“I thought so.”
I was still turned in my seat, staring him down, but he wouldn’t look at me. Instead, I watched as his breaths became uneven and his whole body moved with each intake. I just wanted him to talk to me. I wanted no secrets between us. No secrets my ass, though, because I was holding onto the biggest one.
“Not telling you how close I lived was the last-ditch effort I had to keep a respectable distance from you.”
“Respectable distance?”
“Yeah.” He nodded once, more like he was talking to himself than me. “So I wouldn’t just pop up whenever I wanted to. It was my way of making sure I didn’t jump the second you said to come pick you up. It made me have to wait and calm down, then come and get you.”
“That’s crazy.”
“Maybe. But not as crazy as living next to your parents.”
“Hey!” I shouted and shoved at his arm. “I love my parents.”
“Love them enough to introduce me?”
His question made me stop and think. My mother had already been drilling me about the boy who had been coming to pick me up some nights, but I had managed to dodge all her questions. I didn’t know what to tell her yet. I still didn’t know what to tell my best friends, let alone my mother.
“Maybe.” I leaned back into the seat of the truck as Chase pulled onto a side road. I managed to catch a glimpse of a frown crossing his face before looking out the window.
“Just maybe?” His voice sounded hurt as a crack broke up the two-word question.
I rushed into the explanation that had just run through my head.
“The moment you come over, trust me, my mom will be all over you, and I’m not quite sure you’re ready for that.” I laughed, thinking of Chase sitting down on the little pink sofa my mom had in the front room of her house and drilling him on what he was to me and what his intentions were. I already knew she would be worse than my father, because that’s just the kind of bond we had. We had always been so close together, and even though she wanted me to date, I could tell anyone that once she knew I was, all hell would break loose.
“I would love to meet your mom.”
I turned to look at Chase, a frown still sitting there, and all I wanted from him was to have his smile back. I wanted fun and playful Chase with me here tonight. I huffed and gave in.
“Then I guess we can make it happen. Just not today,” I teased, leaning over the console and poking his arm. In an instant the smile I wanted so badly was back, like it had never left to begin with and this was all just a ruse. Then he let out a bellowed laugh and looked over at me.
“Hell no, not today. Today is ours and ours alone.”
He pulled into a small apartment complex and parked in front of the last brick building. I hopped out of the car and followed behind him as he led me to a bottom-floor apartment at the back of the complex.
“This is pretty nice.” I looked around the building at where the walkway dropped off to a small lake on the back end of the property. It reminded me or the forest line at Old Mills and I thought about how Chase had probably picked this place because of that.
“It’s great, and wait till you see the porch.”
I followed Chase into the not so small apartment. It had a full kitchen, living room, a porch behind a sliding glass door that was behind his couch. Down a small hallway were two doors. One I guessed was the bathroom and the other his bedroom. I looked around at the vintage furniture that filled the apartment and thought I had known Chase, but I was all wrong. Book shelves lined the walls, packed to the brim with all sorts of books, and two laptops sat on the kitchen table that had papers flung across it. A large television hung on the wall over an antique table that housed a gaming console, games, and DVDs.
“It’s like your own little man cave,” I said in awe. The nostalgia radiated off the walls, but pride also set in when I turned to find Chase watching me. He wanted my approval.
“Come here.” He ushered me over before opening the sliding glass door. On the porch was a fire pit and a wicker couch, and when he flipped the switch next to the door, little fairy lights lit the ceiling. It was like his own little fairy world, and I wondered if any time had passed between us because right now I was looking at the nine-year-old I had fallen in love with so many years ago. Chase’s face was soft and his expression so vulnerable. I could tell he was showing me something that was just his and that no one else had been able to grace this kind of world with him.
Pride swelled within me at the trust he was ensuing in me right now.
“Did you want to eat inside or outside tonight?” Chase asked, but before I could answer he was already making his way to the fire pit.
“Outside works for me.”
“Take a seat.” Chase waved toward the couch as the doorbell rang. I sat down and leaned toward the fire he had started with the flip of a switch before going to answer the door. Peace and quiet filled the porch as I took in the moment. Warm flames made the slight breeze coming through the screen door send a chill down my spine and I wrapped my arms around my waist, trying to gain more warmth.
“You cold, peaches?”
My head shot up to look at Chase, who was standing on the porch now with a box of pizza in his hands. I was no longer focused on the fire, or the shiver that was racking through my body again. This time, I was pretty sure it wasn’t from the cold, though.
