"Maybe a couple of minutes ago. Chase is looking mighty good tonight."
"He always does," I point out.
She ponders on that for a second. "True."
"He snuck into my room earlier."
"Say what? Did you guys get it on?" She sits next to me on the bed, waggling her eyebrows. I reach over to smack her on the arm. "No!"
She rubs the spot on her bicep. "I was kidding! Jeez."
"I didn't even hit you that hard," I muse.
"Anything good happen?"
"No, no way. We just started. I don't even know what we are. I was in a towel. He was pretty adamant about getting outta my room."
"He wanted to ravish you."
"Who wants to ravish you?" Vance asks, violently pushing through my door.
"No one! What are you doing?" I stand up crossing my arms over my chest.
"Who the fuck are you talking about?"
"Are you guys ready to go?" I ask, dodging his question.
"Yeah. I'm riding with Wes. Vin's not going. So you can go with us, or Chase said you can ride with him."
"Vaughn?" I ask curiously.
"He didn't offer." Vance cracks a smile.
I shake my head. "Go figure."
"Where the hell is Vin going?"
Vance shrugs, "Not sure, just said he had plans."
This is a no brainer, but I'm really surprised that Vance even gave me the option to go with Chase. It's almost so easy it's scary. I glance at Taylor while putting a pout face into play. "You okay if I ride with Chase? I'll get shotty."
"Ugh, you're gonna leave me with this one?" she asks, pointing to Vance.
"Wes already said you got shotgun," Vance puts in.
"Damn straight. He knows better," Taylor says.
"Whatever…let's go," Vance says, then turns to walk out my room. I give Taylor bug eyes.
"Holy shit. That was close!" I whisper-yell to her. She nods wildly.
I grab my bag as I pass where it lays on the floor, then follow behind Taylor. We make our way downstairs, through the kitchen and into the garage. Wes' car is no longer inside but all the guys are standing around. They all turn to look at us and my eyes immediately meet Chase's. I quickly look away in hopes that my attraction to him isn't as obvious as I think it is.
"Alright, now that the girls are ready, we can head out," Vance announces.
We all head in different directions. Chase is parked further back, allowing us to walk together. "You look nice," he whispers, "But I definitely prefer the towel look."
I bite my lip at his compliment and innuendo. "Maybe it'll make another appearance one day," I flirt.
He groans and I laugh as I round the front of his car to the passenger side door. He unlocks it and we both get inside. I grab the seat belt to buckle up as I hear him say, "You're going to be the death of me, woman!"
I look at him as if I heard him wrong, but he's looking at me as if I'm the best thing on this planet, a small smile playing on his lips. "But I'll die a happy man," he adds. My eyes stay on him, watching him as he starts his car. I can confidently say I haven’t ever felt the way I’m feeling right now. Chase has caught me by surprise in more ways than one. I never, in a million years, would have thought that Chase would say these things to me--that he would be the one to risk the wrath of my crazy brothers. At the same time, though, it couldn't feel more right. Like this is exactly what was meant to happen.
We drive in comfortable silence as I watch the streetlights zoom by. I startle at the touch of Chase's hand flipping my hand over--so my palm is facing upward--and his long fingers thread through mine, weaving them together perfectly. I look at our joined hands and feel a smile creep over my lips. My heart swells at the small gesture. It reminds me of all that happened this morning--our conversation. A small squeeze of his hand pulls my attention to him. "Is this okay?" he asks.
"Yeah, of course. It's perfect."
"Okay good. It's going to be hard not to touch you all night."
"I never pictured you as a touchy-feely kind of guy."
"I'm not. Not really. It's just you."
This guy. He has all the right words to say, and I'm beginning to feel inexperienced.
"I bet you say that to all your girlfriends," I joke.
The light turns yellow but Vaughn's car precedes to run through it. It quickly turns red and causes us to stop while my brothers keep going. Chase doesn't release my hand as he downshifts. Another pull on my hand has me looking at him in question, the light shadowing reflects his features in red. His brows are furrowed as his eyes scan my face. "No," He says, sternly. "It's just you." His admission causes my breath to catch. I am so surprised. But, at the same time, I’m so relieved to hear this. "Understood?"
Nodding, I exhale. "Yeah."
"Good."
Chase's face is now showcased in green. He uses our joint hands to shift, continuing until we're in his last available gear, then places them on his lap. This causes me to lean closer to him with my arm resting on the center console. I'm overflowing with emotions. I feel like I could cry. I push them aside--feeling overwhelmed and slightly embarrassed. I'm not a very emotional kind of girl, but this is all so new to me. I lean my head back on the side of the headrest since I'm too far over. I take in his features quietly from the side--his perfectly shaped ear, his sideburns that reach his ear lobes, his eyelashes that seem insanely long, his sharp nose, and his perfectly kissable lips. I cannot believe that I am lucky enough to be sitting in his car, holding his hand, and that I will one day get to feel those lips on mine. I'm too busy studying him to notice that the car has stopped until he looks at me.
"What are you doing?" he asks. I glance in front of us. We're stopped at the stop-light right outside the small town near the track. I smile wide. I’m slightly embarrassed, and for the first time, I'm sure I'm blushing. He smiles, "Well?"
I peer up at him. His face has moved much closer to mine. "Do you have any idea how handsome you are?" I ask.
"Well, I do now. Thank you. I could say the same about you."
"I'm handsome?" I joke.
"You're beautiful." His eyes are moving between my eyes and lips and without even realizing, I'm moving closer until we're a mere inch apart. I can feel his breath on my face and I know without a doubt, I want to kiss him more than anything. I decide not to hesitate one more second. I move in to close the gap and our lips are touching in a soft, tender kiss. It's innocent until our mouths are moving sensually together. His hand is tangled in my hair, while I have no idea where my hands are. I feel this kiss down to my toes. All of a sudden his tongue traces my upper lip, asking for permission to enter. It causes an unexpected moan to escape my parted lips.
A loud noise startles us apart--the light has turned green, and the car behind is honking. Chase quickly pulls himself together and puts the car into gear, gunning it. I rub my face. I am completely flustered. There's a pressure on my leg and I look down to find Chase's hand the source. I look over at him, "I'm sorry. I wanted to wait until a good moment to do that but you were feeding me compliments, all while looking gorgeous."