One month later…
I can hardly contain myself as I pull up to the shop in my new beater. It’s not even close to the Bentley, but I don’t care. In fact, I kind of like it. The passenger side window sticks, so I’ve made sure to not let anybody roll it down, and it doesn’t have Bluetooth for my phone, but Chase assured me the engine is solid and the AC is so cold it almost makes snow. But the car is the smallest, most inconsequential change that I’ve gone through in the last month.
I told Ruth I wasn’t going to marry Bradley. Her response was about what I expected; first, she got indignant and asked me if I was crazy, then she tried to be nice and persuade me that being taken care of by him and his money would be best for me. Then when she saw I wasn’t going to budge, she threw a hissy fit and broke a few glasses and some plates.
“You’re just going to run off with some jerk who does oil changes for a living?” she shouted at me. Her classism was despicable. “Do you know the kind of life we can have if—”
“The life we can have?” I’d shouted back at her. “We? Do you see the problem with that statement, Ruth?”
She didn’t, but I wasn’t about to explain it to her. I also wasn’t about to marry Bradley for his money. All the cars, furs, heels and private chefs don’t mean shit if you’re with a man who makes you miserable. I’d trade that in for worn t-shirts, sweatpants, homemade meals and take-out pizza if it means I get to spend the rest of my life with Chase, and that’s what I did.
Ruth kicked me out, so I moved in with Chase right away. I spent the first week turning it from a bachelor’s pad into a place for the two of us. It wasn’t like the place was a dump or anything, it just needed a woman’s touch.
I’m learning how to cook, as my only real experience before was putting leftovers in the oven. I joked with Chase that I didn’t know my way around the stove and wasn’t “a real woman.”
He’d just looked at me and smiled. “Oh, I don’t think that’s the ultimate test.”
And then we did it.
Yeah, we pretty much can’t keep our hands off each other; it’s great. Every morning I like to wake him up with a blowjob. I thought he’d just lie back and accept it, but every time I try to get him to just finish in my mouth, he inevitably pins me down and fucks me silly.
“I can’t help it,” he always tells me, whispering in my ear. And I love that he can’t.
Sometimes I visit him at work, but only on the slow days. Sometimes I just want to get fucked hard on that old dirty couch in the break room, you know? Show up clean and made-up and leave nice and dirty with his hot load dripping out of me. Sometimes I wake up and feel like I’ve stepped into a dream.
I pull up and park and wave at Tucker as I get out. He’s busy chatting up Suzanne Linquist, a newly single mom who lives over by the walking path. It turns out her husband wasn’t really taking frequent business trips, he was visiting his new eighteen-year-old girlfriend. Suzanne found out and kicked him out, and it looks like she’s ready for a young guy to rebound with.
I pass them and head inside to find Chase buried in the hood of an old Charger – probably Johnny Atwood’s by the look of it. I come up behind him and grab his ass.
“Hey, big boy,” I whisper. “Got a few minutes to scope out my engine?”
He turns, smiling, covered in grease, and puckers his lips. I lean in and kiss him, about to boil over with excitement. I’m sure he thinks I’m just here for a midday quickie.
“Why are you glowing?” he asks me.
“I’m glowing? Really?” I reply, trying not to jump out of my pants.
“Yeah, you are,” he says slowly, examining me like I’m a car and he’s trying to diagnose my problems. But this is the opposite of a problem.
“Come out back with me,” I tell him, taking his hand. I pull him into the break room and close the door. He’s on me in a second, but for the first time ever, I push him away. He looks at me like I’m nuts.
“I’m not here for that,” I tell him. “Well – I mean – I could be, but I’m here to show you something.”
“Okay…” Chase says, hesitantly. He may be a mechanical genius, but I still have to laugh at how dense he can be sometimes. I reach into my purse and pull out the pregnancy test and show it to him. He stares for a second, then I watch with glee as his eyes go wide.
“So…this means?”
“Yes!” I laugh, throwing my arms around him. I can feel the love in his arms as he squeezes me, holds me tight to him. My heart is ready to burst and my eyes start to well up with tears as we hold each other.
“I can’t believe it,” he whispers. “Already!”
“I can!” I laugh through tears of joy. “All the loads you’ve dumped in me!”
“Jesus!” he exclaims, holding me in front of him as he laughs. “This is supposed to be a tender moment, Nicky! And you’re talking about loads?”
I almost die laughing and clamp a hand over my mouth and lean into him. His strong hands take me in their gentle caress as I think about how much our life is about to change. I don’t miss my old life – not
one bit. I found my man, no one’s going to pick him out for me.