Chapter 46
CHAPTER
FORTY-SIX
APRIL
‘The mistress you must fear is not a woman, it’s hockey.’
Corinth’s warning follows me like a dark cloud and puts me in a strange mood for a few days. However, on the third day, I find my equilibrium again.
After being cheated on by my ex—who was with an actual woman behind my back—I decide that hockey isn’t that horrific of a mistress.
Sure, Chance will be away from me for weeks at a time during hockey season.
Sure, there will be plenty of women like Fina who want his attention when he’s on the road.
Sure, lots of those women will be gorgeous and tempting.
But…
I trust him.
The gala last week proved that he can control himself and not jump on every woman he’s attracted to, even if that woman is me.
Of course, I’m not delusional. I’m aware there will be some drawbacks to competing with hockey for Chance’s attention, but I decide not to let Corinth’s harsh prediction get in my head. I’ll simply enjoy being with someone who cares about me and who I care equally for.
The weekend rolls around again and Chance asks if I can clear my schedule to help him look at properties.
May knocks on my room door while I’m getting ready. She pouts, “Are you sure you don’t want me to film you today? This will make such great content for your channel.”
“Chance and I are really together now,” I say, tying the lacings on my fresh white sneakers. They’re the only white items I own and are exclusively for special occasions, like on dates with Chance. “We don’t need to film everything about us anymore. I don’t like sharing too much either.”
The town provides enough candid pictures of me going grocery shopping or working in the garage to satisfy the fans.
At first, the secret picture taking was mildly annoying, but now it’s just plain scary the way our privacy is infringed upon.
Two days ago, someone took a picture of Chance, dad and I at the nursing home. They uploaded it and the picture immediately started trending.
Chance got the picture taken down quickly but, on the internet, nothing ever disappears.
“The poor ChApril fans are starved , April.” My sister drapes across my bed in a dramatic fashion. Her long hair brushes the ground. “ Starved .”
“I’m a mechanic, not a social media influencer. I don’t live my life for the ChApril fans.” I walk over to the writing desk where I keep my beginner friendly makeup items. Since I don’t have anywhere to store the makeup and brushes, I keep them in a little mug on my desk.
“The garage is doing better now, so we don’t need everyone’s attention. We just need the attention of those who want their cars fixed.”
“You’re no fun,” May whines.
There’s a knock on the front door.
“I’m not ready yet!” I panic, whirling back to the mirror with my eyeliner pencil in hand.
Despite my precision when working on cars, it freaks me out to have a pencil that close to my eye and I keep having to wipe away the scraggly lines and re-do them.
“I’ll get it.” May pulls herself up and sends me a cheeky grin. “The great thing about you dating Chance is that whenever he brings something for you, he always brings something for me too.”
“That’s because you harass him,” I scold, giving up on the eyeliner. It’s not like Chance likes me for my makeup skills anyway.
“It’s not harassment. It’s a mutual exchange. Chance understands the brother-in-law assignment.”
I reach for something to throw at my sister, but she’s already laughing and dancing out of the room.
Hurrying through the rest of my routine, I head to the living room.
Chance is sitting in our sofa, which is average-sized, but he’s so big that he makes the couch look like a child’s. I do a quick once-over. He looks scrumptious in a white button down and loose cream-colored trousers. I have a hate-hate relationship with colors that are easily soiled, but Chance seems to love them.
“Hey,” he says, lighting up at the sight of me.
“Hey.”
“I have something for you.”
I squeal when Chance presents a book on the history of driver-less cars. “I love it! Thank you!”
“You should have brought her flowers too,” May says, lifting a small bouquet of wildflowers. “If you keep bringing her books instead, you’re going to run out of books eventually.”
“I’ll get creative when that time comes,” Chance says, his eyes never leaving mine. “You look amazing, April.”
“Thank you.” I do a little spin. Today, I felt like wearing a dress. It was long, blue, pretty and it called to me from the back of my closet.
I’ve never been the type to wear dresses but, since dating Chance, I’ve found myself gravitating to this style more. I feel a lot more girly and soft when I’m with him and my clothes are a reflection of that.
Chance waves goodbye to May and sets his hand on the small of my back. I love the warmth of his touch and I can’t help snuggling into his side as he walks me to his car.
“Are we meeting the realtor at the first house or at their office?” I ask.
“Ah-ah.” Chance corrects me when I naturally open the door for myself.
I chuckle as he pops the door with a flourish and gestures for me to slide in. I sit first and, to my surprise, Chance scoops in and gives me a quick peck on the lips.
“I couldn’t resist,” he breathes, touching my nose.
I laugh and watch him jog around to the other side of the car. It takes me a moment to realize that I haven’t wiped the smile off my face yet.
What has gotten into me?
I’ve only ever dated Evan, but if dating is like this, I can see why everyone is so obsessed with being in a relationship. I truly enjoy spending time with Chance. We text throughout the day. We date every night—either going out to eat or hanging out at the garage.
So far, I haven’t tired of his company. In fact, I crave it.
Chance clicks his seatbelt into place and starts the car. “The realtor is meeting us at his office. It shouldn’t take long to get there.”
“What exactly are you looking for?” I ask him, observing the trees that thicken along the side of the road.
He reaches for my hand. “I originally wanted a property close to you.”
I snort. “That was your main objective?”
“Yeah.” His eyes crinkle from the force of his smile. “But then I started thinking that… this could potentially be our house. And I thought of what you needed.”
My heart picks up speed like an over-spinning engine.
“You’d want to be closer to your dad. That’s a priority. It couldn’t be too far from the garage. May would need a room too, since she’ll want to come over all the time and it’ll be convenient if she can just sleep in her own room there. An attached garage is a must, of course. Somewhere we can store all the vintage cars I’ll buy for you and another garage where you can work on cars just for fun on the weekend.”
Shocked, I sputter, “I don’t think that house has been built yet. At least not in this town.”
“We’ll see.” He winks.
I reach for one of the fidget spinners he keeps in the center console. “Maybe… you should think about what you want in the house first. Before you think about what I need.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean… we just started dating. We shouldn’t rush anything.”
Immediately, the energy in the car shifts from playful to serious.
“I’m not asking you to move in tomorrow, April,” he says in a cautious way, as if any sudden movements and I’ll jump out of the car.
“I know. I wouldn’t move in tomorrow if you asked either.”
He winces and I wonder if that sounded meaner than it had in my head. Chance continues steadily, “I just want you to know that you’re in my future.”
“And I appreciate the thought. I really do, but?—”
“But you still don’t trust me,” he says flatly.
“It’s not that…”
“It’s okay.” He drums up a sad smile before focusing on the road. “I got ahead of myself. I’m sorry if you feel I pressured you.”
“You didn’t, Chance.”
He doesn’t look at me and the sad smile is starting to deepen into a sad expression.
I touch his shoulder. “Chance.”
“Yeah?”
“Look at me.”
“I’m driving.”
I balance my elbows on the center console and rest my chin in my palm. “Just for a second.”
He reluctantly allows his gaze to rest on me. It’s only for a moment, but it’s enough that a smile tugs on his lips.
“Don’t be angry,” I coax him.
“I’m not angry.”
“You look angry.”
“I’m not. I care about you so much, April. I can’t imagine life without you.” He taps a finger on the wheel. “I’m an athlete. I tend to see a goal and go after it, ignoring everything around me. But just because a life with you is my goal doesn’t give me permission to ignore you and what you want too.”
I smile.
Chance brings my hand to his lips and kisses it. “You’re not angry with me , are you?”
“No. I feel… very safe.”
He arches a brow.
“My trust was at a deficit after my previous relationship. But every time you do something for me or you restrain yourself for me or you show me who you are, trust coins fall into my trust piggy bank.”
“Your trust piggy bank, huh?” Chance grins.
I rest my head back and admit, “If you keep going like this, soon that bank will overflow.”
“And what happens when it does?”
I shrug. “Guess you’ll just have to keep putting in the coins to find out.”
He laughs. “I like that.”
I nod, proud of myself for what feels like an awesome description of how I feel.
Chance flicks the indicator. “You’ll need a bigger pig by the time I’m done.”
I chuckle and keep holding his hand until we get to the realtor’s office.
The moment we arrive, Chance opens my door for me and I start to climb out when my phone rings. It’s an unknown number.
“It might be a client,” I tell Chance.
“Go ahead and take it. I’ll head in first.”
I settle back in my seat. “This is April Brooks.”
“April, this is Derek.”
“Derek?” I swivel around as if the obnoxious agent is hiding in the backseat.
“Is Chance around?” Derek asks excitedly.
“He just left but I can call him back.”
“No, no. I’m glad I got you alone.”
“Why?” I ask, bracing myself.
“I’ve got great news.”
“What is it?” I ask.
Derek pauses for dramatic effect. “Chance’s suspension has been lifted! Even better, his team wants him back ASAP before the upcoming season.”
“What? That’s fantastic!” I squeal.
“Yes! And you know what’s even better?”
“What?” I gasp.
“They want him now .”
“Now?” I squeak, my celebration dying and my hand sinking to my lap.
“This is your win too, April. Thanks to you, Chance can finally leave Lucky Falls for good.”