she turned and stumbled out of the kitchen. She felt clumsy and inept, almost like she was running underwater as she approached his door, and as soon as she was outside, her hand flew to her mouth as the first sob ripped from her throat with startling force. She staggered away from his apartment and back to her car, earning several stares from people passing by.
One teenage boy actually stopped, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “Are you…are you okay?” he asked uneasily.
Andie nodded, trying to force a smile but turning away from him as another sob broke from her lips.
She finally reached her car and poured herself inside; she had no business driving in her current state, but she turned the key in the ignition anyway.
Andie wove through the darkened streets, one hand on the wheel and the other swiping at the inexorable tears. In her mind, she knew that she should go home now. But everything in her body screamed for Chase.
She just needed to see him.
Andie realized she should probably wait to talk to him. She needed to calm down and gather her thoughts. After screwing things up so badly with Colin, she wanted to make sure she at least did this part right.
And yet five minutes later, she was on the highway that would lead her to him.
She had never been to his apartment before; she only knew about it from their discussions on the way to Florida, and she hoped that through the darkness and her incoherency, she could figure out which one it was.
When she finally pulled onto the street she knew was his, she parked the car, squinting out the windshield and trying to make out the numbers on the buildings through her bleary vision. It wasn’t the best neighborhood, and she didn’t want to wander around it in the dark, especially in her current state. Her eyes were burning, and she could already feel how swollen they were.
She exited the car quickly and sprinted up the steps of the building she hoped was his, glancing quickly at the buzzer; the word McGuire was scrawled next to 3B.
With renewed urgency she ran inside and up the stairs, slowing down as she approached the door. Her hand trembled as she knocked softly. It was a minute before she heard the sounds of someone on the other side of it, and as the door swung open, her eyes filled with tears again.
Only this time, there was relief behind them.
He was shirtless, the flannel pajama pants he was wearing riding low on his body, revealing the muscled V of his hips. His hair was a rumpled mess and his eyes were squinted with sleep.
“Hi,” Andie whispered softly, her chin trembling.
His eyes widened in alarm. “Jesus Christ, what happened to you? Are you okay?” He stepped forward quickly, reaching for her.
“Colin asked me to marry him.”
He froze before bringing his arms back to his sides. There was the tiniest flicker of something behind his eyes, but as soon as it appeared, it was gone, replaced by a polite smile.
“Congratulations.”
“I said no,” she whispered.
She watched his smile drop, and she blinked up at him, a fresh round of tears spilling from her eyes as she waited for him to say something.
His expression was unreadable.
“I said no, Chase,” she repeated.
He closed his eyes before he exhaled heavily, dropping his head as he ran his hand through his hair. “That’s not what…” He trailed off, fumbling for words. “I didn’t mean for that to happen.”
“Chase,” Andie said, shaking her head. She would not let him take the blame for this. She had made this decision. He may have opened her eyes to certain things, but Chase or no Chase, she and Colin would never have worked.
Andie took a step toward him, and he stepped back abruptly.
She stilled, her stomach twisting unpleasantly at his reaction.
Slowly, he lifted his eyes to hers. “Andie,” he said, his voice soft but resolute, “you should have said yes.”
All the breath left her body as she looked up at him, her heart sinking as she took in his smooth expression. The fire in his eyes, the longing she had nearly drowned in that night at the piano, was nowhere to be found.
“You should have said yes,” he repeated softly as he took another tiny step back.
She felt the heat flood her cheeks as humiliation settled around her like a fog, preventing any logical reaction or thought, any rational response.
Instead she turned, attempting to maintain some