I smile, “I love you, too.”
He slowly removes himself, kisses my nose, and moves away to dispose of the condom. He leaves the room and comes back just as quickly climbing onto the bed and settling half his body on mine. He lays his head upon my bare chest and wraps his arm over my stomach. He begins to draw circles on my hip causing goosebumps to pucker on my skin. “Was it good for you?” he asks, after a few quiet seconds.
“Amazing,” I sigh, “and even better because it was with you.”
He kisses the side of my breast, and it tickles. “Thank you for trusting me. Are you feeling okay? Do you hurt?”
“A little,” I admit, feeling the soreness more prominently now.
“Why didn't you tell me?” His head shoots up, and he grimaces.
“It obviously felt good at the time!” I defend, not wanting him to worry.
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
“Do you need ice or something?”
I shrug because I don’t know. Is that something you need to do after your first time? He shoots up off the bed and pulls on his sweats. “What are you doing?” I ask, pulling the blankets up. With his body heat gone, I’m cold.
“I’ll be right back, I’m gonna get some ice.”
I laugh to myself as I watch him leave, his back muscles on full display. I love his back. I grab the remote and turn on the TV, scanning the channels settling on the movie ‘Thor’. He returns a few minutes later with a small bucket of ice, then disappears into the bathroom, and reappears with a rag. I watch him fill the rag with ice and move towards me. He drops his sweats and crawls under the covers then places the cool rag against me. It’s incredibly sweet. “I gotta take care of my girl.” He lays on his back next to me and pulls me to him. I snuggle more into his side and without a word, we watch Thor.
Back to Reality
There's a light tickle on my back, a touch that moves up and down, and my body shivers. I rouse slowly, my head on a soft pillow. Chase's face is inches from mine. “Morning, beautiful,” his voice is raspy.
“Morning,” I mumble.
“We have to get a move on.”
I groan. “Nooo. Sleep.”
He laughs at my stubbornness. “Sorry, baby, I have plans for today. I let you sleep in as late as I could. “
“Sleeeep.”
He pats my bare butt. “It's almost eleven. We need to check out and grab some breakfast.”
“If someone wouldn't have woken me in the middle of the night, I may not be as tired,” I grumble.
“I didn't hear you refusing. In fact, I heard 'Oh my God,' quite often. You're gonna give me a complex.” I smack his clothed shoulder, and I can feel my cheeks getting hot. He laughs. “C'mon, get up! Get dressed before I take you for round three.” He leaves the bed, and my eyes watch him as he moves out of the room. I turn onto my back, taking the sheet with me to cover my front. Yeah, not too sure if modesty is a thing anymore after last night.
I sit up, still covering myself with the sheet, and notice my bag at the end of the bed. I pull it towards me, removing pieces of clothing from the bag, and quickly dressing.
Chase comes back into the room. “Shame.”
I laugh. “You were just telling me to get dressed.”
“I know, and it's a good thing. I just like seeing your skin.” He moves to me and wraps his arms around my waist. I place my hands on his chest and nuzzles in. “How are you feeling?” he asks.
“I'm good. Perfect.” He places a kiss on the top of my head.
“Alright, let's get a move on.”
He grabs my bag, zips it up, then tosses it over his shoulder. I follow him out of the room, and he grabs his bag, carrying them both in one hand to open the main door. Once in the hall, he reaches for my hand, and we make our way towards the lobby. At the front desk, he asks if they'd keep our bags while we have breakfast. There's a lot more activity this morning. I watch as guests and staff move around the inn. Chase's tug on my hand brings me back to him. He smiles. “Let's eat.”
With our bags tucked safely behind the lobby desk, we move towards the dining room we ate in last night. The tables no longer have the candles set on top. Instead, there’s a little tray-like thing with different jellies that are placed in the middle. You can see outside now, and the scenery is beautiful. Set back on the grounds of the inn is a large pond with a fountain of water in the middle that's shooting upward. Two beautiful large swans are swimming near a small dock, where two people seem to be enjoying their coffee. Beyond the pond is surrounded by large trees; the trees in various colors of orange, yellow, and browns. It's a gorgeous view, and I'm so glad I was able to see it before we left.
We enjoy our breakfast together, and I feel like I'm floating on air. I'm the happiest I've ever been, and it's all because of the man sitting in front of me. I know the next few days are going to be tough--with having to tell Vance about our relationship, and Chase's deployment. It's hard not to think about, but I don't want it to damper the time we have left together.
Chase takes care of the check, and soon we're leaving; the car moving down the long driveway. I can't help but watch it move further away from the back window. Chase's warm hand lands on mine. “We'll come back,” he says, and I smile at the thought. This is forever our place.
The drive back home seems to take less time than it took to get to the Glasbern. I see the familiar stores and signs for our small town, and I'm saddened by that. Until we confront Vance we have to remain a secret, and after yesterday, I don't want that anymore.
“We need to tell Vance,” I blurt and look towards Chase.
He nods before speaking, “We do.”
“How should we go about it?” I ask.
“I think we should tell him together,” he says.
“Okay.” I bite the inside of my cheek. “He's not going to like it.”
“He may surprise us. I mean, look how Victor handled it. He accepted it more quickly than I thought.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
“I have something to show you. We can tell him later today, or we can do it tomorrow?”
“Let's do it tomorrow. This is my last full day with you, and I want to spend it drama free.”
“Okay. Tomorrow then.” He squeezes my hand in a comforting gesture.
He continues to drive us towards Harry's junkyard, and I'm very confused about why we're coming here.
“Harry's?” I question.
He turns onto the rocky road, taking his time since his car isn't made for this kind of travel. A few cars are parked near the fence since Harry's is open until mid-afternoon today. “What are we doing here?” He doesn't answer me and remains quiet as he parks his car. “Chase?” I ask again.
He smiles at me, “C'mon.”
My eyes instantly move to the old yellow Camaro next to the booth. The for-sale sign is missing, and instead ‘SOLD’ is written boldly in red across the windshield. An older man is approaching us with a Harry's U-Pull It hat on his head. His shirt stretches over a large belly, and his suspenders are connected to his pants. “Chase?” he asks as he nears.