Gifted

Chapter Seventeen

I was staring right into Chase's amazing clear blue eyes. Our faces were so close I could feel his breath on my pulsing forehead. Frustration and fear needed an outlet; and I shoved Chase hard in the chest as it came pouring out.

"What the hell?" I exclaimed. Luckily, he was familiar enough with his own strength. He quickly braced himself against my force. His eyes were wide with surprise.

"I'm so sorry; I was under the impression you didn't like eating dirt!" He threw his hands up in defense.

"I meant for sneaking up on me."

"I didn't mean to sneak up on you." His eyes flickered to my forehead. I could feel it throbbing.

I instinctively covered the spot with my hand. "How bad is -?" I cut myself off as I tentatively touched the growing knot and winced in pain at the touch.

"How bad is it?" I started again watching Chase's face. His eyes were still wide, and he tried to hide the grimace his mouth was pulled into.

He shifted his eyes. "It's not... that bad," he lied.

"Oh my God it's huge!" I could tell by his reaction and the knot, it looked terrible. I started brushing dried leaves off the front of me as I grumbled about my growing horn.

"What were you running from anyway?" Chase asked.

"Apparently you!"

"I wasn't chasing you, well, I guess I could've been," he caught my dirty look. "Not intentionally though." He rushed out in defense. He continued, avoiding my glare. "I sensed someone, and I tracked the feeling here in the forest. I kept following it... I thought it was the person that wrecked your room!"

I looked at him skeptically. "Is that why you were sneaking up on me?"

"Sneaking up on you?" he questioned.

"Yeah, back on the trail."

"Morgan I was never close to the trail. Do you have any idea how far from the trail you are?"

I looked around taking in my surroundings, but it all just looked like woods to me. I shrugged in response.

"You're miles away from the school." He laughed. He started pulling me in what I assumed was the direction of the school.

A thought hit me, "If it wasn't you I felt on the trail..."

"Are you sure someone was following you?"

"Chase, I felt them as much as I heard them," I said, not amused at his attempt at playing detective.

"Maybe it was someone other than you; I was following," he admitted thoughtfully. He was holding me steady while we walked.

"How are you feeling?" he asked glancing at my forehead nervously.

"Alright, just a little shaky and I have a horrible headache." I laughed at my clumsiness and tried to touch my sensitive head.

"We might need to get you to a hospital," Chase said, "You could have a concussion. It looks like you hit pretty hard."

"It might take a while to get back this way," I said. "Should I try running?"

"No." He answered quickly. "We can take our time; I'm in no hurry." He laughed softly. "If you pass out I'll just carry you back." He smiled down at me, aqua eyes sparkling. There was something new between the two of us, a feeling that had been awakened no matter how hard I tried to ignore it. We had only spent a short amount of time together, but I could feel things getting stronger between us. I cared about Nolan, but things with Chase were...more intense, something I couldn't disregard. It commanded my attention.