Stay With Me (She's With Me #2) - Jessica Cunsolo Page 0,68
“If she wanted to be with me, she wouldn’t have been with him.”
That slightly angers me. Chase, like Mason, goes around hooking up with random girls all the time, then doesn’t understand when the girl he loves doesn’t realize that he loves her!
“If you wanted to be with her, you wouldn’t confuse her by hooking up with other girls.”
“I told you why—”
“I know you told me why,” I interrupt, sitting up straighter as I shift into talk some sense into him mode. “‘You’re not good enough for her and it’ll ruin your friendship and you’re trying to move on,’ blah, blah, blah. It’s too late to go back and change anything, but it’s not too late to fix your friendship with Char. And Noah.”
“But—”
“No.” I wasn’t done yet. “You already walked in on her and probably scarred her for life; you’re going to have to talk things out anyway. Telling her how you feel can’t possibly make things any worse or more awkward than they’re going to be now.”
“What if she chooses Noah?”
“First of all, we don’t even know if Noah likes her, or if she likes him.”
He opens his mouth to say something, but I continue anyway, deciding to be brutally honest because he needs to hear it. “But if she happens to choose him and they decide to give it a try, be happy for her. Charlotte doesn’t owe you anything, Chase, but you’re her best friend and I know she wouldn’t want to lose you, just like you wouldn’t want to lose her.”
Chase looks down at his hands in his lap. “I don’t know. I’ll think about telling her, I guess.”
“Good. And you owe Noah an apology. But think about what you’re going to tell Char while you’re in the shower. You smell like booze and barbeque.”
The corners of his mouth turn up slightly in a small smile. “That you’re right about.”
He stands up and the pillow that was keeping him decent falls to the floor, along with whatever Froot Loops weren’t glued to him. I throw my hands over my face.
“Chase!”
“Oh, sorry.” He laughs, picks up the pillow, and covers his behind as he walks up the stairs.
“And burn the pillow!” I call after him, hearing his answering chuckle.
“Amelia?” A different voice calls, one that sends a warmth throughout my body.
Aiden comes out of his room, looking freshly showered.
“Shit, sorry. Did I wake you with the yelling?”
His room, Noah’s room, and Annalisa and Julian’s room are on the main floor, but Aiden’s is the closest to the living room.
“No. It’s eight thirty, I was already up. Who were you talking to? And what happened to the couch?”
I look at the couch and can’t help but smile. “I was talking to Chase. He slept on the couch. It’s kind of a long story.”
“Ah. He was drinking last night.”
“Guess it’s not a long story after all.” I laugh as I head into the kitchen, grab a roll of paper towels, and toss them to Aiden.
He catches them with ease and looks back at the mess. “Dammit. Please tell me he didn’t finish all of my Froot Loops!”
I laugh as we kneel down and wipe off the couch, which, thankfully, is leather.
“We can always go get you some more,” I tell him, because between the mess on the floor and on the couch, it’s looking like Chase dumped the whole box.
We clean up the mess pretty quickly and manage to get the couch to stop being sticky, but right as we’re going to make some breakfast as a reward, the doorbell rings.
“You keep working on those eggs, I’ll get it,” I tell Aiden as my stomach growls in protest.
The living room, kitchen, and small, front foyer is all in one big, open-concept area. When I look through the peephole, Aiden sees me step back in confusion.
“Who is it?” he asks, walking over to me.
There are three men in suits standing on the porch; the one in the middle is instantly recognizable.
“It’s the mayor. What should we do?” I look at Aiden helplessly.
How did the mayor find us? Is he here to arrest Aiden? He wouldn’t have come personally to arrest him, right?
There’s another persistent knock on the door, and I look through the peephole again before Aiden has the chance to open the door. The two men with the mayor definitely look more like bodyguards than cops, which calms me down a bit. But still.
“Do you think he knows who you are?” I whisper to Aiden.