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“You know I do,” Haley said, her eyes going lidded.
I was going to enjoy this.
6
Haley
The hours passed so quickly they might as well have been minutes. After all this time, it still blew my mind how easy and natural it felt to talk to Chase. Occasionally, when he flashed those green eyes and that devilish smile my way, it almost felt like no time had ever passed, like we had never left college. Like we were still two dumb college kids fumbling our way through a semi-serious relationship. Only now, we weren’t stupid kids anymore. We were adults, with adult lives and adult problems. At least, I had grown-up problems. I had a feeling that Chase’s life was going a lot smoothly than mine was. Not that that was a difficult standard to reach, since my life was currently spiraling out of control.
Suddenly, I remembered that I was supposed to be hunting down the man who was sent by the bank to inspect my resort and possibly buy it from right underneath me. But sitting here with Chase was much more enjoyable. I didn’t think I could tear myself away from him even if I tried. He was gazing at me sidelong, a playful smirk on his impossibly handsome face. Cracking some joke about how things used to be, how some things never change.
“Do you remember that horrible roommate you had in the dorms?” he asked, jolting me back to the present moment. “She was so rude and messy.”
“Oh my God. Remember her? Chase, no amount of time could pass to let me forget about Kaitlin. She was the worst,” I laughed, shaking my head.
“What was it she used to eat all the time? Remember, she left crumbs all over the place constantly? Oh, what was it?” he mused, chuckling to himself.
“Granola bars,” I answered. I rolled my eyes even as I giggled. “God, she was constantly crunching on those things when I was trying to study. You wouldn’t think a noise like that would bother me so much, but when I was trying so hard to focus on homework, there was nothing in the universe more annoying. To this day, I avoid granola like the plague, you know.”
“Just because of her?” he laughed.
“Yep. She really ruined it for me completely,” I replied. I shuddered. “Crumbs all over the floor and her stupid boy band posters up on the walls.”
“Oh, I remember that. Wasn’t that partly why we stopped hanging out in your dorm room as much?” he chimed in. I nodded.
“Yes, it was. If I can recall correctly, we were… making out on my tiny little twin bed when we both looked up to make eye contact with one of those dumb teenybopper boy band guys on the poster and that was the end of that,” I remembered, my stomach aching from laughing so much. “I think after that we just started hanging out at your apartment instead. You know, I’m not sure why we didn’t just do that in the first place. Your apartment was much, much nicer than my ugly, tiny dorm room.”
“Oh, I know why,” he said cryptically. He lowered his voice. “It’s because I was afraid my apartment would make you… uncomfortable.”
I frowned and tilted my head to one side. “Why? Your apartment was great.”
“Well, exactly. I was already notorious as a wealthy guy. A playboy on campus. All I wanted to do was lie low back then. You know, blend in. Most of my friends lived in those dorms, and there I was with my fancy apartment. Not even with a roommate,” he explained.
“Wait, so you were ashamed of being well-off?” I inquired, leaning in.
He smiled. “Not ashamed. I’ve never been ashamed of anything in my life.”
“Then what?” I pressed him, genuinely curious. Of course, we were very, very close in college, but our relationship was built less on communication and more on, well, being intimate. I couldn’t even count the number of times I cut out of class early to hop in his car and drive somewhere to kiss and hold each other. We took it slow regarding other forms of intimacy, but I spent pretty much every waking moment back then anticipating the next chance I would have to get close to Chase. He was my reward for getting my homework done quickly. My motivation for blowing through my chores at the dorm. Because as soon as my responsibilities were fulfilled, I could run off to Chase and forget all my worries.
“I never wanted you or anyone else to think I was a snob. My family has always had money, but I did not want that to be the crowning achievement people assigned to me. I did not want to be known as the guy who skated by in life on his father’s coattails. I needed everyone to see me for who I was, not the digits in my bank account,” he disclosed in a softer voice. Gone was the joking tone. He was being serious now. Deadly serious.
“You know,” I began slowly, “I never thought of you that way. Not for one second. You weren’t ‘the rich guy on campus’ to me. You were just Chase. The stupidly hot guy who, for some reason I could never quite comprehend, was into me. Your family’s money never even crossed my mind. I just couldn’t believe you were interested in me. And not because you were wealthy, but because you were amazing.”
A slow, brilliant grin appeared on his face. I could feel my cheeks going pink and warm and I had to look away before I melted under his stare. “Anyway, that was a long time ago, wasn’t it?” I murmured. I stared down into my nearly-empty glass, swirling the watered-down liquid and ice.
“Years and years,” he agreed, his voice a low growl. “Many things have changed since then. The kind of changes I never would have seen coming when I was with you, when I was still so young and reckless. When you’re that age, people tell you all the time that your life will change in unexpected ways, but it’s impossible to really believe it until those changes come to pass. I never could have predicted how different things would be for me.”
“I feel the same way,” I admitted. “My life now is a pretty far cry from how it was back when you and I were together. I’d like to think those changes have made me a better person. More responsible. But I’m not sure.”
“Well, look at you now. You’re working hard, keeping this place running. That’s something to be proud of, isn’t it?” he pointed out kindly. I could only muster up a half-hearted attempt at a smile. He was trying to be compassionate and helpful, but he had no idea how wrong he was. How much of a failure I was. The Peppertree was collapsing all around me, and somewhere in this building there was a guy preparing to snatch it all out from under me.
But I didn’t want to talk about that right now. Hell, I didn’t even want to think about it. So I decided to change the subject by whatever means necessary. “So, what about you? What are you doing nowadays for work?” I piped up.
“Well, at the moment I am head of operations for my father’s company,” he answered.
“Wow. That’s impressive,” I commented.
“It’s a lot of work, but it’s rewarding, carrying on my father’s legacy,” he added. Then he paused. That moment of hesitation hinted as to why he was reticent at first. My heart sank.
