“I am more or less. As well as the experience of plenty of other women.”
“I don’t know about falling in love, but I’m going to see where things go with Chase. How often do you randomly meet a guy like that twice?”
“Exactly. I’m telling you, it’s fate. It’s one of those stories you’ll be telling your grandkids about.”
“Okay, that’s taking it too far.” I was hoping he’d still be interested in a few months, let alone anything longer.
She laughed. “Fair enough.”
“Do you know much about his band?” Jade had given me some details, but I wanted more.
“Sure. You know they just signed with Interline Records, right?”
“Is that name supposed to mean something to me?”
She laughed. “It’s one of the biggest labels out there. This is a huge transition for the band. Chase has been downplaying it, but Len’s not. He’s loving the attention.”
“Chase doesn’t seem like the usual front man.” At least not the ones I’d seen.
“He’s not. Don’t get me wrong, he loves performing, but off stage, he’d rather just have quiet, you know?”
“It’s still crazy that he’s interested in me. If his band is doing that well, he could have anyone.”
“Key word there is could. He doesn’t want to. Obviously, there’s something about you that attracted him, and it’s kept his attention. I haven’t seen him really date anyone for close to a year.”
“Really? That long?” The admission surprised me. If Chase wasn’t the type to sleep around and he hadn’t dated in ages, then why had I suddenly broken his drought?
“His long-time girlfriend dumped him for someone else, and it messed with him, I guess. He still gets mad whenever anyone mentions her name.”
“What’s her name so I know to avoid it?”
“Ariana. I met her a few times. She’s a bitch. I really never understood why he was with her.”
I refused to think about the girl. She was an ex, just like Aaron was. No reason to dwell on it. “Okay, enough about Chase’s past love life. Let’s talk about your wedding.”
We spent the rest of dinner discussing her plans for a destination wedding. It sounded exciting and a part of me wondered if I’d be there.
“Want to just go back to my apartment or something? I forgot you weren’t twenty-one when I suggested drinks.”
“Oh. Sure. It doesn’t matter either way as long as Riley won’t mind.”
“He won’t. He’s grateful you’re putting up with me. I’ve been complaining about how lonely it is here since we moved.”
“How long has it been?” I couldn’t imagine a girl like Rachel having trouble making friends.
“I moved from Chapel Hill four months ago. When Riley popped the question, I knew it was time to stop doing long distance.”
“Wow. You just dropped everything and moved?” That was a huge commitment. I couldn’t imagine how hard moving to a new city for a guy would be, especially one that worked as much as Riley. “That couldn’t have been easy.”
“It wasn’t, but I knew it was the only way things would work for us.” She took a final sip of her wine and set aside the empty glass.
“That’s how you can give such great advice on the long distance thing. You’ve been there yourself.”
“Exactly.”
The waitress came over with the bill, and Rachel snatched it. “My treat.”
“We can split.”
“Nope. I remember what it was like as a college student. I’m employed.”
“I probably should be. I need something to do with my extra time.”
“Enjoy it. You’ll never get that time back.”
My mother had reinforced that point at least a half dozen times since the breakup. “I know. I know.”
“But if you want a job because you need money, that’s a different story.”
“I may need to. I guess I got used to Aaron paying for everything when we went out.”
“I can probably get you something where I work. Just let me know if you want me to.”