“Chance…” I began when Chance spoke.
“Got a confession, Clio…” Chance broke off the same time I did, and I laughed.
“Go on, confess,” I said airily, waving a hand.
“Had Leslie and Tati pack your shit up and move it to my cabin. No way in hell was I letting you go back there Clio, everything is in boxes and stored inside waiting for you. Also told your landlord you weren’t going back, it ain’t safe. The landlord is now lookin’ at a range of inspections from fire and police down to health and safety.” Chance looked smug at the last. I felt like a fish as my mouth dropped open, it seemed to do that a lot around this guy. Chance’s highhandedness stunned me for a few moments, and then he looked at me with those green eyes that spoke volumes.
“You gave my apartment up?” I finally asked.
“Yup, the landlord’s giving you back the three months deposit, are you fuckin’ kidding me? You had to pay three months in advance on that piece of shit?” Chance demanded outraged.
“Fuckin’ asshole shit his pants when he saw Chance, Bear and Shee coming for him,” Levi laughed from the front seat. Abruptly without warning, Levi swung the truck off the road and on to a well-maintained private road. My attention was drawn by the shaded lane, and then I gasped as the cabin came into view. Chance lied, this wasn’t a cabin, this was, however, my idea of heaven.
It was a single-story log building that seemed to stretch for miles, it didn’t, of course, but appeared to. The entrance was set to the right, and to the side was a window. To the left of the door were several other windows. There was a wrap-around porch with hand-carved spindles and two porch swings hanging between the windows on the left-hand side. The far end of the cabin ended in a sizeable pure glass sunroom, or at least I thought it was. The sheer size of it could mean another room. There was space for parking, and the cabin had an attached garage, built of wood in keeping with the theme.
“Oh my god, you lied, this isn’t a cabin!” I exclaimed nearly falling from the truck as Levi parked, I was desperate to get inside and look around. Chance chuckled as Levi shot out a hand and caught me, and I dashed towards the porch. Intent on reaching the swings, I missed the looks that Levi and Chance swapped as I sank onto a swing and sighed and looked out at the trees and skyline.
“You gonna stay there, or you wanna see the cabin?” Chance grunted amused. Cabin? Of course, I desired to see the cabin, grinning at the two men I darted past and stepped over the threshold into heaven. It was as if Chance had reached into my deepest darkest desires and ripped them out to create the cabin of my dreams. Straight in front of me was a wide stone fireplace with a thick wooden mantle. To the right was a cosy seating area with padded leather sofa’s huddled around another fireplace. There were several coffee tables with lamps on.
To the left was a long wooden table that easily sat fourteen, it was delicately but sturdily hand carved. Chairs were tucked in around it and in the centre stood a sizeable ornate candelabra. Past that I spied an expansive open kitchen and then the final room, (it was a room and not a sunroom), was a sizeable kickass pool table. Just beyond that was a second seating area with padded wooden sofa’s looking out over the trees.
As I stared, more details took shape, in between the kitchen and the fireplace was a door. Without asking, I barrelled through that and found a hallway with several doors coming off it. I opened the first and found a bedroom and further investigation discovered an adjoined bathroom, the three other remaining doors opened onto the same spacious designed bedrooms.
I left the hallway and went searching for a second door, there had to be one, and then I spied one between the kitchen and glass sunroom. Without asking I flew through it and entered the first room, I stared in stunned amazement at the room before me. It was dominated by a bed so big I thought it had to be custom made. It was a four-poster bed with tied back blue drapes and to get on, I’d need a footstool, it was that high off the ground! The room was framed by two wooden walls and two glass ones, letting the outside in. Wooden polished floors were covered in places by various shades of green rugs and a blue one.
Slowly walking to the windows, I was surprised to see there was a shimmer of blue, and as I got closer, I realised one window overlooked a lake. Two sofas and a matching armchair were centred around this window which was actually double doors leading to a private balcony. I turned back to the room to discover two doors, one led to a walk-in wardrobe and the second to a his and hers bathroom. After one more longing glance at the bedroom, I left it and opened the second door, which led to an empty room which puzzled me. The third door led to a study slash library. The fourth and final door led to a home gym.
Chance and Levi were sat in the glass area when I came back out, and I spied something I’d missed the first time around, there was a mezzanine level. A spiral staircase led to it, and I flew up it, and I’m sure Chance and Levi heard my squeal of delight. Up here were two massive armchairs, so deep and snuggly I thought Chance would need a crowbar to pry me from them. The walls had wooden shelves and were filled with books. One wall remained empty, but Chance had put the odd knickknack up there so minimise the feeling of emptiness.
The mezzanine level ran a third of the house and was centred above the dining area and part of the kitchen. Once again hand-carved bannisters and spindles kept a person from falling off. A deep plush black carpet covered the entire floor, and I kicked my shoes off and sank my feet into it with a groan. Chance coughed, and I gazed over the bannister to find him looking curiously up at me.
“That good, baby?” he chuckled, and I blushed.
“It’s heaven,” I replied. Levi rose to his feet and sent me a chin lift before bumping fists with Chance and then walking out. I ambled down the stairs and then discovered the joy of the kitchen. A six-hob range cooker and double oven with a grill and bread oven inbuilt. Stainless steel double fridge and freezer. Oak carved cabinets with glass inlays showing glasses, and crockery. A set of six drawers with utensils and a dishwasher.
To my surprise, I spied another door I’d missed on my first mad dash. Excited, I walked through and found a utility room with a washing machine and tumble dryer and a wet room. Ecstatic, I discovered a pantry, something most people didn’t have nowadays. I spun in a circle with a huge grin face and found Chance leaning in the doorway with a smirk on his face. There were three more large empty rooms which I wondered what Chance planned to do with them.
“Everything meet your approval, baby?” Chance asked, already knowing my answer. I gave a wordless sigh and flung myself in his arms.
“It’s perfect, everything is perfect,” I said as his arms wrapped around me. Chance grunted his amusement as I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed. His head dropped, and his eyes held mine as slowly his mouth closed on mine, and he gave me the briefest of kisses. I instantly felt cheated, there was no tongue action or even a lip swipe, just the gentlest, barest brush of lips. Green eyes glinted as Chance picked up my disgruntlement, and he gave me a longer kiss this time but still with no action.
“Told ya, baby, I’m gonna date ya,” Chance murmured, and I frowned, did dating mean no action? Chance threw back his head and roared with laughter as he read the thoughts on my face.
“Stop that,” I told him peeved.
“Clio, you’ll get action but when I think you’re ready. Gonna take it slow, and steady because I intend to win the prize at the end. That’s you before you go worrying your head off over it,” Chance grinned. He firmly tilted my head with a finger and dropped a third brief kiss before leading me back out.
“When did you buy this?” I asked as I curled up in a chair that faced the kitchen as Chance began pulling out ingredients. Apparently, Chance was going to be cooking lunch.
“Dad built a cabin here, a tiny one-room thing with a hole for an outhouse. When Dad died and left me the land, I had it torn down and designed this, the wood from the original cabin was reused building this. Nothing was wasted or was scrapped except Dad’s shitty appliances. Once upon a time, I intended to build a family once here,” Chance stopped, and loneliness crept into his eyes.
“Something happened?” I asked. Chance shook his head.
“Nothing happened, never found her, lost the dream years ago but somehow a morsel of hope held on. Then I saw a girl a few months ago, and my attention was caught again, and hope bloomed. Catching her was a fuckin’ nightmare, she was slippery, my shy girl. Every time I approached, she was off like a dang jackrabbit!” Chance winked at me, and I blushed.
“Did you really know I was watching the whole time?” I asked, blushing even deeper.
“Missed you at first, Big Al caught you two months before I cottoned on. At first, we thought you were a bunny or skank waiting for a chance, it dawned gradually that you were shy. We also clocked you were fascinated by bikes and cars. Your attention was more on them than me,” Chance said, sounding disgruntled.