Chase Sinclair was my first everything.
Even before I’d met Sutton, he was my first friend.. My first boyfriend. My first kiss. My first time. We hadn’t dated my entire life or anything, but we’d always been inseparable. Until he left for Yale after high school graduation and I was stuck in Lubbock at Texas Tech.
That summer, we’d made a pact that if we weren’t married by the time we were thirty, we’d get married. We were only twenty-seven right now, but looking up into his crystal-clear blue eyes, I was suddenly reminded of the fact.
“Oh my God!” I cried, throwing myself into his arms. “What are you doing here? You didn’t come home for Christmas or all summer. What does that law firm in Houston have you doing?”
He laughed, easy and so comfortable, and pulled me tight against him. “It’s good to see you, too, Annie.”
I pulled back to look up at him. The same blond hair and blue eyes, that sharp jaw and high cheekbones, the pouty lips. We’d seen each other on and off over the years when he came back for holidays, but it wasn’t the same.
“I can’t believe you’re here. It’s been almost a year, Chase.”
He ran a hand back through his sandy hair. “I know. I know. I’ve been busy.”
A throat cleared noisily behind us. And that was when I realized that our entire reunion was taking place in front of everyone. I glanced back to see Sutton wide-eyed and incredulous. Ashleigh looked giddy. Julian was facing Jordan, as if ready to apologize. Jordan’s eyes were narrowed, his arms crossed. Oh yeah, um…not good.
I stepped back from Chase. “Why don’t you come inside?”
“Actually, can we talk?” Chase asked, the sincerest look in his eyes.
My eyes flicked back to Jordan, my not-boyfriend but not-quite friends with benefits. Yeah, I didn’t know what to do about that. But Chase was my oldest friend, and I hadn’t seen him in a year. I couldn’t deny him a thing.
“Yeah, sure,” I said quickly. I looked to Jordan. “I’ll be right back.”
Ashleigh waved at us and then yanked the door closed. I cringed at the finality as it snapped shut.
Welp, Jordan was probably going to be pissed. Okay…he was definitely going to be pissed. But it wasn’t like I was going to walk with Chase to make out or something equally childish. I hadn’t hooked up with Cord when I could have. Though Chase Sinclair was altogether different, it didn’t change anything about me and Jordan.
“Shall we?” he asked, holding his arm out.
I chuckled softly and stepped up next to him. I didn’t take his arm, and he didn’t say anything about it. We headed down the front walk and onto the sidewalk. It was probably too cold for me to be outside in a miniskirt, but I hadn’t anticipated any of this when I left the house this afternoon.
“So, what are you doing here?” I asked. “You haven’t been home in forever.”
“I know. I missed you.”
“I missed you, too.” It had been nine years since Chase and I parted ways, but I still considered him my best friend. This walk felt like stepping back in time. Everything settling into the way it had been. Like no time had passed at all. I nudged him. “You could have called.”
“People use phones for that purpose now?”
I snorted. “Fine. You could have texted. Or I don’t know…gotten on social media.”
“LinkedIn?”
I wrinkled my nose at him. “Not the same.”
“How’s school?”
“Almost done,” I said with a sigh of relief. “I mean, three more years of residency, but I actually get paid for that instead of, you know, crippling debt.”
“Law school,” he said, pointing at himself.
I tried not to roll my eyes. I doubted Chase had taken any debt for his fancy-schmancy law degree. Not when his parents were the largest real estate investors in Lubbock. They had money similar to the Wrights. It was outrageous.
We stopped when we came up to a little park near Jensen’s house. It was full of families playing football before the big game, people walking their dogs, runners, and all manner of children enjoying the waning sunshine.
Chase gestured to an empty bench, and we sat. I yelped at the first contact of the cold metal against my bare skin.
“Didn’t plan for this,” I said, gritting my teeth as my skin adjusted.
“Want my jacket?”
I shook my head. “I’m fine. But tell me about you. I know you too well to know that you’re avoiding questions.”
He laughed and winked at me. “You’re right. You know me too well. I’m here, closing on a house.”
“Excuse me?” I asked with raised eyebrows.
“I’m moving home, Annie.”
My jaw dropped for a second time that day. “What the hell?” I gasped. “When did you decide this? What’s happening with your job?”
“I’m actually opening my own firm here in town. My dad is lending me the capital to get started, and I’m going in with a friend from Houston.”
I shrieked. “That’s so incredible! Congratulations!”
I threw myself into his arms again. I couldn’t believe this. Chase was moving back home…right as I was planning to leave Lubbock behind.
He chuckled into my hair before releasing me. “Yeah. I could have stayed in Houston and worked to make partner, but I always knew I wanted to come home. When the opportunity arose, I couldn’t say no.”
“No, of course not.”
“And I’ll be back next week.”
“Wow,” I whispered. “That’s so great.”
Something flipped in my stomach. Was this the moment? Was this when he said that after all that time he’d been away, we finally had our shot? Did I even want that? I loved him. I’d always loved him, but he’d been gone. I hadn’t thought of our promise to marry at thirty in so long. For a while, it had seemed inevitable. It was why I’d never gotten too involved with anyone, but that had been years ago. Now what?
And what about Jordan? That was just…starting. It was too much, too fast.
“I have one more thing to tell you,” Chase said.
I held my breath.
“I’m seeing someone.”
“Oh,” I whispered. My head cleared. This wasn’t…it wasn’t at all what I’d thought. “Is it…is it serious?”
Chase reached into his pocket and produced a small blue box. Tiffany & Co. written on the top. He popped it open and showed off the insane ring inside. I’d pictured this moment so many times when I was younger. When we’d been together. But now, he was showing me the ring he had gotten for someone else.
“Chase,” I managed to get out. My throat felt like it was full of cotton.
“I’m going to ask her once we move,” he said. “I wanted you to know.”
“I’m so happy for you.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded vigorously. “Of course! I want you to be happy.”
“I’m glad. I was kind of nervous to tell you.”
“Don’t be nervous with me, Chase,” I said, reaching out and taking his hand. “We’ve known each other our entire lives. You can tell me anything. I know we were together before, but that shouldn’t matter. Anyway, I’m kind of seeing someone, too.”
“Yeah?” he asked again.
I nodded. I couldn’t say this to my other friends. Could hardly say it to myself, but I was being purposefully dense by saying Jordan and I weren’t together. We’d have to figure it out, but I hadn’t gone to him last week for no reason. I hadn’t avoided a hookup for no reason. I wanted Jordan Wright. Damn it all! Who knew seeing Chase was all I needed to realize that?
“Good. I’m glad you’re happy.” He looked down to where I still clutched his hand and then back up to me. “You ever think about that pact we made?”
I laughed, pulling my hand back. “Oh God, I haven’t thought of that in years!” I lied. “What even made you think of it?”
“Oh, you know, I just always thought, one day…you and I…”
“That sort of thing only happens in fairy tales and romance novels,” I said, forcing out another laugh.
“Yeah. You’re right.” He looked down and then up at me again. “You know that I’ll always love you, right, Annie?”
I swallowed hard and nodded. “Feeling’s mutual. I want the best for you. Whether that’s a fairy-tale pact or this.” I gestured to the wedding ring. “That’s what I want for you.”
“You’re the best.”
“Now…we should introduce you to my boyfriend,” I said, tasting the word on my tongue. “He’s probably not happy.”
Chase chuckled, closing the box and standing. “If I were him, I’d want to kill me.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
But I didn’t think he was wrong.