Chapter Twenty
Chase
I’d never really cared what I looked like, but for some reason I’d spent close to an hour coordinating my outfit for tonight.
Eventually, I’d settled on a white button-up shirt, black dress pants, and a black tie. I’d wanted to look somewhat decent for my date with Hailey so I’d pulled out my best formal outfit. Well, it wasn’t really a date. We’d agreed that it was an ‘almost-friends’ thing, but after that kiss, I wasn’t really sure where we stood. Were we still friends? Did this change at all how I should act around her? Was she serious when she’d said it couldn’t happen again? I knew I’d told her it was a mistake, but I didn’t really think that.
The lines of our relationship, friendship, whatever it was, were completely blurred. I
wanted more but I didn’t want to put pressure on Hailey and send her running in the opposite direction. She was still in this precarious relationship with her boyfriend—or maybe it was exboyfriend now since she’d suddenly agreed to come with me tonight—and I didn’t want to make things more complicated for her.
I just didn’t know how the hell I was supposed to feel about Hailey. I was developing such strong feelings for her, but I wasn’t about to invest myself in a relationship that was set to fail from the beginning. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself. The way I acted around Hailey contradicted all my common sense. Because, let’s face it, I was being pretty stupid about the whole thing.
Hailey had a boyfriend. She’d been with him for years. She wasn’t opening herself up to me completely. There wasn’t a whole lot I could do. Yet, here I was, going out of my way to take her out and get to know her when there didn’t seem to be a chance for us.
There was something seriously wrong with me.
“So what’s going on with you and Hailey?” Zach asked, as he and my other friends sat around on the couches drinking beer.
I glanced over to where he sat beside two of my closest friends from high school, Jason Wesley and Trey Roberts. They’d all come over to get a little drunk before the concert just so they could tolerate sitting through the show and listen to music they hated.
I shrugged, adjusting my tie for the twentieth time. “There’s not really anything going on with me and her. We’re just hanging out.” “Are you banging her?” Jason asked.
“Is she hot?” Trey said at the exact same time.
“No, I’m not banging her, and yes, she’s hot.”
Jason looked confused. “Then why aren’t you banging her?” “She has a boyfriend,” Jonathan explained as he joined us.
He’d also gone to some trouble to look nice; his blue Mohawk was flattened down with gel, and the tattoos on his arms were covered up with a long-sleeved shirt. A button-up shirt.
He’d really gone all out.
There was no doubt in my mind that he’d gone to all this trouble to impress Tessa. I’d never seen him so into a girl before. Something about her made him pay more attention to the way he looked. Kinda like the way I’d gone to some trouble to impress Hailey. The only difference was that Jonathan and Tessa were actually dating—there was actually hope for them. I wasn’t too sure if I could say the same for Hailey and me.
“That’s heavy, man,” Trey said, chugging the rest of his beer.
I gave them another shrug as I grabbed my wallet and keys. “I gotta go pick up Hailey. She wants to get there early so she doesn’t miss anything.”
“No, we wouldn’t want her to miss anything, would we?” Jonathan flashed me a cheesy grin and I rolled my eyes at him.
“Wait, she still doesn’t know?” Zach stared at me in disbelief.
Jonathan had filled Zach in on a little of what was going on, but the look of surprise on his face made me nervous. Was I making a huge mistake by not telling her?
“Nope,” Jonathan said with a shake of his head.
I didn’t stick around to listen to them as they dissected my relationship with Hailey. Instead, I made my way to my beat up car so I could pick Hailey up on time. I knew how punctual she liked to be.
When I pulled into a parking spot on campus and began heading to Hailey’s dorm, the nerves grew. What if this was a bad idea? What if this completely backfired and made things worse?
Maybe I should’ve thought this whole thing through a little more.
All doubts vanished from my mind when Hailey answered the door.
Holy shit, did she look stunning!
She was wearing a red dress that fell just below her knees. It hugged her curves in a way that didn’t look skanky, but instead, very classy. And, I bet when she turned around, there would be that booty looking fine as ever.
“Whoa.”
Yeah, that was all I could say. I sounded sleazy as hell.
Hailey blushed and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Um, thank you?”
I tried again. “Sorry, I meant to say that you look amazing. I’ve never, uh, seen anyone look so hot in a dress before.” Man, that had still sounded sleazy. I needed to work on my compliments.
“No one’s ever said that before, that I’m hot, I mean.” She seemed embarrassed as she said this.
“Well, no one’s an idiot,” I said, giving her a meaningful look, and from the way her brows knitted together I could tell she knew exactly who I was referring to. “Um, let me grab my coat,” Hailey said, turning around and walking back into the room. That’s when I got a good look at her ass in that dress. Oh man, it was going to be hard to keep my hands off Hailey tonight. And, something else was going to be hard too.
“Ready to go?” Hailey came back carrying a long, black coat. I really hoped she didn’t get cold tonight because I wanted to show her off in that dress.
“Yeah, sure.”
As we walked out to my car, I wasn’t sure what to do with my hands. What I really wanted to do was hold Hailey’s hand, but that was probably out of line so I decided against it. Once we got into the car, Hailey was silent, which was fine with me because there was a lot going on in my mind.
I couldn’t seem to shut off my thoughts when it came to Hailey. Let’s face it, I really wanted her to like me, and I wanted this night to go really well. I was hoping she would be somewhat impressed with me tonight.
When we got to the concert hall, I was relieved to find that it was starting to fill up, which meant that enough people still cared about classical music to come out and see the show. That thought made me smile.
“Let’s find a spot close to the front,” Hailey said to me, her eyes bright as she surveyed the hall. “We better save seats for Jonathan and Tessa.”
I remembered that Zach and Trey would be here too. “And two more seats for my other friends that are coming as well.”
“Okay, sounds good.” Hailey started making her way through the crowd and I was about to follow after her but stopped when I heard my name.
As I glanced around, I caught sight of three familiar people approaching us—my parents and Cecilia.
“Chase!” Cecilia greeted me with a smile and a big hug.
I noticed that Hailey had stopped walking and was now making her way back to my side as she took in my family. It wouldn’t take her very long to figure out who they were—we all looked exactly alike.
“Hey, Cici,” I said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. “I didn’t think you guys would make it.”
“We wouldn’t miss it for anything,” Mom said with a warm smile.
I gave her a hug and then glanced over at my dad. “Thanks for coming.”
Dad gave me a tight smile. I wasn’t sure what that smile was supposed to mean. Did he hate the fact that he was here? Or was he just keeping his mouth shut so he didn’t say anything to piss me off?
Either way, the fact that he was here meant more to me than he would ever know.
Mom’s eyes fell on Hailey, and I saw something in her face change. “Did you bring a date, Chase?”
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A hot flush crept up my neck. My family hadn’t seen me with a girl since my break up with Heather, and it’d completely slipped my mind that they’d be here tonight. I was kind of at a loss for words.
“Uh, I-”
“I’m Hailey Peters,” Hailey said extending her hand, “I’m in Chase’s Music Composition class.”
My parents and Cecilia all shook Hailey’s hand in turn and introduced themselves. I still hadn’t managed to form any words as of yet.
“What are you majoring in, Hailey?” Mom asked, her tone pleasant. The way Mom’s eyes glided over Hailey wasn’t lost on me. Mom was highly critical when it came to someone’s appearance, and I could tell that the way Hailey dressed had impressed her.
“Business,” Hailey responded. “I thought it would be a practical degree to have.” “That’s right, it is,” Dad said.
Jeez. Even Dad seemed to be ‘Team Hailey’.
“But I’m thinking of adding a minor in music.”
I glanced over at Hailey in surprise. I hadn’t expected that from her.
For some reason, Dad didn’t seem shaken by Hailey’s admission. In fact, a smile came to his face. “So you’re creative, too? Chase needs someone like that.”
Mom nodded, as usual agreeing with Dad. “Yes, he needs someone who is balanced. And not crazy.”
Dad laughed. “Yes, lack of craziness definitely gives you points.”
Cecilia and I exchanged weird looks. Um, what the freaking hell was going on here? I’d never seen my parents act like this before.
“Well, I can get a little crazy when my clothes aren’t organized or when my room is untidy. I’m a little OCD, but I’ve been trying to keep it at bay—my roommate is kind of a slob.” What Hailey didn’t realize was that she’d just listed qualities that my parents loved.
“That makes perfect sense to me,” Mom said, her eyes shining.
I watched in amazement as Hailey flawlessly carried a conversation with my parents. She was just too amazing for words.
“Why don’t you sit with us?” Hailey asked, looking around at my family with this cute, little smile on her face that made my pulse speed up.
“We’d love to!” Cecilia said, linking her arm through Hailey’s.
“Why don’t you go ahead and save some seats at the front?” I placed my hand on the small of Hailey’s back. “I’ll be right back.”
Cecilia shot me a look of confusion and I shook my head slightly letting her know that everything was fine.
But I wasn’t sure if everything was fine. I was nervous as hell. My heart was thrumming.
My palms were sweaty.
I was pretty sure I was about to go into cardiac arrest.
But I held myself tall as I made my way through the crowd and around to the back.
Regardless of how I felt, I had to focus. I had to let the music engulf me. It was time for Hailey to finally see the other side of me.