Page 28 of Chasing Lyric
The song changes on the radio.
Hisvoice filters all around me.
I feel like I’m transparent.
Like Chase can see me.
Like he can seeright through me.
I know I’m tense while Chase taps along, bobbing as if he’s loving the catchy tune. “I like this song,” he gushes, then hums along with the melody.
My heart races as my palms begin to sweat. “Can we turn this off?” My voice is raspy, almost broken, while my breathing rushes through my nose.
He turns, his eyes wide in what seems like shock, but he quickly switches it off. “Hit a nerve? Remind you of an ex or something, Starlight?”
My stomach knots as I turn in my seat away from him, my arms folded across my chest as I focus out the window onthe aquamarine Pacific Ocean waves crashing against the sand. They roll into the shore tumultuously, unlike the atmosphere in the truck right now. An arctic blast filters through the air. The pickup is blanketed in a deadly silence with no other sounds but the dull whooshing of the tires on the asphalt and my harsh breathing.
The entire ride is spent with me sulking.
This is not how I want my last moments with Chase to be.
But that damn song’s ruined everything.
Just likethat bandruined my life.
Chase pulls closer to Love and Lavender, and I can’t help but feel regret for my actions. He will probably never want to see me again after this. To be honest, I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t want to see me either. I’ve been up and down like a damn yo-yo with him.
All because he makes me feel.
Makes me want something I don’t want to have, and it scares me.
Chase exhales forcefully as we pull up in front of my store. “Lyri, I’m an asshole. Can I make it up to you?”
I can’t help but turn to face him, letting out a small laugh. “No.What?It’s me who should be sorry. It’s just that song, that band, they meant something to me. And… it doesn’t matter, but I shouldn’t take it out on you. That’s not fair.”
He narrows his eyes. “Well, then, seeing as thisisallyourfault, and I’m completely in the clear, I think you should make it up to me.” His lips turn up slightly. “By having dinner… with me.”
I raise my brow. “That was the most insulting way of asking a girl out I’ve ever heard.”
Chase’s cheeky grin lights up.
My knees go weak when he flashes me his pearly whites.
Damn him.
“So… dinner?”
He’s still trying.
Even after my tantrum.
Chase is a glutton for punishment.
I know I can’t refuse him. “Okay, dinner. But I want flowers, really pretty ones,” I tease.
“Challenge accepted. Right now, I need to get my mother’s flowers from the best florist in Laguna Beach before I head back and have my head removed by my father. Hell, it’s why I came all this way in the first place.”
My eyes widen. “Wait! Where did you come from?”
