Chapter Sixteen
Chase
My insides were still churning.
Even though Hailey hadn’t seen me this afternoon, I’d seen her. And her boyfriend. I’d been heading toward the library to return a book on contemporary piano when I’d caught sight of them kissing.
That was all I could stand to see. As a strange feeling stung me, I’d turned around and headed straight back to my car, not wanting to run into them and create an awkward situation.
Yeah, I knew Hailey had a boyfriend; what I didn’t know was how much it bothered me seeing them together. I mean, why the hell did I care so much?
Hailey and I had actually had fun last night and then really connected this morning, but that obviously hadn’t meant anything to her because the second her asshole boyfriend had come back into the picture, she’d completely forgotten about me.
Even though we’d agreed on going out to dinner before working on our assignment together, she’d blown me off to hang out with her douchebag boyfriend. All I’d gotten was a simple text message:
Sorry I can’t make it to dinner. I’ll see you tonight.
You know what the messed up thing was? A part of me had actually felt disappointed. But that was my fault. It was my fault for getting too close to Hailey and letting her become a familiar presence in my life.
What was even more messed up was I still wanted to get close to her despite the fact that she had a boyfriend. I mean, not in a sleazy “I wanna get in your pants” way—just in a normal, friends kind of way.
Believe me, I wasn’t that kind of guy—the kind of guy who acted all sensitive and shit just to get into a girl’s panties.
If a girl was taken then she was completely off limits. Except Hailey didn’t seem like she was taken. Not that she acted slutty or anything—she just didn’t seem very happy with her relationship. Not that it was any of my business.
So here I was sitting around in the apartment with Jonathan and Tessa, waiting for Hailey to get here so we could work on our songwriting assignment. Unless she decided to bail on me again. That would kind of suck.
And, because I had a platonic interest in Hailey and her well-being, I felt that it was only normal to ask Hailey’s best friend about the jerk she was with.
“So what’s with Hailey and the guy she’s dating?”
Tessa, who was snuggled into Jonathan’s lap on the couch, looked over at me in surprise.
“What do you mean?”
I shrugged, trying to act casual about the whole thing. “I dunno, I’m just wondering what their deal is.”
I wasn’t too sure how much Tessa knew about Hailey and her boyfriend, and I didn’t want to mention that Hailey had basically had a breakdown last night. What Hailey had shared with me was intimate—it was a small glimpse that I’d been given into Hailey’s world and I didn’t want to share that with anyone just yet.
Tessa hesitated before responding, looking troubled for a moment. “I’m not too sure. All I know is they’ve been together since they were fourteen.”
Bitter resentment rose up within me, and I tried to push it away before it took over me. I already knew that, but I didn’t like hearing it again. “Huh. So they’re pretty serious?”
“Yeah, I guess. She doesn’t really talk about him much.”
As I fell silent, I noticed Tessa and Jonathan exchange a look. I knew well enough what that look meant. They thought I was asking these questions because I was into Hailey, which was completely false, by the way. I didn’t care that she had a boyfriend—I only cared because I wanted to make sure he was treating her right.
What was really weird about the whole thing was that Hailey didn’t talk much about her boyfriend. Weren’t girls all lovey-dovey and shit about the guy they were with? If she’d been with him for so many years, wouldn’t she want to brag about how long they’d been together? I
knew girls who made a big deal about three-month anniversaries, so it was weird that Hailey rarely brought up her relationship.
Which brought me to my next point. Obviously she wasn’t happy with the guy she was with. That had been clear enough after last night, yet she’d gone off with him this afternoon and stood me up, which left me feeling extremely confused about where I stood with her.
I guess I didn’t stand anywhere with her. That was something I had to come to terms with before I started growing too attached to her.
There was a gentle knock on the door and I jumped up from the armchair I’d been reclining in and hurried to the door, knowing very well who I’d find standing on the other side.
When I opened up the door, the first thing I noticed was that Hailey looked very uncomfortable. She was toying with a loose thread on her sweater, looking as though she was questioning whether she should be here.
Heck, she probably was questioning it. Why would she want to spend any more time with me than was absolutely necessary to complete our assignment? That’s probably why she’d cancelled dinner.
“Hi, Chase.” Her tone was cautious as she regarded me with those bright green eyes of hers.
“Hey,” I said, trying to remain casual as I leaned against the doorframe. “I’m surprised you showed up considering you bailed on me earlier.”
Low blow? Yes. Obviously I was having trouble letting this go.
I did start to feel bad when Hailey’s face fell and turned pale. “Chase, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to leave you hanging like that. It’s just-I just-things are very complicated right now. I feel like a bad person.” Her face scrunched up a little and I was suddenly filled with a fear that she would start crying again.
Not wanting to upset her, I quickly reached out and grasped her by her small shoulders.
“I’m sorry, that was a complete douchebag move. I get it. Something came up; I won’t hold it against you. Let’s get some work done, okay?”
Releasing her, I stepped aside and gestured for her to come inside. Once I’d shut the door and turned to follow her, I saw that Tessa had Hailey in a hug and was jabbering away in excitement. “Are you feeling any better? You were a complete mess last night. Luckily Chase and his big arms were there to carry you to bed.”
Tessa threw a wink in my direction as I took a seat at the kitchen table and opened up my notebook. She could be so dramatic sometimes, but I could tell why Jonathan liked being around her so much. Tessa was just a huge ball of positive energy and very different to all the girls he’d dated in the past.
“I-uh-I don’t really remember much from last night,” Hailey stammered, looking increasingly uncomfortable. “But I am feeling better.”
“Of course you don’t remember much,” Tessa continued. “You were wasted!”
I cleared my throat. “Hailey, do you want to get started on this thing?”
The only reason I’d interrupted their conversation was because I could tell that Hailey was feeling awkward and embarrassed about losing control last night.
Hailey shot me a grateful look and came over to join me at the table.
Just as Tessa returned to her seat on Jonathan’s lap, she suddenly sprung up again. “Oh, Hailey! You know that piano guy you like? That William guy? He has a concert coming up soon.”
“William guy?” Jonathan straightened up and shot Tessa a curious look.
“Yeah, William something. Hailey is in love with him.”
“William C. Lancaster,” Hailey supplied, a smile creeping onto her face. “Yes, I saw the flyer posted for it on campus. I already marked the date down in my planner.”
What made me smile was the fact that she didn’t deny that she was in love with him.
Jonathan was staring around at all of us like he’d just had the most amazing sex on the planet. “William C. Lancaster, huh? Have you ever met him?”
“No, but I would love to one day. His music inspires me. He’s flawless.”
Jonathan let out a choking laugh, and I
shot him a glare. “Th-that’s interesting because he’s-”
Shit. Jonathan and his big mouth were about to blow everything as usual. Before he could finish his sentence, I cut him off.
“Are you gonna go to the concert?”
“Of course!” Hailey enthused. “I’ll probably be going alone though. No one I know likes that kind of music.”
“Well, you’re in luck!” Jonathan was grinning from ear to ear. “Because that’s exactly the kind of music Chase does love.”
“Really?” Hailey didn’t seem convinced as she studied me. “I didn’t think you liked classical music since you called William a pretty boy.”
Crap. What was I supposed to say? Jonathan really knew how to back me into a tight corner.
“Hell yeah, he loves classical music!” Jonathan said. “He’s just embarrassed to admit it because we make fun of him. He also loves pretty boys.” I tore out a page from my notebook, scrunched it up, and threw it at Jonathan’s head. That only got him laughing again.
“That’s perfect, then!” Tessa cut in. “Hailey and Chase can go together. It’s a date! I mean, a platonic date.”
At this point, Hailey looked mortified at the thought of going on a platonic date with me,
and I felt like I needed to kill Jonathan. I couldn’t figure out what he and Tessa were up to, but if they were trying to set me up with Hailey, it was never going to work. Hailey already belonged to someone else.