“Well you’re not supposed to bring drinks or food in really so I just smuggled some in,” he says as he comes across to my side with a strawberry in his hand. I reach for it as he brings his hand up and he wags a finger at me and shakes his head, “Open.”
I slowly open my mouth as he sets the strawberry inside and I bite it off leaving the green stem in between his fingers. His green eyes have clouded over as he looks down at me when my tongue darts out and I lick my lips. I quickly change the subject trying to ease the sexual tension I feel building up.
I point toward his chest and arms, “So what do all of your tattoos mean?”
He looks down at me with a smirk clearly telling that he knows exactly what I’m doing. Instead of moving to the other side, he sits down next to me running his fingers lightly up my arm.
“Well some of them don’t have any meaning at all I just liked the design so I got ‘em.” He points to the elegant looking writing on his biceps. I squint my eyes to get a closer look and realize they’re names woven into an intricate design; Amy,Katie,Kristy,Rachel,Sarah,Belle. What does he get one for every girl he’s dated, like a tally or something?
“These are all of my sisters. I told you I’m really close with ‘em, this was just a way of me showing how much I love them,” he points toward a spot on his chest where there’s a small heart with mom written in the center. “And obviously you can tell who this is for. I’m not gonna lie, I told you I am a bit of a mamas boy.”
“Those are really sweet. I’m glad you have such a close relationship with your family, that’s something that I’ve always wanted. Unfortunately my mom just wasn’t interested.” I take a sip of my champagne as Chase looks over at me with a look I can’t quite figure out. Pity, maybe?
We talk more about his family. He tells me more stories of how it was growing up with so many girls around. He talks about his parents and their divorce, how their split was actually pretty amicable and he was lucky enough to get a great step dad a few years later when his mom remarried.
I complain about my job at Ginos but also about how much I love it, getting to know all the new people and the regulars that come in for my morning shifts. I tell Chase about the nursing program and how far along of come in the short time I’ve been on campus.
A phone rings near the outside door and Chase jumps out of the water to grab it as I watch the water trickle off of his beautiful body. And I just want to lick it all off. Whoa there settle down girl. “Okay thanks,” he pauses as he listens. “No thank you, I’m good. Yup, yup I’m sure, thanks.” He hangs up the phone and reaches in to get a towel, holding it out for me. “Sorry Leah our time here is up.” I reluctantly step out of the water and Chase wraps the towel around me as we hurry out of the cold air back to get dressed.
“What was that about on the phone?”
“Huh? Oh just to let us know our time was up.” He says as he towels off and starts to grab his dry clothes out, setting them on the bench.
“And….” Clearly there was more to that conversation than he is letting on.
He looks back at me with a smirk, “And that girl at the front desk was trying to give me her number but I told her no.”
“Why? She was clearly checking you out, you should go for it.” I say as I grab my change of clothes out and head towards the bathroom.
“Well there’s kind of someone I’m interested in. Not kind of really, more like a lot.” He answers back.
“Oh.” I simply say. I guess he, unlike Gage, was taking the whole let’s just be friends thing seriously. Maybe I should tell him I changed my mind. “You dressed?” I ask before stepping back out.
“Yup you’re good,” he says as I come back out and see him pulling his shirt back on and catch the top of his boxers.
We walk back out towards the lobby and the girl at the front desk gives Chase a sad look as we walk past her and wave.
“Thanks for bringing me Chase. I had a lot of fun with you and the guys. And the hot tubs really did help me to relax. I think I need to start doing that like weekly.”
“I would be more than willing to come with you. If you know you need company or anything.”
I laugh, “Sure I don’t think I would ever mind your company. So I was talking to my friend Remy that I work with. She said that her and Mark were going out tomorrow and she invited him to this party were going to next weekend.”
“Yeah Mark mentioned that, he asked me to come along after our gig that night.”
“Ok cool then I’ll probably see you there. Allys practically forcing me to go. I am so not dressing up though.”
“Really? I was kind of looking forward to that,” he says with a chuckle. We both get out of the jeep and go up the stairs to our complex.
“Well thanks again Chase. We’ll have to hang out again soon when I have some free time.” I say as I shuffle through my purse for my keys.