“Yeah,” he said. “What’s going on?” Colin glanced up before he said, “She’s there?”
“Jesus,” Chase breathed, collapsing against the doorframe and closing his eyes.
“Why? What’s wrong?”
Chase whipped his head up. “What happened?”
Colin held his hand up before he said, “Alright, I’ll be there in ten minutes.” He ended the call before he said. “That was Tyler. He stopped by Ripley’s to pay his tab from this weekend. She’s there. He said I needed to get down there.”
Chase turned before Colin had finished his sentence, running down the steps and out to his car, starting it before he had even closed the door. He was vaguely aware of Colin getting into his own car as he drove down the street and made a sharp left, but the only thing he could concentrate on was getting to Ripley’s so he could see with his own two eyes that she was okay.
He pulled into an empty space at the end of the street that wasn’t meant for parking before he jumped out and walked swiftly down the sidewalk toward the bar.
As soon as he opened the door, relief flooded through him like cool water through his overheated veins.
She sat with her elbow on the bar, her chin resting heavily in her palm, and Chase was pretty sure her hand was the only thing keeping her head up at that moment. Her eyes were glazed and unfocused as her free hand sloppily played with the mess on the bar in front of her.
The pile of discarded lemon rinds.
Under any other circumstances, he would have smiled over her falling victim to his Lemon Drops once again, but the expression on her face was ripping his heart out. She had that little crease between her brow, and all he wanted to do was scoop her up in his arms and kiss her there until it smoothed away.
“Are you gonna take care of her?”
Chase hadn’t even heard Colin come up behind him. He glanced back at him before he looked at Andie again, her eyes falling closed for a beat too long before she opened them lethargically.
“Yeah. I’ll handle this,” he said, taking a step toward her. He felt a hand come down on his arm as Colin gripped him forcefully, spinning Chase back around to face him.
“No,” he said firmly, his eyes intense as they locked with Chase’s. He took a tiny breath before he said again, “Are you gonna take care of her?”
Only this time, his meaning was clear.
Chase felt the tension drop from his shoulders, and for the first time in a long time, he was able to look his friend square in the eye before speaking to him.
“Yes.”
Colin stared at him for a moment, the muscle of his jaw flexing as his grip on Chase’s arm loosened. With one firm nod, he released him fully before he turned and walked out the door, pulling it closed behind him.
Chase stood there for a moment, staring at the dark wood and the brass handle without really seeing. He heard the sound of Colin’s car door slamming followed by the sound of his car accelerating as he took off down the street, and Chase closed his eyes and lowered his head, taking a deep breath before he turned back toward Andie. She was licking the sugar granules off an old lemon rind as she stared blankly into space.
Chase walked toward the end of the bar, and as he approached her, her eyes slid over him and then away without the slightest sign of recognition. He took a steadying breath, thinking maybe he would be lucky and she’d be too drunk to remember she was mad at him.
But when he stopped in front of her, she shook her head. “Go away, Chase.”
“No.”
Her eyes flashed to his. “Fine,” she said, picking up one of the empty shot glasses as she tilted her head all the way back, trying to drain the remnants of a shot she’d already taken. After a few unsuccessful seconds, she slammed the glass back on the bar. “Then I’ll go.”
She turned away from him, grabbing her purse as she called out to the bartender. “Excuse me, Billy? Barney?”
Chase stifled a smile. “His name is Bailey.”
“Barney?” she called again. “Can I get one more of these?” she asked, waving an empty shot glass in the air as she tried to gather her purse with her free hand.
Chase turned toward Bailey, shaking his head imperceptibly as he moved his fingertips back and forth over his throat, and Bailey nodded once before he said, “Sorry sweetheart. We already had last call.”
“Fair enough,” she said before she turned and fumbled with the straps of her purse, trying to gather her things.
“You know what you don’t know about me, Chase?” she asked suddenly before she yanked the purse off the stool and looked up at him. “I love Lemon Drops.” She shrugged flippantly as she added, “I do. I am a liquor kind of girl.”
This time he couldn’t fight his smile. “I can see that.”
“And you wanna know something else about me?” she said, standing from the stool with her bag. She teetered but grabbed the edge of the bar to steady herself before she turned to him. “I don’t want to talk to you.”
She pushed past him as he said, “I can see that, too.”
Chase watched her attempt to storm out of the bar, stopping every few seconds to grip the back of a bar stool before she continued. He reached in his back pocket and grabbed his wallet, throwing some money on the bar and saluting Bailey before he followed her out the door.
After a few steps Andie stopped abruptly as she whipped around to face him, and he halted.
“And here’s something else you don’t know about me,” she said, only this time her eyes were glassy with unshed tears. “I am not a terrible person.”
Chase exhaled, his expression turning serious. “I know that.”
“No, you don’t, and you suck because you don’t!” she said, taking a quick step toward him and poking him in the chest hard enough to send him back a step. “You said we were a match because we’re both terrible, and I’m not terrible!”
Andie took a step backward before she continued, her voice trembling. “Because if I was, it wouldn’t be breaking my heart that he’s sad right now. If I was, it wouldn’t have been such a battle to let myself have you in the first place.”
Chase’s chest instantly tightened at her words.
“You’re right,” he said softly, taking a tiny step toward her. She immediately took a step back, stumbling slightly as the back of her foot slipped out of her high heel.
“And I shouldn’t have to explain that to you,” she said dismissively, the words running together in places as she tried to get her foot back in her shoe. “I shouldn’t have to convince you that I’m good.”
“You don’t have to,” he said, taking another small step toward her.
“You should just know!” she yelled, whipping her head up as she lost her grip on the shoe, her foot still half out of the heel as came down on the pavement. She swiped the hair out of her eyes before she shook her head. “I don’t even know who you were back there. I hate who you were back there.”
Chase nodded, taking a tiny step toward her. “Me too.”
“Because you’re not terrible either,” she said, trying to get her balance before she pointed at him. “I wouldn’t feel this way about you if you were.”
“Andie,” Chase said, and she shook her head.
“Why do you act like an asshole if you’re not an asshole? Why do you act like that?”
He closed the rest of the distance between them, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into his chest.
“I don’t want you to act like an asshole,” she said firmly before she pushed him away. He took a step back as she added, “And I don’t want to be happy that you’re here right now.”
Andie reached down to her shoe, her other arm flapping at her side as she tried to get her foot back in, and Chase stepped forward once more, steadying her before attempting to take her in his arms. She pushed him away again, but this time with less force.