I choked back a laugh, trying to disguise it as a cough. The smirk faded from Luke’s face as his cheeks flushed with anger. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. He’d never been all that quick on his feet verbally—only when he threw the first punch or had time to plan what he was going to say—which meant that, right now, he was drawing a blank.

“Fuck you, Carter,” Luke snapped, turning and walking away. “Jackass,” he muttered.

Chase shook his head as Luke rounded the corner. His jaw was tight, like he wanted to say something but was holding back.

“So.” I ran my hand through my hair, likely undoing all the primping I had done in anticipation of his arrival. “We should get going.”

Amelia snapped out of her daze and took the bag of food out of Chase’s hand. “Uh, thanks,” she muttered, not looking at either of us. Without another word, she turned and disappeared into the living room.

Had my roommates always been this awful? Or was this a recent development? Either way, they’d done an about-face on me, going from my supposed good friends to wanting nothing to do with me. We were like strangers now.

Maybe I’d underestimated how much social influence I’d been granted solely due to being the team captain’s girlfriend. Which was actually pretty gross.

“Anyway.” Chase’s tone lightened, and he propped himself against the doorframe, flashing me a heart-stopping smile. “Ready?”

“Absolutely.” I grabbed my olive utility jacket off the hook and pulled it on as we walked out the door. Chase waited while I fumbled with my keys briefly and locked the deadbolt.

“I’m sure they’re watching us,” I said, glancing up at him. “The windows in the living room look out onto the street.”

He cocked one brow. “Well, in that case.” He threw his arm around my shoulders again, enveloping me in masculine warmth and his intoxicating scent. It was a sort of leather-vanilla cologne, maybe, mixed with something clean, like soap or laundry detergent. Whatever it was, it made me want to bury my face in his neck for a bigger hit.

Then I remembered how, up until recently, I thought I hated Chase. Was I losing my mind?

We descended the three concrete stairs that lead to the sidewalk. With the size difference, his arm fit around my frame perfectly, unlike with Luke, who was nearly the same height as me. Not that it had mattered, since we had rarely engaged in public displays of affection. Or private displays of affection, for that matter…Unless bad sex counted.

“That was pretty awesome.” I laughed. “Did you see his face when he saw you standing there?”

“I’ve never seen someone turn that shade of red,” he said. “If I’d kissed you, his head probably would have exploded and splattered all over the wall.”