Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
When her trembling subsided, Chase lifted his head and gazed up at her. His eyes were soft, no longer haunted but filled with a quiet tenderness that made her heart ache. She wondered—perhaps for the first time since they were teenagers—what it'd be like to be with him every day.
The thought scared her, and she released her legs' grip on his back. He wiped a hand down his chin as he grinned. "How was it? Alright?"
He gently pulled the blankets back as she crawled under with the last of her strength. Sighing, he pulled the blanket up over her, his touch tender and reverent as he smoothed the fabric across her body, pausing at her breasts.
She arched into his hands and licked her lips, swallowing to push past the cotton mouth. "Yes, it was fine."
His brows rose. "Fine? Woman, you screamed loud enough to break a window."
She laughed, grabbing his wrist as he began to pull away and tossing the covers back. "I'm joking. I rarely come from oral alone, so if that tells you anything about your skills…"
His eyes narrowed, but he didn't ask questions about her previous partners. Instead, he just crawled up behind her, pulling the blankets over their naked bodies.
The cabin's amber light had shifted, turning more golden as afternoon melted into early evening.
Jewel nestled into the curve of his arm, her head resting on his chest. She could hear the steady rhythm of his heartbeat, strong and sure. Chase's hand rested on her hip, his thumb making small circular motions—grounding, reconnecting until his breathing steadied and his hand went limp.
But she remained awake, her mind churning with unspoken thoughts. Their connection all those years ago had scared the shit out of her. She hadn't quite been ready to settle down, having only ever had one boyfriend in middle school and then Hunter in high school. Once Destini had been born and things had settled into a routine at school, she'd dated for a few years.
No one had ever made her feel the connection like she had with Chase. The way he took care of her even in the little things. Part of it was just naturally the way he was, the way he'd been raised to treat a woman right.
Part of it was how they were together. Their connection was so deep, it was like standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon. The only question was… did she want to take a chance and leap or was she going to play it safe yet again?
She carefully turned, not wanting to wake him, and studied his face. The lines of tension that had been etched into his features earlier were now smoothed away, replaced by a vulnerability that made her heart ache.
Her fingers traced the sharp line of his jaw, careful not to disturb his sleep. Chase had always been like this—strong yet fragile, a nerdy warrior with deep emotional wounds that he rarely showed anyone yet left her hesitant to hurt him.
She hadn't known how to tell of her fears of their future together when she'd gone to college, and he'd remained behind to finish up high school. She still had those same fears, and now she had to think about Destini… and him.
He might not have said the words, but she knew how he felt about her and Destini. He wanted them to live together as one big happy family, but it wasn't going to be a happy ending just because he wanted it to be.
They all had to agree to work on it, but she wasn't sure they could. Destini had a tendency to be selfish and not think beyond her teenage needs, which was natural but didn't make it any easier as her mom. Chase had a unique ability to have singular focus, and if he was trying to juggle focusing on a family with other things, it might stress him out too much.
And she… not only was she constantly going through ups and downs of Lyme, but she was so afraid of taking a chance on happiness just to have it ripped away again.
Her phone buzzed in her pants pocket. Jewel carefully extracted herself from Chase's embrace, not wanting to wake him. His earlier vulnerability—the raw emotional wounds that had surfaced—needed rest.
She grabbed the phone, seeing Destini's name, and stepped into the bathroom, closing the door so as not to wake him. "Hey, honey."
"Mom, where are you?" Destini's voice had an edge of frustration. "I've been trying to reach you all day."
Jewel glanced back at Chase's sleeping form. "We had church, then a big family dinner at the diner to celebrate Hunter's engagement, remember? Is everything okay?"
A pause. "Are you with Chase?"
Jewel sighed. "Yeah, he's asleep though."
"Oh, alright. I just got to thinking after you left this morning. For the first time, I—I wanted to go with you."
Jewel's heart ached, and she sank onto the side of the tub, relief coursing through her. "Really?"
Another pause. "Yeah, I think—maybe moving to Crimson Creek won't be so bad."
Jewel shuddered a sigh, her eyes fluttering. "Thank God," she said softly.
Destini chuckled, "Geez, Mom, don't be so dramatic. But when is that house going to be ready to move in? I don't want to wait until the end of the semester. I don't even want to wait until Thanksgiving."
Jewel swiped at the tear coursing down her cheek and explained the timeline of the next two weeks.
"Alright, so you can come get me, then?"
"Yeah, sweetie, but if you want, I can come get you tomorrow. We'd just be staying with your grandpa and Aunt Gemma for a few weeks, which you might enjoy."
Destini snorted. "And sleep in the same bed as you? No thanks. You snore too much."
Jewel chuckled, mimicking Destini's voice. "Well, you kick too much, so whatever."
Destini sighed dramatically, drawing out the word until it sounded like multiple syllables. "Mom."
Jewel grinned, feeling lighter than she had in weeks. "Just tell me when you're ready, and I'll be there in a few hours."
Destini paused and her voice dropped lower. "I think the kids are excited about Halloween, so I don't want to leave Carmen to handle them alone. But I'm good moving anytime in November."
Jewel sighed, her relief palatable in the bathroom. "Alright, I'll talk with Chase and see when the house will really be ready, then talk with your grandpa and Gemma. I'll get back to you."
"Cool. Love you, Mom. Don't stay up too late with Chase. Oh, and if this thing between you is going to continue, maybe have him invest in soundproofing the master bedroom while he has the roof redone."
Jewel gasped, her body flaming as Destini laughed. "Love you, Mom. Bye."
She hung up before Jewel could get a word in, but for once, she didn't want to chastise her daughter about it.
The shift in her daughter's attitude felt fragile, like a delicate glass sculpture that could shatter with one wrong move. Moving to Crimson Creek wasn't just about her and Chase—it was about creating a stable environment for Destini. She was finally ready to move to Crimson Creek, and there was so much to do.
She tiptoed back into the main room of the cabin, but Chase pulled the blankets back without opening his eyes.
"You're thinking too loudly again," he murmured, his voice rough with sleep. "Come back to bed."
Excitement coursed through her along with to-do lists, but the way he ran his hand over the sheet beckoned to her. She slipped in to snuggle up against him.
"Am I that obvious?"
"To me? Always." He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her back against him. "What's running through that beautiful mind of yours?"
She explained the conversation with Destini, and they talked about the plans to move.
"So it's official? Y'all will move in with me?" he asked, his body going unnaturally still behind her. She hesitated.
Vulnerability didn't come easily to her, and revealing her deepest fears felt like exposing a raw nerve. But this was Chase. If she couldn't be honest with him, who could she be honest with?
"Yeah, but I'm still scared," she admitted softly.
Chase propped himself up on one elbow, his gaze softening as he looked down at her. "About what?"
Jewel took a deep breath. "I'm afraid of messing this up. Of hurting you or Destini. Of everything falling apart. What if we can't make this work? What if I'm not enough, and we stop whatever this is between us? What if Destini doesn't like the school? What if my health issues—" Her voice trembled slightly.
He leaned down and kissed her forehead, his lips warm and reassuring. "We'll figure it out together. One day at a time."
His simple words carried a weight of promise that made her heart clench. She turned in his arms, facing him fully. "Promise me we'll communicate. No secrets."
"No secrets," Chase repeated, his pinky finger linking with hers—a childhood promise, now renewed with adult understanding.
His certainty was both comforting and terrifying. Jewel had spent so long protecting herself, protecting Destini, that the idea of truly letting someone in felt foreign. Chase wasn't just someone—he was the someone who had always been there, even when she'd pushed him away.
She licked her lips as nerves swarmed her. "We need to take this slow."
He traced a hand down her arm. "Whatever you want, my Jewel. I'd give you the world if it was mine to give. If you want slow, we can do slow." His voice was a low rumble that vibrated through her.
Her breath caught in her throat. Her life had always been a series of urgent moments—teenage pregnancy, single motherhood, battling Lyme disease—always moving, always surviving. The concept of deliberately taking time, of savoring moments, felt almost revolutionary.
But when he pressed their bodies slowly together, aligning naturally as if they'd spent years practicing, her breath caught, and all doubts seeped away. Her leg draped over his, her head nestling into the curve of his shoulder.
Chase's hand slid down her side and over her ass to tease her slit from behind. She arched into him, her nipples pebbling as they grazed his chest.
"Slow," she murmured, the word on repeat in her brain. A cocky grin spread slowly across his face, and he pressed them closer, his mouth descending on hers in a kiss that took her breath away.