Chapter 29
“Do you want to go with me to the community center today?” Chase asks, handing me a freshly brewed coffee across my kitchen island when I pull out the barstool to sit down.
Having him here is the most natural I've ever felt in a relationship.
If we can even call it a relationship. We haven't put a label on it, but I'm totally fine with where we're at right now.
Getting to know each other and exploring each other's bodies.
“You’re going back?” How did I not know this? “It’s not in your schedule.”
“Did you memorize my schedule, Princess?” He rounds the counter and presses into my back where I sit on the barstool. Nibbling my ear, he says, “So obsessed with me.”
“I’m not,” I moan, distracted by the feel of his lips on my neck. “It’s my job.”
“Mm-hmm, sure.” He continues the path down my neck to my shoulder.
“I can’t think when you’re doing that.”
“My plan is working then. Come with me.”
Quickly picturing my calendar, I don’t have any pressing meetings this morning.
There’s a mountain of paperwork on my desk, but I can get to it tomorrow.
The urge to spend every waking moment with him when we don’t normally get the chance is overwhelming.
Is this obsession? Or is this just how it feels to want to spend time with your partner?
“Okay,” I sigh.
“Okay?” His brows shoot up.
“You asked and now you’re surprised?”
“I asked but didn’t think you’d actually blow off work to go with me.”
“Do you not want me to?” Did he only ask to make me feel included?
“Of course I want you to. I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want you to. Are you sure you can swing it?”
“One could argue I am working. I have to keep an eye on our troublemaker after all.” I loop my arms around his neck and pull him closer for a kiss.
“I do need a lot of supervision,” he murmurs against my lips. “Better come supervise me in the shower too.” He picks me up and runs us up the stairs and into the shower, laughing the whole way.
An hour later, Chase opens the passenger door to my car and motions for me to get in.
“You think you’re driving my car?”
“A lady shouldn’t have to drive all the time. Let me take care of you for once.” He leans down and presses a quick kiss to my forehead.
“Only because that was sweet, and I don’t feel like driving.”
“If you say so.” He runs around the front of the car and slides into the driver seat.
Pushing the start button, the engine roars to life and he shifts the car into reverse.
I watch with rapt attention as he throws an arm on the back of my seat and looks over his shoulder as he backs up in my driveway.
When he’s satisfied, he uses the arm that was on the seat to shift the car into drive and then rests his large palm on my thigh.
“What?” he asks when he notices me staring at him.
“Why is it so hot to watch a guy drive in reverse?”
“Keep looking at me like that and we’ll never make it to the center, Princess.” He stops at the end of my driveway while the gate closes.
“Are you sure you’re comfortable over there?” My eyes track over his tall, lean body crammed into the driver seat of my Mercedes.
“I’m fine.” He fidgets with the settings, leaning the seat back and repositioning so he has more room before he pulls out onto my street.
The whole time he drives his hand stays on my leg.
No wonder Ivory took that picture in Belize and posted it online for the world to see.
The feeling of his callused palm on my upper thigh is electric.
There’s a sense of security and possession from the casual touch.
He lightly rubs his thumb back and forth, focused on driving us safely across town to the community center he’s been volunteering at.
“So, if this isn’t in your schedule, why are you going today?” Deciding to mimic his position, I place my hand on his thigh. He looks over with a smirk that has me wishing we could go back to bed.
Later, Gabrielle. You don’t need to jump his bones twenty-four seven. Your vagina could use the break too.
“I go every time I’m home now.”
“You do?”
“Yeah,” he shrugs. “I stop by once a week and play games, talk, whatever they want to do.”
“Wow. I don’t know what to say. That’s really sweet of you.”
“You don’t have to sound so surprised, Princess.” He laughs it off, but he shifts uncomfortably, his hand gripping the steering wheel tighter.
“Hey,” I lace our fingers together on my lap. “That’s not what I meant. I’m not surprised you’re a good guy. I’ve known that for a while. I’m just surprised you go so often. You have a lot of other stuff going on and you’re not reporting it for your community service hours, so I had no idea.”
“It didn’t feel right to report them as my hours. I like going to spend time with them. The kids are cool. They don’t ask me for things. They don’t expect anything of me. When I’m there, I can just hang out.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you felt that way.”
“It’s my own fault. I created this persona for the public and then I really stepped in it with the headlines after getting arrested.
I guess I just realized all of that wasn’t important anymore.
I didn’t need to be the life of the party.
The bad boy who showed out on the field and even more off the field. ”
“What made you realize that?”
“If I’m being honest, it was you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. I hated the look on your face that first month I was with the team, and even worse was the look of disappointment when I got arrested. I knew if I wanted that look to go away, then I needed to grow up. Things were different. I was in a different place in my career and my life. Hanging with Fields and Miller has been good too. They’ve got this balance of fun and dedication that makes it easy to model after. ”
“They’re great. I’m glad they’ve been that for you.” Taking a minute to consider what he just said, I feel the need to tell him he was enough as he was. “You didn’t have to change for me.”
“Yes, I did, and I don’t regret it for a second because I’m here with you now.” We ride the rest of the way in comfortable silence, with no sound except for the music on the radio.
I think back to Chase’s first month in Nashville.
My disappointment was only bolstered by the feelings I was fighting.
Thinking about it now, I wasn’t as upset with him for getting in trouble as I was with the situation and the way I let him in right before it happened.
It’s not easy for me to lower my walls. He caught me off guard and I did the only thing I knew how to do—I pushed him away by being a bitch.
Only it didn’t work because here we are.
When we walk in the doors at the community center, the kids run up to talk to Chase immediately.
Variations of “you’re here,” “how was your game?” and “that was a sick play,” are shouted out at the same time.
I watch in awe as he greets each of them individually with a specific handshake or some other coordinated routine they’ve mastered.
A teenage girl steamrolls him in a hug and starts talking a mile a minute.
I laugh to myself at his animated responses.
He’s good with them, meeting them where they’re at and matching their energy.
He says something and the girl turns to look at me with a wide grin before turning back to him and nodding her head excitedly.
“Bree, this is Shelby. She’s the girl I was telling you about.” The girl he was telling me about? Oh, the cute kid he met who wanted to be a lawyer.
“You were talking about me?” she asks with stars in her eyes. If I’m not mistaken, Shelby has a crush on my man.
“He was. You want to be a lawyer when you are older, right?” I hold my hand out, unsure if I should shake her hand or do something else. I’m new to this and it’s hard to drop the professional behaviors ingrained in me from work.
“Yes, oh my god. He told me you’re the lawyer for his team.
That’s so cool,” Shelby gushes and wraps her arms around my waist in a quick hug.
“Oh my god, I’m sorry. I’m a hugger and I know I shouldn’t just touch people without permission, but I just got so excited.
” She barely breathes as she rambles, and I can’t help but chuckle at her excitement.
“Do you want me to tell you about it? Maybe we can talk about your school plans and what you like to do.” I smile down at her where she bounces on the balls of her feet.
“You girls have fun. I’m going to talk to these guys.
” Chase tosses a thumb over his shoulder as he walks backwards to where a group of boys have started a game of basketball.
The hours pass quickly as Shelby and I sit on the bleachers and chat about what she wants to do with her life.
When I ask why she is at the community center, she tells me her mom is a single mom and works two jobs, which leaves Shelby with a lot of alone time.
Her mom dropped her off one afternoon a few years ago when they moved to town, and she’s been coming to the community center every day since.
As we watch the boys play basketball, she points out different kids and shares some of their stories. Some of them aren’t as fortunate as she is to have a mom who cares. She’s a brilliant girl, full of light and energy, untouched by the evils of this world. I hope she can stay like this forever.
“You’re really great with them,” I say to Chase as we drive back to my house. He’s been quiet since we got in the car, and I wonder if it has anything to do with the boy who cried on his shoulder after they finished the game.
“I wish there was a way to make sure these kids are protected from the darkness in this world.”
“Was everything okay with that little boy?”
“Not really. He doesn’t have a great home life and he gets bullied at school. It’s sad.”
“That’s why you go, isn’t it? To show up for them when others don’t?”
“Yeah, Princess. They deserve someone to show up. I wish there was more I could do.”
“You’re doing it. Those kids adore you. I watched them hang on your every word today. You’re doing exactly enough.”
“Thanks, Princess. I’m happy you went with me today.” He squeezes my thigh.
“Me too.” Tangling my fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck, I try to offer as much reassurance as I can.
After he drops me off, I replay our day together.
Seeing those kids at the community center today and seeing how Chase was with them, I can’t help but wonder if he wants kids of his own.
I’ve always been career motivated. I’ve never thought about having children of my own.
It hasn’t been in the cards for me, and being in my mid-thirties, I don’t know if it ever will be.
This is where the ten-year age gap makes things complicated. Chase has his whole life ahead of him and I saw a different, gentler side of him today.
If kids are something he wants, is that something I would want too?