“Cara? Did you call the wrong number by mistake?” Len joked.
“Nope. I need to talk to you. Is Chase around?”
“Uh, oh. Listen, Cara. You’re hot and all, but you’re also dating my brother.”
“Dream on. I’m being serious. Is he around at all or not?”
“No. What’s up?” His tone became serious. It was a tone I’d never heard in Len’s voice before.
“Why wouldn’t Chase want me to go to your lake house?”
“Uh, is this a trick question? What am I not getting?”
“Be serious, Len. He was supposed to invite me and didn’t.”
“Did you ask him?”
“No.”
“Because that would be the easier way to find out.”
“Len!”
“Relax. I don’t know. Maybe he’s nervous about introducing you to Ariana or something.”
“Oh.” Wow, that was straight to the point.
“Oh, don’t you dare.”
“What?” I tried to clamp down on the dull ache forming in my chest.
“Get all moody and jealous and shit. She’s an ex-girlfriend. Emphasis on ex. It’s not always fun to introduce the new girl to the old one though, you know?”
I didn’t know. What I knew was that my last boyfriend had been screwing his ex the whole time we were together. I also knew that Aaron never wanted me to go home with him. He’d made up excuses every time he went back, and I’d been too stupid to see through it. I wasn’t making that mistake again. “You’re right. Thanks.” I hung up, trying to decide if the awful feeling in my gut was real intuition or just my own insecurities talking.
On impulse, I set up my laptop. Chase said that nearly all of his music came from personal experience and feelings. Maybe there was something in his music that would give me a clue. I searched "Chance of a Lifetime” and “Ariana.” A whole bunch of results showed up all relating to one particular song. The Lake House. My chest clenched. He’d never played that song for me, and then I remembered something else. That was the song the crowd had begged him to play. But he wouldn’t. Was it because of me?
I mustered the nerve and clicked on the first result that contained the lyrics. Moments later, I’d wished I hadn’t. Filled with descriptions of love and sex, the song had me wanting to throw my laptop through the window. I’d thought the songs he’d written for me were sweet, but this was something else. Although laced with sadness, it was intense and raw. And real. There was a level of emotion in Lake House he’d never put in my songs, and that reality hit me like a ten pound weight. Even if Chase wasn’t fooling around behind my back, he didn’t love me. At least not in the true never-ending way he’d obviously felt for this other girl.
For a moment, I wondered if I was reading too much into things, but I refused to believe that. I went back and continued through the results. I clicked on a link to an interview Chase had done a few years back. Worse than the lyrics was the picture that accompanied the article. There was Chase holding a girl from behind with a big goofy grin on his face. His guitar was slung over his shoulder. The girl looked nothing like me. With jet black hair, and a model’s thin and straight figure, she looked so much more natural next to him. The caption below it read, “Chase Denton and his muse, Ariana.”
I left the site and deleted both pages from my browsing history. I didn’t want to accidently click on it and read those lyrics or see that picture again. Maybe Carol was trying to send me a message at lunch. Did she want me to stay away from Chase? My head spun with what ifs. I needed to handle things right. Chase didn’t even live in the same city. It wouldn’t be like Aaron. It didn’t have to be some big over the top emotional breakup. I’d just distance from him, and he’d get the hint and move on. He could get back with Ariana or someone else he did love.
I picked up my phone and texted Chase back. Sorry. Really busy right now.
Can you talk?
No. Sorry. I’m at. I started to type the library but I deleted it. I wasn’t going to lie. I left it at No. Sorry and hit send.