“I’m sure.” He kisses the top of my head. “I’ll meet you at home.”
There seems to be something sad in his eyes when he says it, but we get to the house, I insist on changing, then I meet Chase downstairs. I notice that both Hunter and Lief are M.I.A., but I’m focused on having Chase.
He tips me back when he sees me, then kisses me so sweetly, I think I might get a cavity. I hum in my throat and then giggle when he pulls me up. “What do you want to do, baby doll? I’m yours entirely and totally.”
I adjust his collar. “Are you really?”
Chase shows me his phone and puts it on silent. Not vibrate, silent. I bounce on my toes a little and take his hand. Chase laughs as I drag him out of the house. Rather than begging him to go somewhere fancy, I take him to a bar I used to go to with Elaine when we first started grad school.
Chase looks at his feet as they stick to the floor and I giggle before tugging him into a booth. “Are you too good for a hole-in-the-wall bar?”
“Definitely not. If you recommend the place, it must have good food or drinks.”
“Good and cheap, because I’m paying.”
“That’s the opposite of letting me take care of you, baby doll.”
“Take care of me after dinner. I chose this, you choose the next option.”
Chase nods and looks over the menu. I know he’s kind of a snob with food. He likes specific things and I don’t know if he’s ever eaten at a place that hasn’t bothered to earn any stars at all. But I get that it’s a change.
When the waitress comes by she pops her gum and looks at me. “I’d like to get the fried pickles as an appetizer and the habanero mango wings.”
Chase stares at me for a long moment.
“Um ... I’ll have the BLT and whatever cider-based beer you have for both of us.”
The girl nods takes our menus and walks away. I reach across the table to take Chase’s hand. “I promise it will be good. If it’s not ... we can talk about your kinks.”
“Oh? Just talk about them.”
“You know what talking about them leads to,” I tease.
He chuckles. Chase has me tell him all about how school is going. We talk about all the things I want to do with my degree, all the ways I want to help people and how once I have a real job, we can actually start making plans again.
Chase leans back, setting his crust down and I know that’s a bad sign. “What is it, baby boy?”
“Nothing for you to worry about.”
“If you’re worried, I’m worried for you,” I assure him before wiping my mouth.
“Let’s not disrupt a surprisingly good dinner.”
So instead, we laugh and make plans for the future. We still need to go skiing like Hunter wants. I want to experience so much with my men. Scuba diving, cage diving with sharks, going places I always dreamed of as a little girl, and small things – camping around a bonfire. Going to the library and finding old records, old forgotten stories, dancing in a fountain.
Chase eats it all up until I pay for dinner and he drops a tip on the table. He keeps my hand, drives us towards the river, then leads me along it.
“You’re so quiet now. It’s something unpleasant, isn’t it?”
“Hmm?”
“Whatever’s on your mind that you’re keeping from me.”
“I’m not keeping it from you, Valerie. When you say it like that it sounds like I’m cheating or something.”
“I know you’re not.” I pull him towards me. “I trust you, Chase. If you don’t want to worry me. If it’s not going to hurt us ... then I don’t need to know. But I hate seeing you so burdened.”
He takes a slow breath and kisses my forehead, then kisses me properly. There’s a silky soft edge to his kiss like he wants to make it last. He exhales. “Our Dad is being ... difficult. That’s all. He’s a broken record.”