemed a little confused to see only me but once I'd explained the situation she looked far from disappointed. She acquiesced to my suggestion to strike off on our own, not waiting for Amanda and Eric to come back. We didn't immediately rush to get on rides opting for taking it at our own pace and roaming around a bit first.

Eventually we found a spot with a little less hustle and bustle for lunch before lingering a while to talk. I'd somehow managed to keep Brooke laughing and it made me feel ten feet tall even when we'd continued our stroll. Then again anytime she smiled because of something I said makes me immensely happy. I found myself enticed by the flirtatious look in her eyes as my wolf simply basked in the attention she was giving us.

[Brooke]

We did a bit of wandering around the amusement park, going on the occasional ride or two, and generally enjoying each other's company before we really started going on rides again. While we were going around I couldn't seem to stop laughing. I wasn't sure if it was because Chase was really on some funny comedic streak or if I was just so giddy since it felt like we were really on a date by ourselves. Chase even brought it up and we started talking about it. I liked to believe that Chase chose to show his comedic genius today while he thought it was probably just me 'rejoicing early' since this was the last double date but was happy regardless.

"But sometimes I do feel like I'm a comedian and that maybe I ought to leave after the joke where everyone laughs the hardest and just end it like 'okay that's my set guys, I'm out'," he said, walking off.

"But what if I want more?" I grabbed his hand to pull him back.

"Well that's the point, to get them to like you enough that