“Yes, Chase. I love you. Now please leave.”
***
Ashley checked the peephole after closing the door on him. He stood there, staring at her door for a full minute, and then left. She wanted to chase after him, but in her current state of churning emotions, it wouldn’t be a good idea to continue their conversation.
Instead, Ashley went to Lina’s closed bedroom door. “Lina,” she hissed. “How much of that did you hear?” She opened up the door to see Lina sitting on her bed with her headphones on, folding laundry.
Lina got up and slid off the bed. “I’m sorry. I figured there were enough people out there, and I didn’t want to be a distraction.”
Ashley grinned. “You’re pretty good at that. Care to explain why you came home all wet? I thought you were out with Ben.”
“We fell in a pool. It’s a long story.” Lina waved it away as if it were a commonplace occurrence. “So, Reid’s gone? Everything’s okay?”
“Yes, Reid is gone.” Ashley sighed. “And Chase just left.”
“Have you two worked anything out? Or is it tortured friendship from here to eternity with you two?”
“That’s not funny, Lina.”
“Sorry. Things are that bad, huh?”
“I’m afraid even our friendship might not make it. He was the secret admirer. I thought knowing it for sure would make everything better, but I hurt him, Lina. All those years he’s been in love with me, and I never saw it. I never saw the right guy. Why?”
Lina shrugged. “Don’t worry about why. We’ve had this conversation before, Ash. Let the past go. You have to believe in yourself enough to not think you’re always doomed to failure. Fate is a lie. We grow up and our choices get better. That’s the goal, anyway.”
Ashley nodded. “I want to believe that. But I need him to believe it, too. Chase thought I might want to get back together with Reid. He believed Reid when he said we’d been talking again.”
Lina cocked her head to the side. “Didn’t you say Reid was an incredible liar?”
“Yes, but…”
“But what?”
“Chase thinks I’m only interested in him now because I found out about the secret admirer thing.”
“That’s his bruised ego crying out. Chase wanted you to see him for him. At some point, he’ll either get over the fact that you dated Reid first, or he won’t.”
Ashley said goodnight, her heart heavy. She wanted to be mad at Chase, but he wasn’t to blame for her choices. And regret didn’t help, though she wished with all her heart she could change the past.
Maybe it would be easier to start over with someone else. With sharp realization, she finally understood Chase’s weird jump into online dating.
