The Hazards of Sex on the Beach (Hazards #3)(51)
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy

“That’s great. I know Riley and Chase are glad you two are so friendly.”

I smiled. “I feel the same way.”

Rachel’s phone beeped and she glanced at it. “That’s my boss. I have to go take care of a mess with a client. I’m so sorry, but I need to go.” Rachel stood up. “I’ll see you at the fitting, Carol. And call me later, Cara.” She dashed off in a blur.

Carol unfolded her napkin. “Rachel moves quickly when she wants to, doesn’t she?”

“That she does.” I forced down my frustration at Rachel inviting me over and then leaving. She probably had a good reason, but it was still awkward. I couldn’t mess this up. You only had one chance to make a good impression, and this one needed to be great if Chase and I were going to be together for any significant period of time.

“You don’t have to be so nervous. I’m so excited to meet you. Chase has never talked about a woman as much as he talks about you.”

“Really?” I had no idea he’d been discussing me with his mother.

A waiter came over with water, and I quickly scanned the menu to pick a meal. I settled on an apple walnut salad.

“Yes. You seem to have him captivated. I’m sure you’ve realized this already, but Chase is pretty strong headed when it comes to getting what he wants. When he sets his sights on something, he does everything to make it happen. He was that way with school, and his music, and now he seems to have turned that single-minded determination to you.”

“It’s not as though I tried to stay away.”

“Is that so? I heard quite the opposite about your first meeting.” She watched me as she sipped her water through a straw.

Oh my god. Had Chase seriously told her what happened? “Oh. I didn’t think you’d heard about that.”

“Len was the one who mentioned that detail. Don’t worry, it didn’t change my opinion of you.” She seemed to be reading my mind. Or maybe she just understood that it’s the last piece of information a girl wants her boyfriend’s mom to know.

“It was out of character for me. I wasn’t sure what I was doing.”

“But it all worked out in the end.”

“It did.” I smiled, thinking about how well it had worked out.

“Have you decided whether you’ll be joining us at the lake in May? Chase said you’d be out of class and exams in time.”

What? The lake? “Oh. We haven’t discussed it yet.”

“Really?” Carol looked surprised. “I told him to invite you over a month ago. We have a place up on Lake George. We usually go for a few weeks every summer. Chase loves it there. He practically grew up best friends with the kids next door. Especially Ariana. Those two were inseparable.” Then she must have realized what she’d just said. “But that was ages ago.”

Ariana? The ex-girlfriend? My stomach dropped, and I could feel the tears stinging. Here we go. The beginning of the end. But why bother talking about me to his mom if he didn’t want me to spend time with his family? Maybe it was just to pacify her. She’d been on his back about dating. “I guess it slipped his mind.”

“That doesn’t sound like Chase, but he has been busy lately.”

Our salads were delivered, and I picked at mine. I had absolutely no appetite, and all I wanted to do was get away from that table. Things had gone from somewhat awkward to overboard with the revelation that he’d “forgotten” to invite me.

As soon as the waiter approached, I took out a credit card, cursing myself for not having cash on me so I could leave faster.

“I have this.” Carol handed her card to the waiter.

“No, we can split it.”

Carol smiled. “My treat.”

“Thanks so much for lunch, Mrs. Denton. It was nice meeting you.” I stood up and grabbed my purse.

“Oh. Call me Carol. And it was a pleasure meeting you. I look forward to seeing you again soon.”

“Same here.” I forced one last smile before taking off down the sidewalk. Seriously? Had that just happened?

I walked two blocks before whipping out my phone to send Rachel a quick text. I hate you.

Yeah, it was probably immature, but I was angry for being put in that situation. But then again, wasn’t it good to know at least? With Aaron, I wasted over a year of my life. Did I really want to do the same thing again? I texted again. Hate was a strong word, and it wasn’t her fault that she had to leave. Still I wished she’d never called me over. I take it back, I’m just not happy with you at the moment.

She didn’t reply right away, so I continued my walk home.

The house was mostly empty, so I went right up to my room. Juliet was at her desk.

“Hey, how’d the venue shopping go? Find anything that worked?”

“Oh, yeah. We’re all set.” I’d completely forgotten about the reason I was away from campus to begin with.

She spun her chair around to look at me. “Are you okay?”

I sighed and took a seat on my bed. “I will be.”

“Uh oh. What’s up?”

“I met Chase’s mom.”

“Uh, what?”

“She was having lunch with Rachel and I ended up joining them.”

“Was she awful?” Juliet sat down beside me.

“No, it’s more what I learned.”

“And what’s that?”

“Chase was supposed to invite me to this family vacation thing in May.”

“Isn’t that good?” She pushed some of her dirty blonde hair behind her ear.

“It would have been if he’d actually asked. It turns out he was supposed to ask weeks ago, and she assumed I was the one who wasn’t giving a response.”

“Oh.” Juliet pursed her lips. “What did Chase have to say about it?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing meaning he denied it, or nothing meaning you haven’t talk to him?”

“The second one.”

“Cara.” She put a gentle hand on my arm. “You have to ask him. What if he had a good reason?”

“I don’t want to deal with it right now. I have so much work to do it’s not funny.” I also didn’t mention the ex-girlfriend. She’d just tell me I was uber sensitive to the topic.

“Well, between eighteen credits, tutoring, and the radio show, I can’t imagine why you’re falling behind. Overextended much?”

I leaned back on my bed and groaned. “I know. I did this to myself.”