most of it up, so that always helps.”
Andie cringed as the tiniest bit of color bloomed on her cheeks. “Sorry,” she whispered.
Chase smiled. “Plus I gave you some Gatorade and aspirin before you officially went down for the count. Regurgitate, rehydrate, medicate. The drunk man’s trifecta.”
The corner of her mouth lifted in a halfhearted smile before the room fell silent again.
Chase sat up, and her eyes followed him. “Where did you go last night?” he finally said. “Did you walk all the way to Ripley’s?”
Andie looked down, playing with the edge of his comforter. “I couldn’t find my keys. I figured I left them up here, but I didn’t want to come back up and see you.” She glanced up at him before she looked away sheepishly. “I got a cab.”
“They were outside on the sidewalk.”
She nodded softly. “I dropped my purse when I was coming down the steps. I didn’t see them fall out.”
“Well you scared the shit out of me.”
Andie looked at him before she lifted one shoulder in a shrug, and Chase sighed.
“I guess I deserve that,” he murmured. He reached up and ran his hand through his rumpled hair before he asked, “What do you remember from last night?”
Andie lifted her chin off her knees, moving to sit cross-legged. “I remember drinking my body weight in Lemon Drops. I remember standing outside of Ripley’s with you.”
“That’s it?”
She looked down at her hands. “Everything else is a little fuzzy.”
Chase watched her intently as he said, “You told me you didn’t want to be with me anymore.”
Andie’s eyes flitted to his before she looked back down at her hands again.
Chase swallowed, suddenly terrified to ask his next question. “Is that true?”
She licked her lips nervously, keeping her eyes trained on her fingers as she spoke. “You made me feel like this was wrong. And as much as I didn’t want to hurt Colin, I never felt like being with you was wrong.” She took a small breath, finally looking up at him. “So if you really believe that…then no, I don’t want to be with you.”
“Andie,” he said, placing his hands on the bed and leaning toward her. “Do you have any idea what you did to me last night when I thought something happened to you?”
She pulled her brow together and opened her mouth to protest, but he stopped her. “No, let me say this. When I thought you were hurt, I swear to God, I couldn’t breathe. I literally couldn’t breathe. It was like my body wouldn’t work. I couldn’t think at all, and I just kept moving in these pointless circles…” he trailed off shaking his head. “I have never felt so out of control in my life.”
Chase exhaled heavily, running his hand down his face before he said, “And outside Ripley’s, when you told me you didn’t want me anymore, I couldn’t even feel the pain of that because I was just so goddamn happy you were safe.”
Her expression softened before she dropped her eyes to the bed.
“And I couldn’t even sleep last night because I just kept thinking that if this were really the last night you were going to be in my bed, I didn’t want to miss one second of it.”
Andie lifted her eyes to his, and this time they were welled with tears. He moved toward her on the bed, taking her face in his hands.
“I messed up last night. I wasn’t thinking, and I messed up,” he said, swiping his thumbs under her eyes as the first tears fell. “I can’t promise you that I’ll never be an asshole again. But I can promise you that I don’t mean it. And I can’t promise you that I won’t ever make mistakes, but I can promise you that I’ll learn from them and do whatever it takes to make it right with you again.”
Andie closed her eyes, sending two more tears down her cheeks, and Chase brushed them away with his thumbs again. He waited until she opened her eyes before he said, “And I can promise you with my entire being that I don’t think you’re a terrible person. I think you’re the most incredible, selfless, intelligent, brave, beautiful, funny, talented, adorable person I’ve ever met in my life. And I can absolutely promise you that I don’t think this,” he gestured between them, “is wrong. You may very well be the only thing I’ve ever done right.”
Her eyes fell closed as a tiny sob fell from her lips,