Chapter Thirty
Chase
As mad and indifferent as I was trying to be with Hailey, I couldn’t help but admire her ass as she walked away.
What? She was wearing that hot, red dress again that showed off her curvy body in ways that got me excited.
Besides, it was normal to want what you couldn’t have, but that wasn’t the only reason I wanted her. There were a hundred reasons why Hailey was the best damn thing that had walked into my life in a long time. And, yes, despite trying to get over her, I couldn’t help but have a reaction to seeing her.
I finally understood the kind of love Zach had been talking about—it was the kind of love that made you want to do anything for that other person.
I wasn’t sure what to make of Hailey getting me a present. As I fumbled with the wrapping on the package, I already knew what I would find inside. Call it intuition, but somehow I just knew.
As the paper fell away, the leather cover of the planner I’d bought for Hailey peeked through. Um, she hadn’t been lying when she’d said that it wasn’t much. I didn’t really know what she wanted me to do with the planner I’d given her.
Oh, shit. I knew that girls sometimes gave back things when they were trying to let go of
their memories and move on. Maybe that was why she’d returned the planner to me. She didn’t want to have anything to remember me by.
Yet, she’d also mentioned that she wasn’t with Braxton anymore. She’d wanted me to know that for a reason. Was the reason that she wanted to make things work between us?
Her words came back to me. She’d told me to make sure I opened the planner. I started flipping through the pages and that’s when I noticed that one of them was folded on the top right hand corner. I turned to the page and studied it in surprise as the words stared back at me.
My head snapped up and I searched for Hailey in the crowd but couldn’t see her anywhere. There were too many people around me and it would take me too long to find her before our set. I really didn’t want to wait until after we were done playing, but there was nothing else I could do.
I glanced back down at the planner.
Shit! What did this mean? I needed to know what was going on. Was this her way of telling me that she wanted to be with me? Why did girls have to be so confusing? Why couldn’t they just say be direct and say what they were really thinking?
All I had to go off of was a planner with hearts drawn in it.
“Chase? What are you doing? Are you ready?”
Turning around, I found Jonathan behind me with unasked questions in his eyes. I stuck the planner in the back pocket of my jeans and managed a nod. “Yeah, I’m good.” I started to follow him backstage. “Hailey showed up.”
Jonathan didn’t seem surprised by this. “Yeah, Tessa told me. We both thought it’d be a good idea if Hailey came along.”
I didn’t bother asking him why he thought it was a good idea. I was pretty sure he already knew Hailey meant a lot to me, and tonight was important. Of course I wanted her here, as long as it was on her terms.
As we took our positions, I finally caught sight of Hailey. She was with Tessa right at the front of the stage. She was so close that if I wanted, I could reach out and touch her.
We started out by playing a few of our older songs with the intention of getting the crowd
primed, and it worked. They’d come here to have a good time and that’s what they were getting.
Brandon and Jeffrey were doing a great job. They were really getting into it and having fun. When we wound up the second to last song, I stepped closer to the microphone.
“I wrote this last song for a girl who broke my heart. She’s here tonight and I want her to know that it’s still not too late.”
The crowd cheered, and when I glanced at Hailey, she was frozen. Her expression was blank and I didn’t know what to make of that.
We started to play Unfamiliar, and my eyes never left Hailey’s as I sang. I wanted her to know that this was about her, even though that should’ve been pretty clear by now. I had no reason to hide my feelings; she needed to know exactly how I felt.
Don't waste your breath on this Don’t waste your breath on this
You’re wasting so much time just living in your lies.
I haven't figured it all out but I know what you’re all about
You’re caught up with yourself and pushing me away Why waste your breath when the pain outweighs the truth?
I’m losing grip and I’m not so sure if we'll survive
The way I feel for you I can't ignore
He's not the one for you
He’s not the one for you
It’s do or die don't hesitate, I see it in your eyes, see it in your eyes
Just listen when I’m screaming
This unfamiliar feeling is what I hold
We only have one night to make this right
I knew it was important to engage the audience during a performance, but I was so enthralled by Hailey that I couldn’t look anywhere else. And she wasn’t looking away either. Her eyes were planted firmly on me.
There's only so many ways I can say
You’re falling from the truth stop running in circles
‘Cause you’re fighting with yourself
Just look at me and say what you believe
Just play it safe is what I was told
The way I feel for you I can't ignore
He's not the one for you
He’s not the one for you
It’s do or die don't hesitate, I see it in your eyes, see it in your eyes
Just listen when I’m screaming
This unfamiliar feeling is what I hold
We only have one night to make this right
Trust me there's lessons to learn, if you can tell them apart I’ll let you in on a secret; we start with broken hearts.
We were getting to the end of the song now, and as I sang the last part, I meant every bit of it. I just hoped that Hailey got the message.
The way I feel for you I can't ignore He's not the one for you, he's not the one.
It’s do or die don't hesitate, I see it in your eyes, see it in your eyes
Just listen when I’m screaming
This unfamiliar feeling is what I hold
We only have one night to make this right
Don't waste your breath on this Don’t waste your breath on this
You’re wasting so much time just living in your lies
And just like that, we were done. The crowd cheered. I exchanged back slaps and highfives with the other guys, congratulating them on the awesome show. We packed up our stuff and hauled it off to Jonathan’s van. After everything had been put away, I prepared to go out into the crowd to find the girl I’d fallen in love with, holding tightly onto her planner.
“Chase?”
Her voice was quiet and timid, but I heard her anyway. She was waiting backstage for me, and that’s when I knew that she’d chosen me. There was no other reason why she would be here, but I needed to hear it from her.
I tried to act cool as I held out her planner. “Here’s your planner.”
She seemed nervous as she took it from me. “Did you read it?”
“Yeah, I did.”
“And?” She chewed on her bottom lip. “Do you have something to say to me?” Yep, I was still playing it cool.
Hailey took an uncertain step towards me. “Chase, I know I’m probably too late. I know I took a long time to figure things out and I understand if you’ve moved onto something better. I just, I guess I wa
nted you to know that you’re the one who makes me happy. I thought about everything you said, and you’re right. I do need to get busy living my own life. I need to make my own choices and I wanted to start by saying that I choose you.”
I stayed silent, studying the way her face scrunched up as she spoke. It was the cutest expression I’d ever seen. I wanted so badly to kiss her right now so she knew that everything was fine, but it wouldn’t hurt to make her wonder for a second. After all, she had rejected me like twenty times. “Say something!” She looked really worried now.
I gave her a shrug. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist me and my muscles for too long. You had to come back for more of these sexy abs.”
“Chase!” She shoved me. “You are so frustrating!”
Laughing, I pulled her into my arms. “Oh, stop. You know I love messing with you.”
Hailey rolled her eyes at me. “Will you please let me know what you think so I know you’re serious about this?”
I pulled her in for a kiss, letting my hands roam all over the curves of her body. I could definitely get used to this.
“There were a million thoughts running through my mind, but every thought kept coming back to you. Every moment that made me smile was with you. Everything was confusion and darkness before you, and you gave everything a meaning. There's no way I'll ever let go of that. There’s no way I’ll ever let go of you.”
“So you still want me?”
“I’ll always want you.” And then I kissed her again.
“Chase Lancaster?”
I broke away from Hailey to find an older guy standing a couple of feet away from us. He was dressed casually and looked to be in his mid-thirties. He approached us with a smile.
“Yeah, that’s me.”
“I’m Brent, from the Vibe Group. I assume Parker told you I’d be coming.” No way. Brent was actually here. He’d actually come to see us play. This wasn’t happening.
“Hey, I’m so glad you could make it.” Hailey gave my hand a squeeze and it immediately calmed me down having her beside me.
“I’m glad I made it too,” Brent continued, “you guys were great. You really have a lot of energy on stage. I’ve been looking for a band with your sound for a long time.” All I could do was nod. I didn’t even know what to say.
“Do you think that management is something your band is looking for? I feel like we could help you advance your goals by putting you in touch with the right people.”
“That sounds great. We would love to sign with a management company that could help to take us to the next level.” I was still nodding, but at least I’d managed to form words this time.
“How about I shoot you an email with all the info and you can talk to the other guys in the band about it more?”
“Yeah, that sounds great.” Okay, I’d already said that. “This is exactly the kind of break we’ve been looking for.”
“It’s been great talking to you, Chase. Let me know if you have any questions.” Brent stuck out his hand. “I look forward to working with Set the Flames.”
As I shook his hand, something Hailey had said echoed through my mind. “Actually, we had a change of lineup in the band, so we decided we needed a new name.” I knew the guys wouldn’t care what I was about to do. “We’re not Set the Flames anymore, we’re Get Busy
Living.”
“Okay, I’ll make note of that,” Brent said with a nod, “It was good meeting you, Chase.”
“You too.”
After Brent left, Hailey turned to me, a smile on her face. She rested her head on my shoulder but looked up to study me with her green eyes that had become so familiar to me. “Get
Busy Living? I like it.”
“Good,” I said, kissing her forehead, “because that’s what we’re going to be doing with the rest of our lives.”
Epilogue
Chase
Hailey sat beside me, squeezing my hand so tightly I was pretty sure she was cutting off my circulation. “Hailey, I can’t feel my fingers,” I said with a laugh.
She gave me a look of embarrassment and loosened her grip. “I’m sorry! I’m just so excited! Aren’t you excited?”
Hell yeah, I was excited. I was also nervous as hell. This was a big deal. I still couldn’t believe this was happening. I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience.
“I am.” I kissed her hand. “I just don’t want to pass out from lack of blood circulation before I get to hear it.”
Hailey released my hand and rolled her eyes. “You are such a brat. I’m not that strong.”
“And now we’re going to play the single from a fresh pop punk band to hit the Kansas
City scene. This is Get Busy Living’s debut single, Unfamiliar.”
“Oh my gosh! That’s you!” She grabbed my arm this time, digging her nails into my skin as the song came on the radio.
“Hailey, baby.” I couldn’t help but laugh again. “Save that for when you get crazy in bed.”
“Chase!” She was so outraged that she released my arm. “I’m not getting crazy in bed with you!”
“I’m just messing with you.” I wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Thank you for being excited for me. I appreciate it.”
She cracked a smile at that and snuggled into me as the song played. Even though we’d both heard the song plenty of times, we still listened to it as though we were hearing it for the first time. It was our song. It was a piece of my relationship with Hailey that I’d managed to put into words. She was the inspiration that I’d always been looking for. The song covered everything that our relationship was about. It was up and down. It wasn’t perfect. But it was perfect enough for us, and that’s all we needed.
When the song ended, Hailey kissed my chin. “I’m so proud of you.” I shrugged. “It’s a start in the right direction. This will help us a lot.” “Don’t forget me when you’re famous,” she said with a grin. “That’s not possible.” And I meant it.
We stared at each other, this time not worrying about whether it was inappropriate or not. There was nothing holding us back. We were exactly where we needed to be.
This was my Hailey. Nobody else’s. I didn’t have to worry about her not wanting to be with me. I didn’t have to wonder if she had feelings for me. I already knew. Finally, I broke the silence. “About before, it’s fine, you know.” “What is?” A crease appeared on her brow.
A smile crept onto my face. “If you want to get crazy in bed. I wouldn’t mind.”
“Chase!” She playfully started slapping me on the arm, and all I did was laugh because I loved her and everything was easy with her.
“I’m sorry.” I grabbed her wrists. “I love you.”
And I meant it. I would never take her for granted. I would always try and keep that gorgeous smile on her face. And, maybe one day when we were both ready, we would take the next unfamiliar step forward in our relationship.
It was scary, but you had to live a little, right?
Do you want to hear the song that Chase wrote for Hailey? Pop punk band,
Get Busy Living, has created the song especially for the book and it’s available on iTunes now!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/all-good-memories-fade-ep/id798818510
You can also watch the music video for Unfamiliar on Youtube!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl1uhtcZZkA&app=desktop
Find out more about the guys from Get Busy Living:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GetBusyLivingBand
Twitter: @GBLband
Acknowledgments
We would like to extend a BIG thank you to the band Get Busy Living for writing such an awesome song for our book!
Thank you to Andrew
Shepherd for filming the music video for the song, and Jonathan Hargett and Megan Derry for acting in it.
We would also like to thank Tera Lankard for taking the photo we used for the cover, as well as Karlie Monroe and Chase Petersen for agreeing to be our models/muses. We know that you were freezing and it was super early in the morning, but you all were such great sports.
Thank you Eden Crane Design for designing our beautiful cover—your talent never ceases to amaze us!
Also we want to thank Heather Sloan for helping us edit and everyone else that has been so supportive. We love you all!
About the Authors
Erica Cope and Komal Kant have been LDBFF (long-distance-best-friendsforever) since 2012 when they met through blogging, but it seems like they've known each other for much longer than that. They bonded over their mutual affection for King Dorian (Richelle Mead's Dark Swan series), Daemon Black (Jennifer Armentrout's Lux series), Beau Vincent (Abbi Glines' The Vincent Boys) and Ryan Gosling.
You can find out more about Erica at: www.ericacope.com
You can find out more about Komal at: https://komalkant.wordpress.com/
Sneak peek of PIECES OF ME by Erica Cope
Available now on Amazon!
Prologue
“Where are we going?” Sean asked for the fiftieth time since we left this afternoon but I wasn't about to ruin my little surprise. He always went all out for holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries and this anniversary was a big one. Well, to us anyway. So I planned something special for him as a surprise.
It was a gorgeous summer night here in the middle of Kansas. The full moon was high and the stars dotted the night sky. I had already called the hotel to let them know we'd be checking in late. I smiled to myself as I realized I had almost pulled this thing off. We were celebrating three-years together—which is a pretty big deal when you're only eighteen.
“I told you, it's a surprise,” I said, unable to stop the huge grin from forming. He knew I hated surprises, but that didn't stop him from torturing me every time an opportunity presented itself, so I was enjoying having the shoe on the other foot for a change.
“Come on, Aria. Give me a hint,” he begged, and because I was a sucker, I couldn't resist.
“Oh, fine,” I said with an exasperated sigh. “Reach back there and grab my purse. Your hint is in the envelope.” I tried to pretend I was irritated but really, I was just too excited and impatient to keep the secret from him any longer.
He smiled at me like a child who was just given a cookie after being told he couldn't have any dessert. I smiled back as he unbuckled his seat belt and leaned back to reach my purse from where I'd set it behind my seat.
As he picked up the envelope he looked over at me and said, "You know I love you, right?"
“Yes, I do.”