Page 24 of Avoidance

He took a swig, and wiggled his eyebrows at me. “I hope you put your dancing shoes on.”

“He dances, too?” Dave asked. “Is there anything this man cannot do?”

“If I find anything, I’ll let you know.” I kissed Chase’s cheek proudly. “So, you don’t have anybody special to spend Valentine’s Day with?”

Dave shook his head. “Nope. I’m done with dating.”

“Who broke your heart?” Chase asked.

“Oh, look. I have customers.” Dave grinned while he waltzed away.

I laughed. “Looks like I’m not the only one who avoids talking about things.”

“You’re a real pair,” Chase smirked. “Come on, let’s go.”

I took hold of my cocktail as he pulled me onto the dance floor. The DJ was playing a mixture of new and old dance songs. The bar was crowded, but not packed like it was when Chase had performed. By the second round of drinks, we were goofing off and pulling out all the moves between the Sprinkler and the Running Man, until we were doubled over with laughter.

We remained on the dance floor throughout the night, only stopping when we needed refills. I lost count of how many glasses I had downed.

“Do you remember the last time we danced together?” I shouted over the music.

“Yeah. You were about to kiss me when that girl spilled her drink on you and ruined everything.”

I giggled, remembering how drunk he was the night of the Halloween party last year. “And now, you can kiss me whenever you want.”

He drew me closer, his left hand sinking into the back pocket of my shorts, as his right hand held my chin. “I want to kiss you for the rest of my life.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

I stretched up onto my toes to meet his lips with mine. I had to grip the back of his neck with both hands to steady myself. The room was starting to spin, and it wasn’t solely due to Chase’s kiss. My face felt numb, and my legs felt wobbly. For the first time since arriving in California, I did not care who was looking at me, or what anyone was thinking. I was enjoying the moment, feeling carefree. More importantly, thoughts of my mom, my dad, Chase’s dad, and Khloe’s sad face seemed so far away.

It was an exhilarating feeling, and I wanted it to stay.

Chapter Five

The Tremor

“Is it too much?” I asked, pulling at the hemline of the pale pink dress that Brooke insisted on buying me.

An open-mouthed Chase stood in the living room, staring at me as I exited the bathroom. His wide eyes traveled down the plunging halter neckline of the form-fitting velvet dress, down my bare legs to the silver strappy heels, and back up again. I took this time to appreciate his attire: a navy button-down tucked into grey slacks, with a matching grey tie. His rolled up sleeves accentuated the muscles in his forearms. I noted the small pink gift bag that was dangling from his right hand; I had a similarly sized red bag dangling from mine.

“Wow. You look… stunningly beautiful. I don’t have the right words to do you justice.”

“I’ll take stunningly beautiful any day of the week.” I looked around the room. “I feel like I’m forgetting something.”

“You don’t need a jacket. It’s warm outside, remember?”

“The weather really is perfect here. I’m used to being wrapped up in jackets and scarves.”

He gestured dramatically to the staircase. “After you, my lady.”

We held hands as we walked down Broadway to the restaurant. The sun was setting, leaving the sky a beautiful mixture of pink and orange swirls. I was happy to be spending this time with Chase. Once he became property of the record label, I did not know how often we would see each other. It would give me a lot of free time to figure out where I was going with my life. I could not get Jake’s words out of my head from the bar the other night: “How come you’re not off chasing your own dreams?” Jake the douchebag may have been brazen, but he was right.

“What are you thinking about?” Chase asked, sitting across from me inside the restaurant. The flame from the small tealight candle that danced between us illuminated his face.

“What I will do with myself once you’re off becoming a superstar.”

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