by S. R. Grey
Chase sighs. “You okay with that, Kay,” he asks as he turns to me.
“Of course,” I reply.
I’m fine with whatever is decided, since truthfully, I’m just thankful Chase is all right.
Chase
Dinner with the family on my last night in Vegas goes much better than the first dinner we sat down to, shortly after Kay and I arrived in town. The positivity in the air gives me peace, peace that everything might turn out okay with all of us. We’re a little crazy, yeah, but we are still family.
Greg is his usual reserved self at the table, but there is genuine concern in his voice when he brings up the accident.
“You’re a very lucky young man,” he says to me just as my mom sets a pot roast in the center of the dining room table.
Turning to Will, he adds, “And so are you, son.”
Normally my brother would shoot off his mouth about how Greg is not his father and don’t be calling him son, that sort of thing, but today he just smiles and says, “Thanks, Greg. And don’t I know it. Chase and I were both really lucky.”
I think my near-miss with mortality has shaken Will. That, coupled with the quality time I’ve spent trying to reach him, and Cassie being out of the picture, leads me to believe that my brother won’t be turning back to drugs to solve his problems. He knows there’s nothing good to be found down that forlorn path. If anything, in our family, indulging our weaknesses leads only to disaster.
Once my mom is seated at the table, we dig into the delicious meal she’s made.
After a few minutes of everyone enjoying their food, she asks me, “So, are you flying back to Ohio, or are you still planning on driving your father’s old bike back.”
“I don’t know,” I reply, glancing over at my new wife, seated next to me, for her take on the situation. “What do you want to do, Kay?”
I’d originally hoped to drive the bike back to Harmony Creek with Kay. But my thinking it might be nice to see the country seems like a poor idea now. Too much has happened, and the delays have messed with our work commitments.
“Well,” Kay replies, frowning. “I’d love to drive back, especially on the bike, but I should probably get back to school as soon as possible. Father Maridale has had to cover for me a lot lately. I don’t want to take advantage of his generosity.”
“Yeah, I know.” I blow out a breath. “I need to get back to work, too.”
Abby nods. “Okay. Do you want me to ship the bike to Harmony Creek, then?”
“Uh…” I glance over at Will, who is pushing around peas on his plate.
Shit, I can tell the kid wants the old Indian to stay. He’s done really well with learning to drive it, and in less than a year he’ll be sixteen. Do I really need a motorcycle in Ohio? Probably not. I mean, sure, I’d love to have the bike since it was Dad’s, but Will has as much claim to it as I do.
With my eyes on my brother, I say, “Nah, why don’t we just keep the bike here and give it to Will next summer.”
Will’s head shoots up. “Really?” he says.
Kay shoots me a smile and mouths, “That’s sweet of you.”
Mom shrugs and says, “It’s your call, Chase.”
Fuck, that hit on the head Friday must’ve really scared her. She’s not turning this decision into a debate or a challenge to her authority.
But I want to be fair, so, as a group, we decide the Indian will stay. Even Greg agrees.
After dinner, Kay and I book our flights back home for the following day. I can tell my mom really wants to watch a movie—as a family—so I decide to give her this. Greg will never take the place of my father, but there’s no point in shunning all activity involving him. After all, the family dinner went well enough.
Shit, I guess I am evolving.
But in one area I remain uncivilized. And that’s when it comes to sex.
When I finally get Kay in bed—following two long movies and too much popcorn—I order her to lose the sleep shorts and tee immediately. “Get naked, sweet girl,” I command when she emerges from the bathroom. “I want to taste how sweet you are.”
Giggling, she starts to undress. But when she’s too slow for my liking, I go to her and pretty much tear her fucking shorts right the hell off. I make quick work of the only thing I’m wearing, as well—my boxer briefs.
I’m hard as fuck, my cock throbbing, but I want this time not to be as rushed.
Back on the bed, I deliver slow, wet kisses across Kay’s chest then up along her neck, making her murmur, “Oh, yes, Chase. That feels so nice.”
She is already half-gone, even before I move up to her mouth. Parting her lips, I touch my tongue to hers. I know she loves to be kissed like this, all slow and soft. When I reach down and dip a finger into her slick folds, I use my thumb to work her nub.
Faster and faster, her breaths come. “Come for me,” I rasp in her ear as I press my body to hers.
But Kay is intent on something more before she lets herself go completely.
“I want you inside me first,” she whispers. “I want to come around your cock, Chase.”
“Fuck, Kay.”
She only talks like this in bed, and it never fails to make my dick even harder. With what I have to give her, I part her legs and settle between her creamy, soft thighs. Handling my cock, I rub the tip over her clit again and again. Her juices coat me and my hand, and then I can’t hold back any longer. Plunging into my girl, I bury myself to the hilt.
Kay holds onto my shoulders as she tries to keep up with my ever-quickening pace. She moves with me, but when I fuck her really, really hard, she can’t keep up.
Placing my arms under her knees, I hoist her up and say, “Let go, baby. Just enjoy it.”
And, oh, does she enjoy it.
Following our releases, I lower her legs and settle my spent body gently on top of her. Our faces are inches apart, and I lean down to kiss her, murmuring, “I love you so fucking much, Kay. Where would I be without you?”
I shudder at the thought, and she wraps her arms around me. “Don’t, Chase,” she says. “No more worrying about what-ifs and where-would-I-be if you weren’t around. I’m here, Chase. I’m in this for the long haul.”
“Yes, you are.”
I nuzzle into her neck, and she squeezes me with all she’s got. I just give thanks, over and over again. I thank Kay for standing by me, for staying with me through all my stumbles, for picking me up after all my falls.
“You’re a good woman, Kay,” I tell her, my heart on my sleeve.
“And you, Chase, are a good man.”
For the first time, I finally feel like maybe I really am a good man.
Yeah, maybe I am.
Kay
Back in Harmony Creek, life returns to normal. I resume teaching my energetic class of eager-to-learn first-graders, and Chase returns to work too, fixing that which needs fixing.
It’s also true that Chase and I are more in love than ever.
One warm, sunny late-September afternoon, following the end of the school day, I search out my gorgeous man. When I find him outside the rectory, repairing a loose shutter on a first-floor window, sans shirt oh, my! I take a few minutes to admire his hot bod.
I swear I will never tire of checking out Chase Gartner.
“Damn,” I say, and then loudly enough to get his attention I let out a wolf-whistle.
Chase spins around, muscles flexing. “Didn’t know you knew how to do that,” he says, referring to my loud cat call.
“Ha,” I reply, ambling up to him. “There are lots of things I know how to do, maybe a few you don’t even know about.”
I wink, and he laughs. “Oh, now I’m intrigued.”
I add with a coy smile, “If we weren’t on church grounds right now, Chase Gartner, oh, the things I’d do to you…”
I trail off and he takes a step toward me, slow and sauntering, with his low-hung jeans, chest bare, broad, and hard. My, he looks good.
Only inches from me, he stop
and prompts, “Do continue, sweet girl.” His hand goes to my jaw then down my neck like a whisper, where he stops and toys with the thin strap on my floral printed dress. “What would you do to me if we weren’t on church grounds, Kay?”
His husky voice and searing blue eyes leave my panties dampened. “Chase…”
“Tell me,” he insists. Leaning closer, he nuzzles the sensitive skin near my ear.
Gasping, I blurt out, “I’d drop to my knees and show you what I’d do if we weren’t here at the church.”
Chase groans, “Fuck, we need to get out of here, babe. Like, right away.”
One thing I’ve noticed since we’ve returned from Las Vegas is that Chase’s sex drive has hit full throttle. Pretty impressive since he’s highly sexed as it is. Not that I’m complaining. Hell, no! And now is no exception.
I heartily agree. “Let’s go.”
No surprise, we don’t even make it to the farmhouse. Mere miles down the road from the church and I am leaning down, undoing Chase’s jeans, and taking him in my mouth.
“Fuck,” he utters when I really get going.
There are advantages to living in the middle of nowhere, such as lonely, rarely traveled country roads. The one we’re on is not busy, but still, it’s a main route. So, we turn off to a really empty road, and Chase parks off to the side. I crawl astride him, and he pushes my panties aside so he can thrust up into me.
Hard and fast, that’s how Chase likes to fuck today. And wow, do I love it. I love it even more when his hands slide down into my pushed-aside underwear, cupping and squeezing my ass.
Pushing me farther down onto him, I am filled with his length, and together, under a canopy of changing leaves, we find ecstasy as one.
Afterward, spent and a little sweaty, I place my moist forehead on his shoulder. “Oh, my God,” I breathe out. “I don’t think I can even speak.”
And then, true to my statement, I fall silent.
Chase leans down and kisses my cheek. “Was it that good for you, baby?” he asks, half-teasing, half-serious.
I am fully serious when I breathlessly reply, “Hell, yeah. And when, tell me, is it ever not fantastic?”
Chase chuckles, his chest, still bare, rumbling beneath me.
We both grow quiet until Chase says softly, “It’s the end of September, Kay.”
His words are not just words, they are filled with meaning.
I lean back and look at him squarely. “Yes, I know.”
He presses his lips together, and I know he’s about to say something serious.
“What?” I inquire. “What’s up?”
In the softest, sweetest tone, one that just about melts my heart, he tells me, “I just hope we make a baby soon. I love you so much, Kay, and I can’t think of anything else lately.”
“I want that, too,” I tell him, my soul as bared as his.
“It can happen now, right?” he asks, like he’s making sure.
“Well, I never got a new Depo shot, so there’s a high chance of conceiving from here on out.” Smiling and touching his jaw, I add, “Especially with all the sex we’ve been having lately.”
Chase shifts beneath me. He’s still inside me, never having completely gone soft.
He hardens more fully, and quirking a brow, I say, “Again?”
“Fuck,” Chase laughs. “Do you even need to ask?”
He moves and I breathlessly murmur, “Guess not.”
The next weekend, it’s time to finally get around to the double-date with Missy and Nick. Chase is a little reluctant at first, but I talk him into it.
“It’s not going to feel weird?” he asks, a reference to my dating history with Nick and his sexual history with Missy.
I am truly past all of that stuff, though, and I tell Chase as much.
He replies, “Okay, let’s do it, then. Give them a call.”
I do exactly that, and on Saturday night Chase, Nick, Missy, and I find ourselves all watching a movie at the newly renovated theater in town. It’s a comedy, a good one, and we all laugh and have a great time. Afterward, we decide to head down the street for a late-night bite at the diner.
“To where it all began,” Missy teases, nudging me with her shoulder as we walk.
“And what a great beginning,” Chase chimes in when he overhears Missy’s comment.
I smile at him as we continue on our way.
A beat passes, and, out of the blue, Nick asks Chase, “So, how’s work going at the church?”
“It’s good,” Chase replies quietly.
“You must have most everything up to speed, by now, I’m guessing,” Nick adds.
“Pretty much,” Chase replies.
It’s true: work has slowed down quite a bit for Chase at Holy Trinity. He’s fixed most everything that needed fixing, and there’s only been minor maintenance stuff to keep up with lately.
“You ever think of starting something on your own?” Nick inquires.
Chase shrugs and says, “I’ve thought about it, sure.”
“So, what’s stopping you?” Nick wants to know. “You can pretty much do anything. I’d bet you’d have so many jobs you wouldn’t not what to do.”
“Thanks, man,” Chase says, laughing. “I don’t know, though. I could handle the workload, but I just don’t know all that much about the business side of things, you know?”
“A partner might be able to handle that sort of stuff,” Nick suggests, his voice implying that this is more than just small talk.
Slowing to a stop outside the diner entrance, Chase turns to Nick. Missy smiles over at her boyfriend and nods.
“Ask him,” she prompts as she and I stand by our men.
“Okay, what’s going on?” I chime in.
Nick is a good guy, and I get the sense he wants to help Chase in some way. If he has a business proposal, I know it’ll be something worthwhile.
Turns out, Nick does indeed have a proposal.
“If you were interested in starting your own contracting company,” he begins, speaking mostly to Chase, but including me and Missy in the conversation, as well, “I’d certainly be willing to invest.”
“Oh,” Chase replies contemplatively. I can tell he’s interested. “How would something like that work?”
“You’d have all the control,” Nick assures him. “It’d be your company, really. Like a sole proprietorship. I’d just come in as an investor. We could work out whatever terms feel right to both of us.”
Standing outside, under the glow from a nearby streetlight, Chase turns to me. “What do you think, babe?”
I can see in Chase’s blues that he wants to do this. It is a good opportunity, no doubt, as Nick knows business from his years of running the pizza shop. This could be Chase’s chance to create a future for us…and for our future children.
“I think it’s a great idea,” I reply.
“Then I think we should do it,” Chase says.
And that is how Nick and Chase reach an agreement to go into business together—outside the diner where my relationship with Chase first started, where two broken people found a love that made them whole.
Sometimes things really do go full circle, one beginning leading into another.
And so it goes…
Chase
I set up my new business with Nick Mercurio—my unlikely, but somehow great-fit business partner.
“Fucking crazy,” I murmur when all the paperwork is complete.
The whole time, though, I am smiling like crazy. I mean, shit, my own business. Wow! Who would’ve thought this former felon could turn his life around to this extent?
I would have never dreamed of such good things. But the true credit lies with one person. And it’s not me. It’s Kay.
She doesn’t like to hear it. She believes I would’ve succeeded with or without her, but she couldn’t be more wrong. She is my rock, my balance. Kay is golden, and if I hadn’t already married her, I’d do it all over again today.
Speaking of w
hich…
Following my late-afternoon business meeting with Nick and our new business attorney, I return to the farmhouse. I find Kay on the back porch, lazily swinging to and fro.
I take a seat beside her and give her a peck on the cheek. “Hey,” I say.
“Hey,” she replies, reaching over to take my hand. “How’d it go with Nick?”
“Great.” I sit up a little straighter and proudly proclaim, “You are now looking at the president of Gartner Contracting.”
Her arms fly around me as she tells me, “This is so incredible, Chase.”
“It is,” I agree, and pulling back so I can see her, I add, “Now that everything is coming together, we should talk with Father Maridale about that church wedding.”
“You’re right,” she says. “His not knowing we’re already married is starting to feel weird.”
“Nobody in Harmony Creek knows,” I remind her.
“Uh…” She looks away.
“Kay?” I prompt.
She glances over at me sheepishly. “I may have mentioned something to Missy this past weekend.”
I’m kind of surprised Kay told Missy our secret, but I have no room to talk since I divulged the same info to my brother back in Vegas.
But does any of that really matter?
The way I see it, now that some time has passed there’s no reason to keep our Vegas marriage a secret for much longer.
I relay this exact line of thinking to Kay, and she says, “True, but I think we should still talk with Father Maridale first. He’d be upset if he heard the news from someone other than one of us.”
I agree, and the next morning, bright and early, we speak with Father Maridale. We find him in his office in the rectory. He’s not mad or upset when he hears our news, but he is rather surprised.
“Oh, okay,” he says, looking a little dejected.
He sure perks up, however, when we tell him we still want to have a church wedding at Holy Trinity.
“That’s wonderful!” he says, glowing. I swear there are tears in his eyes. Kay and I tell him that we don’t want to wait too long, and we all conclude a December wedding would work out best.
