Chapter 5
Chapter Five
RYLEE
A blanket of heat wakes me. Something hard pokes me in the back as I start to stir. It’s still dark.
Coming to, I’m in an unfamiliar room.
Flashes of the night before run through my head and warmth blooms in my chest.
Chase.
Holy shit. We had sex. The man and his magical dick made me come more times than I think I ever have in my life.
And now he’s wrapped around me and not letting go.
A happy sigh escapes my lips.
“You awake, Honey?”
His voice is gravelly against my neck.
“Mmm, yeah,” I whisper, grabbing his hand and curling up into him.
“Last night was—”
“Amazing,” I finish.
“Yeah.”
Warm lips press against the back of my neck. I could get used to waking up like this.
“I wish I didn’t have to go into work today.”
“Can you call in sick?”
Chase flips me over onto my back and stares down at me. His brown eyes are tired and happy. No doubt matching my own.
Cupping his cheeks, I ask, “Are you going to kiss me, Cowboy?”
“You want me to?” A sly grin slides across his face.
“Yes.” I nod. “Consider this blanket approval to kiss me whenever you want.”
“Hmm.” He presses a kiss to my cheek. “Anytime I want?”
“Anytime,” I say.
His mouth captures mine in a slow kiss. One that’s a promise of all future kisses to come. My insides stir as the two of us lazily make out in his bed.
I want to spend all day here. Relish in how good Chase made me feel. I’ve never felt so satisfied in my entire life.
All because I decided to make a move on him the other night.
“As much as I wish I could keep doing this,” I say, using an immense amount of effort to pull away, “I have to go home to get ready for work.”
“Do you want to come over tonight?” he asks.
“Try and stop me.”
Throwing the covers back, I find my clothes on the floor and get dressed. Chase’s eyes are on me as I tie the last bow of my shirt closed.
“It’s a shame you’re covering all that up.”
Putting one knee on the bed, I hover over him. “Don’t worry, Cowboy. You’ll be seeing it soon enough.”
“Fine,” he gripes.
Hopping out of bed, he pulls on sweats and a sweatshirt. “I could say the same about you. Covering all those abs up.”
“You’ll be seeing it soon enough,” he parrots back.
Before I can say anything, his apartment door swings open.
“Uncle Chase,” a voice yells.
“Oh, shit,” he mutters, face dropping. “I completely forgot I have Max for a few hours this morning.”
Looking around, there is nowhere for me to hide and Joey walks inside.
“Hey, Ch—” She doesn’t finish her sentence as she spots me. “What in the world is going on here?”
Max doesn’t have a clue as he wraps his arms around Chase’s legs. “Can we color today?”
“Sure, bud,” he says.
Joey and I are locked in a staredown. I have no idea what is going through her head. Finding out Chase and I are…what? What are we?
We’ve spent one night together. We barely had time to even discuss what we are before she got here.
“Do either of you care to tell me what’s going on?” Joey asks again, bitterness lacing her voice.
I look to Chase and he looks as worried and concerned as I feel.
“We…”
“Are what?” Joey crosses her arms. “Are sneaking around behind my back?”
“No!” I say, a little too loud. “This only just started.”
“Is it a thing?” she asks.
“No,” Chase says.
“It’s not?”
Hurt cuts through me at his words.
“Then you’re just screwing around with my brother?” Joey huffs. “Unbelievable.”
She tosses Max’s bag down on the couch and spins on her heel and walks out the door.
“Joey, wait!” I call after her.
But it’s too late. She’s gone.
Fuck. In the span of one minute, it seems like everything has gone to shit.
“Max, do you want to watch some cartoons?” I hear Chase ask him.
“Mommy says I can’t watch TV until dinner.”
“Today is a special day, so I think you can.”
“Okay.”
Chase turns on the TV for him and walks up to me.
“Are you okay?”
He tries to pull me in, but I don’t go. “No, not really.”
“About what I said…”
“About this not being a thing?” I bite out.
“I didn’t mean it,” he says. “I want this to be a thing, but I didn’t want to say it for the first time in front of Joey.”
“You do?”
He nods. “I know we had no time at all to discuss this before Joey showed up, but yeah, Honey. I want this to be a thing.”
“Good.” I breathe a sigh of relief and wrap my arms around him. “Because I want this to be a thing too.”
“Good.” Chase presses his lips to my forehead. “I want to kiss you, but I have to watch Max today.”
“Go.” I push him away. “Be a good uncle, and I’ll take care of Joey.”
“Are you sure? She seemed pretty pissed.”
“How would you feel if you walked in on her and your best friend?” I quirk a brow at him.
“Fair point.” He spins me around and wraps a coat around me. “Go to work, and come by the bar tonight. Let me know how things go with Joey.”
I wink at him. “I will.”
I fire off a text, hoping against hope that Joey will come meet me at the diner after work. Because I love her brother and her.
And I want to keep them both in my life.
Forever.