Home Is Where the Heart Break Is Read Free Page A

hand on my arm like we were close friends confiding in each other. “Stay away from that guy. He’s nothing but trouble.”
    I didn’t respond but pulled my arm out of her grasp. She spoke about Nico as if I hardly knew the guy, but I knew everything about him. And most people thought he was a spoiled, rich kid. They had no idea of the shitty life he’d lived.
    Lexi elbowed me and leaned closer. “There’s Susie. She’s the one with the tight, low cut dress and expensive looking boots. She takes every opportunity to flash those boobs around.”
    I followed Lexi’s gaze to the stage area. There was no sign of a band yet, but Susie Pruitt was holding court at a front table with two other guys and a girl. Lexi was right. She did seem to be pushing her cleavage into everyone’s view.
    The band walked onto stage. Chase was last. He picked up the microphone and smiled out at the crowd. Everything about him, his blue eyes, his lopsided grin, even the way he moved his eyebrows, was instantly familiar. I had to fight the urge to run up to the stage and hug him. He had filled out nicely, and I always knew he’d be incredibly handsome.
    Chase had always been the perfect kid. He got good grades and excelled in every sport. Unfortunately, when we were growing up, his parents had had little time for him. His older sister suffered from an eating disorder, and they spent so much time carting her from doctor to doctor, they had no time for Chase. It was possible the lack of attention and doting was what made him so awesome, but I’d never liked his parents because of it.
    The music started, and Chase’s deep, pleasing voice filled the room. His voice had changed a lot, yet the tone of it was wonderfully familiar. I could not hold back a smile. There were a lot starry eyed girls in the crowd. Occasionally, Susie would scan the audience with a harsh glare, like a lighthouse giving a warning for everyone to stay away.
    “Did you catch that look Susie shot at the girls behind her?” Lexi feigned a shiver. “She is such a witch.”
    I couldn’t take my eyes off Chase. So many memories came floating back. Chase was the one who could make me laugh so hard it would make my stomach hurt. Once he’d made me laugh so loudly I’d gotten kicked out of the school cafeteria. Mrs. Braxton, the meanest teacher on campus, was walking through the cafeteria with a lunch tray. Chase leaned across the table and said, “I guess Mrs. Braxton decided to eat real food instead of one her students for lunch”. Milk sprayed out of my mouth and over the table, and the lunch lady dragged me to the principal’s office to finish eating.
    Susie scowled at the girls behind her again. She didn’t look much like the laughing type.
    The applause ended and Chase walked over and picked up the stage lamp. He swiveled it around and began spotlighting the crowd. “We’re taking requests for favorites.”
    Hands shot up as he moved the light around the audience. The light moved over our table for a second then it slid over to the next table. I sighed in relief until the light snapped back to our table and landed directly on me.
    “Jessa,” Chase whispered but the microphone caught it. Susie stood so fast I half expected her chair to fly backward. I shrank down in my seat as the entire room fell silent, and the faces turned toward me. I wanted to hide under the table, and thankfully, Chase seemed to sense it. The light fell away and his voice cracked a couple of times as he started to sing a request for a Neil Young song.
    “Holy crap, that was intense,” Lexi said. “And awkward. I thought he was going to faint up there when he saw you.”
    Ashley leaned across the table. “Did you see Susie? She did not look happy.”
    My hands were trembling. I tucked them between my knees and glanced at the stage. Chase was doing a lousy job of trying not to stare at our table.
    My stomach clenched into a knot. “I’m going to the bathroom, Lexi.” I hopped off the