That he was still alive.
They told me I needed to get rid of his things so I could move on. I kept his favorite shirt, his Dallas Cowboys hoodie that I wore more than he did…and those stupid pants.
“What’s with the cats?” he asks, looking down at the black pants, with multi-colored cats wearing party hats printed all over.
“It was a joke. He always called me a crazy cat-lady.”
Chase just nods then goes into the bathroom to change out of his wet clothes. I shake my head at myself and sink down onto the couch. Tinkerbell jumps up into my lap, immediately purring.
“I make everything awkward,” I tell the tabby. “Should I not talk about Jake? He was part of my life, and it’s not like he’s an ex.” I sigh, rolling my eyes. “Fuck.”
The bathroom door opens, and a few seconds later, Chase comes back into the living room. I was afraid I’d get hit with sadness when I looked at the pants that were meant for another, but right now, my attention goes to the perfect “V” of muscles on his torso and the bulge from his cock moving slightly with each step.
I want Chase. I want to move forward with him. I want to have sex with him again because the sex we had just an hour ago was amazing.
Dolly dashes in front of Chase, darting between his feet. Chase comes to a sudden halt so he won’t step on the cat, and to my surprise, she rubs on him. Chase reaches down and she leans into his touch.
“That cat hates life,” I say, blinking rapidly to make sure I’m seeing things right. “I can hardly pet her half the time.”
Chase picks up Dolly—and she’s fucking purring, that traitor. “No pussy can resist me.”
I laugh, finding him all the more attractive. There’s something hot about a guy who can make you scream in bed and make you laugh.
Dolly growls a second later, and Chase sets her down. “She’s a weird cat.”
“She is. At least she’s pretty.”
Chase sits next to me on the couch, slipping his arm around me. “I need a new book to read.”
“Oh, right. You do. And I have one for you. It’s a romance set in the zombie apocalypse.”
“Sounds interesting.”
“It is. It’s a four-book series, and each book is pretty long. I’m a sucker for long books. I love the way a big, thick spine feels in my hands,” I say coyly, narrowing my eyes before smiling.
“I never thought it was possible to get turned on hearing someone talk about a book before.”
“Speaking of big, thick things…” I run my hand over Chase’s chest and onto his abs, feeling every ridge of muscle beneath my fingers. Chase closes his eyes and leans in, kissing me. Feeling his lips against mine not only turns me on but also makes me happy. Ridiculously happy. I have to stop kissing him because I’m smiling.
“What?” Chase whispers.
“Nothing,” I whisper back, wrapping my arms around him so my hands are in his hair. “I just haven’t felt like this in a long time.”
Chase runs his hands down my back and pulls me tight against his chest. “I’ve never felt like this.” Still holding me, he lays down on the couch, bringing me with so I’m on top of him. I get comfortable, resting my head on his chest. Chase presses a kiss to my forehead. “I don’t know what you’re doing to me, Sierra, but I don’t want you to stop.”
“I don’t want to either.”
Chase squeezes me in a tight hug, kisses me again, and then falls silent, running his hand up and down my arm. Tinkerbell jumps up, purring loudly, and settles on the pillow above us, kneading her paws into Chase’s hair. We both laugh, and I reach up, petting the big cat.
“Do you go to church?” Chase asks.
“Sometimes, why?”
“My niece is in some choir thing and wants me to watch her tomorrow. I’m not a church person. Too many rules and stipulations.”
“You’re in the wrong state,” I joke. “I was brought up going to church. Sundays are ‘family days,’ and if I’m not in church, I get the disappointed glares from my parents and grandma during dinner. We all go over to my parents for dinner pretty much every Sunday. And by ‘we all’ I mean everyone.”
“Do you have a big family?”
“Maybe? I’m not sure what’s normal or not. My mom’s family is on the small side, I’d say, but they’re all up east so we rarely see them. My dad has two sisters and they both have kids, so I have five cousins.”
“That’s a lot.”
“Is it? And my sister has three kids—two girls and a boy—and then two of my cousins have kids, and another is pregnant right now. My cousins from my dad’s older sister are a lot older than me, like nearly ten years older and live like an hour away. I don’t see them very often. Lisa and I are the youngest.”
“You two have always been close then, right?”
I nod. “My aunt—her mom—and my mom are good friends. And Lisa’s older sister and my sister are friends. That’s just how it is around here.”
“You said you have a brother that lives in Orlando, right?”
“Yeah,” I say, not remembering talking about Scott. “When did I say that?”
The tiniest bit of panic flashes across Chase’s face for just a millisecond. “The other night.”
“Oh, right. And yeah, he’s one of the few Belmonts who got out alive.”
Chase laughs. “Why’d he move?”
“The farm life wasn’t his thing, and he got an engineering job with Disney. He works on building rides and attractions.”
“That’s pretty damn cool.”
“I know! We used to give him hell every holiday to share all the Disney secrets with us, but he never did.”
“I’ve never been to Disney World.”
“We’ve been quite a few times. I love it. Though the last time I went…” I shake my head. The last time I went was Scott’s idea, thinking it would be good for me to get out of Summer Hill and into ‘the real world’ as he put it. I spent a long weekend with him and his then-girlfriend, ping-ponging between emotions. I’d enjoy a ride only to get off and immediately break down crying.
“Maybe I’ll take you someday,” Chase says, pushing a loose strand of hair back and tucking it into my messy braid. “And you can show me around since you’re an expert.”
“I’d like that.”
“And if you wear your Minnie dress again, I’ll dress up like Mickey,” he says with a smile.
“You have no idea how much I’d love that. You don’t happen to have a tight, red V-neck shirt, brown leggings, tall boots, and mustard-yellow leather gloves, do you?”
“Shit, I did, but I left them behind when I moved. I knew I should have kept them. The gloves were well broken-in at this point too. Whose costume is that?”
“Gaston, the bad guy in Beauty and the Beast.”
“You want me to be the bad guy?”
“Fictional villains can be rather sexy.” I laugh, bringing my face down to Chase’s. “I’ll go with you.”
“I’d like that. But where are we going?”