“There ya go. We’ll look ridiculous together, okay?”
A folky rock song began to play that reminded Chase of Mumford and Sons. Not necessarily a slow dance song. He hoped he was helping Maggie and not scarring her for life—or scaring her away from ever returning to The Break. She had quickly grown on him, and he hoped to have more opportunities to spend time with her.
Chase stood and extended a hand in her direction. Maggie warily accepted and let Chase pull her up. The bar was crowded so he decided they’d have to make due in the tiny area near her table. Chase put one hand on the small of her back and held one hand out to the side.
Maggie mirrored his pose. “I… didn’t realize we were doing this so formally. The only dancing I know how to do is like the weird middle school sway.”
Chase chuckled. “My grandma taught me. She’d roll over in her grave if I did it any other way.”
As she slid in closer, Chase noticed that she smelled amazing—like vanilla and apples on a warm fall evening. Suddenly, a memory of his first dance with his ex-fiancée, Amber, nagged at him.
They were at the homecoming dance, and his buddies all took off with some upperclassmen. He knew his mom would kill him if she ever found him at a boozy party, so he’d stayed—like a “loser” as his friends had called him. Joke was on them, though, because Chase was about to have one of the best nights of his life.
Amber was bright-eyed and full of confidence. She saw him sitting awkwardly against the wall and walked right over to him insisting, “Chase Smith, you should ask me to dance.” He loved how she was so self-assured with just the right amount of sass.
Their high-school-sweetheart love story had started so perfectly… and yet, ended so horribly… well, for Chase anyway.
Shaking his head, he willed the flashback to evaporate so he could concentrate on Maggie. Her body was stiff, but she was trying. Lifting his arm, he spun her in a small circle and in return, she cracked a smile. His chest tightened. This girl was breaking records with how fast she was chipping away at the brick wall he had carefully built to ensure his heart was never broken again.
“It’s been more than ten seconds,” Maggie said quietly.
Chase expected her to pull away, but when she didn’t, he replied, “You made it. I release you from dancing with me.” Despite his words, he continued swaying with her to the music. To his shock, instead of letting go, she leaned in closer.
“This actually isn’t terrible.” Maggie looked up at him. Once again, the authenticity and vulnerability in her eyes radiated a pureness that drew him in.
“So, where will dancing with a stranger in a bar go on your list?”
Maggie looked down and laughed. “Under things-I-never-thought-I’d-do.”
“But, it’ll go on your ‘like’ side, right?” Chase gave her a flirtatious smirk.
“Chase!” Looking in the direction of his name, he saw Grant standing behind the bar, exasperated. Customers were beginning to pile up. Chase had totally lost track of time. He hoped he hadn’t also just lost his one steady source of income. He had only lived in LA for about six months, but Grant had promoted him to manager after two months of working at The Break. As much as Chase would love to take credit, the inconsistent LA workforce was the biggest reason he became manager so quickly. He showed up for his shifts on time and did what he was asked. Those two simple things made him stand out.
Maggie stepped back. “Looks like you’re needed. I better go.”
Chase nodded and took a step toward the bar. Then he turned back toward Maggie and said, “Thanks for the dance.”
Maggie shot him a heart-melting smile while packing up her notebook and pen.
“Chase, dude come on!” Grant pleaded. Chase hurried to help with the rush of thirsty customers. He tried to focus on making each drink perfectly to atone for his mistake, but his mind kept wandering back to Minnesota Maggie.
Chapter 5
Maggie
Maggiestoodnearthestreet, waiting for her Uber so she could make her way home. Her mind was still trying to process all that had happened.Did I really just dance with a random guy in a hipster bar?No one back home would ever believe it. Not that they would ever find out. Maggie hadn’t talked to her family and friends since moving to LA two weeks ago. She had a million missed calls, but only replied to the occasional text from her dad or sister assuring them that she was still alive. Her mom had yet to reach out to her at all. Maggie wasn’t surprised though. In her mom’s eyes, she would be a complete and utter disappointment.
A black sedan slowly pulled up, and after confirming it was for her, she settled into the back seat. Even though she never expected to be living in Los Angeles, single, with no career direction, she felt more alive than ever before. Breaking up with Elliot was the first decision she could remember making on her own, for herself. That thought brought on a wave of anxiety.Do I trust myself to actually know what I want? What am I doing? Am I throwing my life away?
Soon the car pulled in front of her apartment complex, cheerily named Surf & Sands. The outside was a bland beige. The inside of her 435 square-foot studio apartment wasn’t much more appealing.
Walking up to her door, she looked around scanning for anyone creepy waiting to mug her, and then quickly unlocked it. As much as she didn’t want to give into her parents’ scary warnings about big city danger, she couldn’t turn off their voices constantly popping up in her head.
Once inside, she clicked the dead bolt into place and sat down on her only piece of furniture—a college dorm-room-worthy black futon. As Maggie looked around at the stark white walls and tiny kitchen, pride rose in her chest. Yes, it was crazy to run away to Los Angeles, but she’d done it. She’d taken the flight, found her own place, and gotten a job. And now, she’d had her first LA adventure with a bartender named Chase.
She reached into her purse and pulled out her notebook.
Technically, dancing with Chase wasn’t something she planned on doing, so she wasn’t sure if it counted towards her ten new things homework from Celeste. But letting herself do something unscripted seemed like a big accomplishment that she should get credit for. Maggie carefully turned to a fresh page and wrote:
