“I don’t want anyone at work knowing just yet.”
“I know, and neither do I.”
“I like it being just us for now.”
“Same, peaches. Same.”
“You know, you say that a lot now.” I laughed at him again.
“Around you, I simply lose my words, but somehow you find them and speak them from your lips instead.”
I stared up at Chase and inwardly swooned at what he said. He always had a way with words, so I never had a hard time believing him.
“Go see Jack before I hold you hostage.” I pushed at Chase’s chest playfully, trying to get him to leave, because if he stayed any longer, I might actually hold him here forever in my arms.
“I wouldn’t mind that.” Chase wiggled his eyebrows at me and then dipped his head to kiss my neck. I moaned softly at the touch and pushed him a little harder.
“Chase.” I pointed my finger at him, trying to scold him. “Go have your guys’ night. We have all the time in the world now.”
His eyes softened at my words.
“How the hell did I get so lucky, peaches?”
“I don’t know. You tell me.” I shot him a wink and then pushed him back off the porch. He held on to his heart with one hand and then blew me a kiss with the other.
“I love you.” His declaration was loud enough that not just the whole neighborhood probably heard, but my soul had too. That little part of it that still had some form of doubt, which was hiding away in a little corner. At his words, that little piece of black left there turned bright red and made me whole finally.
A smile plastered onto my face and I waved goodbye to Chase, blowing my own kiss toward him.
“I love you, too.”
I watched as Chase got in his truck and drove away. I stayed there on the porch, watching as the truck rounded a corner and exited the neighborhood.
“Who was that?”
“Fuck!” I screamed and jumped at the sound of my mother’s voice. It had been so sweet and soft compared to the loud silence that had just been filling my head. I placed a hand on my heart, feeling it beat rapidly. She walked up my porch steps, meeting me at the top and looking toward where Chase had driven away.
“So.” She nudged me with an elbow. “Who was that?”
She wiggled her eyebrows at me, and unlike when Chase did it, I didn’t find it funny.
“No one, Mother.”
“Ooooo, so serious! You called me Mother. You haven’t called me that inyears.” She smiled at me.
“I’m going in for the day.”
“But it’s only two in the afternoon!”
She tried to follow me in the house, but I stopped her with a hand.
“Mom. I need some rest and a little bit of alone time.”
“But I want to talk boys. No boy has ever dropped you off. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a boy. Was that your first kiss? Did he take your sweet flower? Talk to Mom, because”—I slammed the door in her face, locking it, making sure she couldn’t get in—“I want to know everything! We never talked about this when you were a teenager!”
I pressed my back to the door, waiting for her to leave, but the only indication she gave was that her laughter started to fade after a few minutes.
The problem with living next to your parents, they knew everything about your life. The problem living next to my mother was that she didn’t care if she was all up in my business. She always popped in unannounced, and mind you, I did the same to her, but now with Chase in the picture, I needed to either get a second lock or change them.
Desperate times called for desperate measures, and damn, I was desperate to keep Chase at all costs.
