Chase starts rooting around the couch cushions for the remote, so I get out of the way. Now I start to pace.
“Kaylee, you’re engaged? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Um, it’s kind of complicated, Mom.”
“What’s complicated about getting engaged? Why does the whole world know except me? There are pictures and everything. It didn’t say your name, but of course I know my own daughter when I see her. You look great by the way. Although I don’t remember that bathing suit-”
“Look, I’m very sorry I didn’t get to tell you before the press got a hold of it, Mom.” That part is totally true.
“I’ve been getting messages about it all day,” she continues, “it’s been crazy. And you weren’t answering my texts or my phone calls. I was so worried I almost called the police to go find you.”
Drama queen much, Mom? “I accidentally set my phone on vibrate, Mom. I’ll check it from now on, okay?”
“How long have you been dating this Covington guy, anyway? And why would you start seeing someone famous and not tell your own mother? And when do I get to meet him?”
I have no answer for this. I freeze and look at Chase, who finally has the remote in his hand, but still hasn’t managed to turn the television on yet.
She wants to meet, I mouth-pantomime to him, holding my hand over the microphone on my cell.
Chase makes panicked eye contact with me. Then his expression softens and he relaxes into a determined smile.
“I’ve got this,” he says.
And then, before I can even ask him what he’s talking about, he crosses the room and gently takes the phone from my hand. I watch the whole thing wondering what the hell is going on. It feels like an out-of-body experience.
“Hi, Mom, this is Chase.” His voice is smooth and reassuring. He sits down on the couch and pats the space next to him for me to sit.
“What’s happening?” I whisper to him. And in the absence of another idea, I sit. He continues talking to my Mom.
“How did we meet?” He smirks at me. “Well, you could say that we bonded over chocolates. And carved coconuts.”
I sit and marvel at how good he is on the phone with my mom. Judging by the side of the conversation that I can hear, it’s taken a turn toward sweets. That makes sense since my mom is nearly as chocolate obsessed as the Covingtons.
I sit and listen closely so that one, I can keep the story straight for the next time I talk to my Mom, and two, because this is a different side of Chase. One I didn’t expect. What exactly is happening here? Did the notorious Chase Covington just turn into boyfriend material? I think it’s sweet. Brad always found a way to disappear any time my mom called.
Eventually, the conversation winds down.
He puts a hand over the speaker and turns to me. “She wants a selfie.”
I process for a second. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Your mom, she wants a selfie. Of the two of us.”
I’m trying to remember a time my mom has ever even said the word selfie, much less asked for one. “Um, okay. How about on the balcony?”
He grins. “Kaylee has an excellent idea. We’ll take the picture out on the balcony. How does that sound? Yeah? Okay, hold on. Want to say bye to her?”
He hands me the phone.
I feel like I’m in shock, but somehow I manage to get my lips to form words. “Hi, Mom. You love him? Yes, that’s great. You too. Okay, we’re going to go take the selfie now and I’ll talk to you later.” When I hang up, I’m wondering what the hell just happened.
Chase and I go out onto the balcony and take a series of selfies. Getting a good picture that both of us agree on turns out to be harder than I thought.
I blink in the first three. Then Chase blinks in the next two. Then we both grin like evil maniacs. That picture will never do, but we laugh for like ten minutes afterward.
Then we take ten more until we find one that we both like and send it to both of our parents at the same time. That way we’re covered for a while. Finally, we sit on the balcony chairs and take in the night stars and the sea breeze together.
Once we send the pics and take a few minutes to relax, I turn to him. “Alright, so when did you become the mom-whisperer?”
He laughs. “You looked kind of stressed.”
Huh, as it turns out Chase Covington has a sweet side. And he’s also full of surprises. “Thanks, you really came through.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Kaylee
A minute later, my phone buzzes. Only this time it’s accompanied by my signature notification sound, seagulls. I check it.
Oh no. My friends. In the aftermath of the mom phone conversation and the selfie obsession, I completely forgot about them. I’m already fifteen minutes late.
I stand up and then freeze. I know I should stay here and help Chase plot corporate domination, but I’m starting to have mixed emotions and I need some space. It bothers me a little how great he was with my mom. In a way, I wish he weren’t. All this will be so much harder if I fall for him. And I know I have to come clean to my friends.
“I’m so sorry, Chase, but I’m late,” I say. I cross to his bedroom to get my purse.
When I come back out, he looks panicked. “Where are you going?”
“To meet my friends. I’m going to come clean. I’m worried that if my mom figured it out, then they will too. It’s only a matter of time. I want them to hear it from me.”
I curse myself and think of the pictures being put
