14. Chase
14
CHASE
I was one lucky son of a bitch.
Bridget walked into the kitchen wearing my lucky shirt and nothing else. I picked my jaw up off the floor and abandoned the bowl of popcorn I was dousing in butter.
“Good shower?” I stuttered as I wiped my hands on a dishtowel.
“Mhmm,” she hummed as she looked around, taking in every detail of my house.
“I tossed your pajamas in the wash,” I said. “There, uh… There was mud on the ass.”
Her cheeks turned the prettiest shade of pink. “Thank you.”
I grabbed the bowl of popcorn and walked toward the living room, stopping when I was right beside her. I hooked my finger in the hole between the buttons and licked my lips. “Pretty sure seeing you like this is all the thanks I need.”
Bridget’s lips parted as she sucked in a breath. I resisted the urge to shove her against the fridge and kiss her senseless .
I walked into the living room without inviting her. If she wanted to join me, she would.
A minute later, she tiptoed in.
Luna was curled up in the chair she claimed as her own since day one. My furry diva had turned her nose up at the plushy dog bed I’d bought while the vet cleared her. She was used to being the only lady in my house, but my girl would just have to deal with another woman living here.
Because I sure as hell intended to make this one night permanent.
I stayed planted on the couch and waited for Bridget to approach me.
She did, slowly.
I patted the spot beside me and stretched my arm across the back of the couch.
“Whatcha watching?” Bridget asked as she sat down and tucked her feet underneath her ass. The hem of my dress shirt fell at the top of her knees, but I caught a sliver of skin up the side of her thigh.
“ Hawaii Five-0. ”
She reached across my waist and snagged a piece of popcorn. “I forgot how much you loved this show. You used to watch it religiously.”
“Now I just catch the reruns,” I grumbled.
She sat a foot away, arms crossed over her stomach while McGarrett and Danno argued on screen. Every so often, she would let a smile slip.
I slid my hand down and draped my arm across the back of her shoulders, listlessly playing with her hair. When the show cut to a commercial, Bridget got up to use the restroom, and I grabbed a bottle of hard cider from the fridge .
When we settled on the couch again, she closed the space between us and sat beside me.
Without speaking, I slid my arm between her back and the couch and pulled her into my side.
Bridget grabbed the quilt I kept folded up on the back of the couch and draped it over her legs.
I mourned the loss of her long, sexy-as-sin legs but savored the feeling of holding her in my arms again.
The sound coming from the TV faded into the background as we lay together. I shifted, stretching out beneath her. She adjusted, laying her head on my chest. I wrapped one arm around her and tucked the other behind my head.
“This okay?” I asked gently, leaning down to kiss the top of her head.
Bridget’s eyelids fluttered closed. She let out a contented sigh and nodded. “This is the best I’ve felt in a long time.”
“Glad to hear it, darlin’.”
“I can’t be held responsible if I fall asleep on you,” she mumbled, nuzzling into my chest. “You’re comfortable, and you smell good.”
“You can fall asleep on me anytime, beautiful.”
A coy smile curled up on her lips.
“I’m gonna be straight with you,” I sighed. “I have a guest room, but I want you in my bed.”
She opened her eyes and looked up, hitting me with a shock of moss green.
“Just to sleep,” I clarified. “I’m not gonna push you into anything.”
“The other night, you seemed pretty dead-set on the mythical us .”
“I know,” I huffed. “Look… You’re it for me. I don’t wanna scare yo u, but I know what I want. It’s you. It’s always been you, and it’s always gonna be you.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I love you.”
“Don’t ever doubt it,” she whispered.
If that was her version of saying I love you back to me, I’d hold on to it for the rest of my days.
“You can call the shots,” I said. “However slow—or fast—you want this thing between us to go. Whatever boundaries you set, I will respect it all.”
“Doesn’t seem very fair to you,” she mumbled, inching up and tucking her forehead into the crook of my neck.
“I don’t care about what’s fair right now. I care about being with you forever.” I tipped her chin up and ghosted my thumb over one of the fading bruises. “What you’re dealing with right now, it’s gonna get better.”
She didn’t say anything, just twined our fingers together. Good enough for me.
“How ’bout I tell you what I need,” I said as I brought our joined hands to my lips and kissed her fingers.
Bridget gave me a slight nod.
“I need you to be honest with me, on your good days and your bad days. And I know we’ll have bad days. Lots of them. And I’m here for them all. I don’t know where your lines are. So, I need you to tell me where they are, or at least tell me when I’m getting close to crossing one.” I smiled as I got lost in her eyes. “You and I—we’ve got history.”
She nodded, stifling a smile.
“But just because we’ve known each other a long time doesn’t mean you’re getting the short end of the stick. I plan on pulling out all the stops.”
Her eyebrows drew in, and her nose wrinkled. “What do you mean? ”
“I mean,” I said as I slid my hand under the quilt. “I’m gonna make you swoon.”
Bridget giggled, and the very sound of it pieced something in my heart back together. She hummed as she traced the screen-printed letters scrawled across my t-shirt. “I don’t swoon easily.”
“We’ll just have to see about that. I’m always up for a challenge.”
“I was terrified earlier,” she said quietly. Bridget swallowed and snuggled in closer. “The last time I felt like that was when…” Her voice trailed off, but I didn’t say anything. Just waited for her to tap into the courage she needed to keep going. “It was when he showed up at the house the night I was getting ready to leave. But tonight, I knew that you’d keep me safe if I made it to your door.”
It was one of the most heartbreaking things she could have said, but it made me feel like a fucking king.
“Always, darlin’.”
“And you took a shitty night, and now we’re lying on the couch, watching TV, and laughing.”
“You’re watching TV?” I asked with a chuckle. “I’ve just been over here trying not to think about what it’d be like to take that shirt off you.” To prove my point, I slipped my hand up the hem of her shirt and hooked my finger in the elastic of her panties. Fuckin’ underwear… I was hoping she’d gone without.
Her body went rigid, but it wasn’t out of fear. Her lips were pursed, corners turned up, breath held.
“You like that?” I growled, edging a little closer to the apex of her thighs.
Bridget nodded, managing to squeak out, “Mhmm.”
“Noted,” I smirked, pulling my hand away. “For another time.”
Her smile turned to a frown. “Asshole.”
I snickered as I slowly sat up, nudging her up with me. “Huh. I didn’t really think you were the type to be into anal, but I’m game. ”
“I meant that you are an asshole.” She pinned me with a hard glare. “And anal is only ever an option after thorough conversation, preparation, and lubrication.”
I sat there with my mouth gaping open, mind racing with a thousand new fantasies.
Bridget got up and knelt in front of Luna, baby-talking her and telling her what a good girl she was as she scratched behind her ears.
“I’m heading upstairs,” I grumbled as I carried the bowl of popcorn into the kitchen.
Thanks to Bee, I needed a few minutes in the bathroom to get my dick under control. While I made sure everything was locked up, I heard the click of Luna’s paws against the stairs as she trotted up to my bedroom.
Bridget was folding the quilt and laying it back on top of the couch when I passed the living room.
“Do you need anything out of the cottage?” I asked.
She sighed and looked out the living room window. “I brushed my teeth already. I’ll just go back in the morning. My phone’s over there, but I don’t want it tonight.”
“Okay,” I said, leaning in and kissing her forehead. “I can run over and grab it if you want. It’s not a big deal.”
She slipped her hand into mine. “I don’t need anything. Just you.”
“I like the sound of that.”
We walked through the darkened house hand-in-hand. I slid my palm to the small of her back as we neared the stairs. “After you.”
I wasn’t trying to be a gentleman. I just wanted a peek at her ass as she walked up.
Bridget’s knees buckled. Her toes hit the front of the steps, and she froze up. “Um, you go ahead. ”
I eyed her warily. “Darlin’, I’m not gonna maul you as soon as we get up there. Just sleep, remember?”
“It’s not that,” she clipped, hanging her head. “Can you… Can you just go up first?”
I waited a beat, then conceded. “Yeah, I’ll, uh… You just come up when you’re ready.”
Something had her too scared to go up the stairs, and I was afraid it was me.
Reluctantly, I walked up the stairs and left her at the bottom. I went through the motions of brushing my teeth and taking a leak. Bridget still hadn’t come up the stairs when I came out of the bathroom. I almost went down to check on her but decided to wait it out for a few more minutes.
I was digging around in my dresser when I finally heard her soft footsteps drawing closer. I shut the drawer and offered her a large t-shirt. “Wanna talk about it?”
She shook her head and silently accepted the shirt.
“Okay.”
Bridget closed the bathroom door behind her, and I heard the click of the lock.
I hated feeling like we took twenty steps back for every two steps forward. I didn’t even know what had spooked her.
Whatever it was, it had been deeply ingrained in her.
I was in bed, scrolling through my phone, when she came out clutching my lucky button-up. The old Beaufort PD kickball tournament shirt I’d given her hung off her frame like a nightgown. I’d had that t-shirt for a decade. It was nearly threadbare after a million washes, but it was soft and comfortable. And on her, it looked fucking adorable.
“I’ll just hang this back up,” she said as she slipped a coat hanger through the neck. “Sorry for stealing it. ”
“Steal it anytime you want. Just not on a day I have to go to court.”
She let out a giggle.
“After court, though—you can put it on just so I can take it off.”
Bridget snorted as she closed the closet doors. When she turned around, Luna eyed her suspiciously.
“I, uh… I may have failed to mention that Luna sleeps on the other side of the bed, and she’s very territorial.” I leveled my dog a hard look. “She’s a cover hog, too.”
Bridget laughed under her breath as she walked around to the other side of the bed. “Can I sleep here tonight, Lu?” she cooed as she petted Luna.
Luna peered up at Bridget, then looked at me like I was a traitor. She huffed, leaving us a cloud of doggy breath as she hopped down and settled in her crate for the night.
I pulled the covers back and scooted her pillow closer to mine. “Come here, beautiful.”
She crawled into bed, and I didn’t give her a chance to get settled anywhere but my arms.
“I like you right here. You good with that?”
She nodded and closed her eyes. “So good.”
I reached over and cut the light out. Bridget wiggled closer and traced my abs with her fingers. I usually slept in just my boxers, but I didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable, so I had thrown on a pair of gym shorts for good measure.
“I love you, darlin’,” I murmured as we drifted off to sleep. Our chests rose and fell in perfect time.
This was one of the moments that I would never forget for as long as I lived.
It felt like the first night of the rest of our lives.
There was no sex. Hell, I hadn’t even properly kissed her yet. I was only half-sure that she and I were actually together. But I didn’t care.
My girl was in my arms. Safe.
“Hey, Chase?” she asked quietly.
“Hmm?”
“Do you ever wonder what our lives would be like if we hadn’t fought this? Us?”
“Yeah,” I admitted.
“I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?”
“For waiting so long to…” She sighed. “I’m just sorry.”
“I’m not,” I said, thinking back to what Steve had said the other day at Solomon’s house. “You have always been the most important person in my life. Whether you were my friend, best friend, or girlfriend.” I put that last part out there to see how she would react.
Bridget didn’t argue about the label, and I felt the quirk of her cheek against my chest as she smiled.
“I will never regret any of the time I had with you then, and I’m sure as hell looking forward to all the time we’ll get together from this day forward.”
She let out a contented sigh and nodded. “You’ll always be my best friend.
“Good. Because I’d hate to have to kill the friend you decide to replace me with when I make you my wife.”
She giggled. “Go to sleep, Chase.”
“I’m serious. I’d whoop his ass.”
Bridget laid her hand over my heart. She let it linger there for a moment before reaching over and tracing the lines of the angel wing tattoo on my bicep. “It’s always been you,” she said quietly. “Always you, only you. ”
I leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “Night, darlin’. Love you.”
Bridget was quiet for a few minutes. I thought maybe she had already fallen asleep. “Chase?” Her melodic voice cut through the silence.
“Yeah?”
She let out a yawn, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. So fuckin’ cute.
“We’re sleeping together,” she said as she nestled deeper under the blankets, burrowing in beside me.
“Yeah… We are.”
“Is it weird for you?”
I chuckled. “A little, yeah.”
I caught a flash of her bright smile through the darkness. “Oh, good. I thought it was just me.”
“I’m tired. Let’s think about how weird it is in the morning.”
Bridget nodded and rested her cheek on my pec. “You’re comfortable.”
“Good. Get used to it.”