The Change Up

It's All Coming Back to Me Now

**5 months later**

Chase’s POV:
I was lying on the couch scrolling through social media as the bus drove us back to Nashville, when a picture had me jerking up so fast that I felt dizzy. Dressed in those little sundresses that she loves, her baby bump on full display and the biggest, most beautiful smile in the world, was the woman that I still loved with all my heart even if I hadn't spoken to her since that night 5 months ago. Not that she hadn't called because she had. I had just been too much of a fuckign coward to answer her beacsue of my dear that she would act as if nothing that night had changed between us. But when wasn’t I a coward when it came to my feelings for Jo? I’d been a coward with her since I’d known her. I’d been too scared to tell her how I felt, that she was the one that I saw myself settling down with from the moment that I met her. But then I’d been friendzoned and I kept my feelings to myself. Well, all but that one night. That night, I’d spilled my heart out in hopes that she would finally see me as Chase, the man who would give her the moon instead of Chasey, the idiot best friend. Thought I’d succeed since I’d done my best to rock her world that night, but nope. She'd still left me and I’d hauled ass out of town, throwing myself into work to take my mind off of everything. Or at least I had hoped it would. But as usual, nothing got her or that night out of my mind.

The thing that had me dizzy was the man with his arm draped over her shoulder and a palm over her belly as if he was the father of her child. Which I knew he wasn't because he wasn't one of the misfits that had invaded my house the night of that fucking mixer. No, this guy with his prim and proper haircut looked like Howdy-Fucking-Doody. Again, a memory teased me but wouldn't come into full focus. There was something that I needed to remember, something that was important, but I just couldn’t piece it all together. 

I couldn't contain the roar that I felt building inside me any longer. Standing from where I;d been sitting on the couch, I roared like a wounded animal and threw my phone against the wall of the bus so hard that it shattered into a million pieces. Seeing my phone in pieces did nothing to alleviate the rage boiling inside me so I began pacing the length of the bus. It did nothing either other than leave me feeling very much like a caged animal. 

Before I even realized what I was doing, I stomped my way to the front of the bus, sliding the door open with so much force that I tore it from its track. I looked at it hanging awkwardly, not having in me to care that the door was yet another thing that I was going to have to replace.  

“Change of plans, Carl.” I said through clenched teeth as I walked into the cabin. “Point this motherfucker to Maysville, Georgia.” 

“Boss, you have a radio interview that we're already running a little behind for.” said Carl, his eyes never leaving the interstate. 

“Carl, I dont give a flying fuck about no radio interiew. I said point this motherfucker in the direction of Georgia and I mean it. That radio station can kiss my ass.” I yelled. “Further more, I pay you to drive me where I have to go so goddamn it, drive my ass to Georgia or move the fuck over over and I’ll do it my damn self.” Carl must have known that I was serious because he shook his head, nodding that he understood, even if he was a little taken back by my tone.  

I didn't have a plan as to what I was going to do or what I was going to say when I got face to face with Jo. And as mad as I was, it didn't really matter. All I knew was that my ass needed to get to Georgia and fast. 

***

The drive to Georgia was never ending. Carl’s silence as he drove made the drive seem even longer. I felt bad about going off on him like I did and knew that I would have to make it up to him. Maybe another hunting/fishing trip like the one we took a couple years ago would go a long way in making up for my lousy attitude and fiery outburst.