“Hey, Chase and I are going to work out up at the resort and maybe swim afterward,” I tell Jennifer, who is in the kitchen as we’re getting ready to leave.
“Just be sure to keep an eye on the weather,” she tells us. “They are calling for storms this afternoon.”
“Okay, we will,” Chase says. “If it gets bad, we’ll just chill out there, so don’t freak out if we’re not home.”
“Sure thing,” Jennifer says with a grin.
We get to the gym and work out.
Actually, I try to do my typical circuit, but I’m too distracted to accomplish much because of the way Chase’s muscles flex when he lifts weights.
When we get finished and walk outside, we find it to be much cooler than when we arrived. You can tell a storm is blowing in from the temperature of the wind, but the sky above is still blue.
“It’s so nice out,” Chase says. “Let’s go for a cooldown jog. We can follow the trail back into the woods, and it will lead us to the far end of Tripp’s property.”
“Okay,” I agree, and we take off at a slow pace.
We’re about two miles in when the sky turns darker, and we hear thunder rumbling in the distance. I look up and realize that the blue sky is gone, and dark clouds are quickly rolling in over the hills.
“Should we turn back?” I ask Chase.
He glances upward with a grimace. “Probably best to keep going. I think it’s just another quarter mile or so, and we’ll be to the back side of Tripp’s property.”
We pick up the pace, jogging quickly as the thunder continues, sounding ominous.
“Here,” Chase says, grabbing my hand and leading me off the concrete jogging path and onto a hidden dirt one that appears to wind down toward the lake.
“Are you sure you know where you’re going?” I challenge just as we round a corner and see the fence that surrounds the property along with a gate.
Chase grins at me in an I told you so way and presses a four-digit code into the lock. He pushes the gate open, allowing me to pass through first.
Just as the gate slams shut behind us, a flash of lightning lights up the sky very near us, and it starts pouring rain.
We’re instantly soaked.
Chase’s white tee is clinging to his broad chest, and water is falling down his face.
He leans closer to me.
I should probably look away, but I can’t. All I can see are those deep blue eyes. Eyes so blue, they almost look black. My eyes wander downward to the little bump on his otherwise perfect nose. The nose I broke in seventh grade when I was twirling a hockey stick, practicing for flag-squad tryouts, and hit him square in the face. Then, I look at his mouth. The mouth that has both teased and adored me.
We stare at each other for a few seconds before Chase takes another step toward me.
And I know this could be that moment. The one where we go from BFFs to something more. Something better.
I place my lips on his neck.
Chase grabs my hand. “Don’t do that unless you mean it. Because this won’t be us kissing as friends. It will change everything.”
His tone makes me stop and actually think for a moment. I know I’ve been having a lot of dirty thoughts about him lately, but he’s right. I need to be serious.
My mind is filled with all the things he’s said to me in an instant.
I’ll be playing professional football, and you’ll be on the sidelines, covering the game.
That means I’d go anywhere with you, Dani.
You’re the most beautiful thing about tonight. I wish you could see the way the colors of the fireworks reflect off your hair. How your smile gets bigger when the white fireworks that look like they are raining down on us explode.
And how happy you look right here, next to me.
Anytime you want all of me, you just let me know.
And I know the answer.
And I say it out loud, “I do mean it, Chase. It’s what I want. I swear.”
He kisses me hard, giving me the kiss to end all kisses.
I move my hands to his neck and deepen the kiss, slipping my tongue into his mouth.
We stand here, in the pouring rain, and kiss the impending storm from our minds.
His lips find my jawline and then move down my neck.
I lean my head back, allowing the cool rain to wash over my face as his warm lips suck on my skin with each kiss.
All of a sudden, the air feels charged, and the hairs on my arms stand on end.
Chase reacts first, picking me up and running with me as lightning strikes not far from where we were standing. It hits a nearby tree, the crack nearly deafening.
“We need to take cover,” I say breathlessly, my head down, my eyes closed, as I cling to Chase for dear life.
“Yes, we do,” he agrees.
A few moments later, the rain stops pelting me. I look up to find a roof overhead. I can see that this is one of the cottages, but there are no others in sight.
Chase enters a code into the door lock and pushes the door open, carrying me inside.
“This is the honeymoon cottage,” he says and then laughs. “I just carried you over the threshold.”
“We could have died,” I say, still feeling shaken.
“You’re trembling. The rain is cold. We need to get these clothes off.”
Before I can say anything, he’s pulling my tank over my head and helping me out of my workout shorts. He quickly does the same, shedding his clothes, leaving him in a pair of boxer briefs, which, on a normal day, leave very little to the imagination and leave even less when soaked.
I don’t know if it’s the fact that we almost died or if it was the passion our rain kiss stirred, but I launch myself at him, throwing my arms around his neck and kissing him again.
Chase’s hands are instantly all over me, sliding across my collarbone and then down my arms, to my hips, around my waist, and then my butt cheeks, cupping them. I press my hips into his and can feel how much he wants me.
I shiver at the notion.
Chase lifts me up, and I wrap my legs around his waist as he carries me into the master bedroom. I’m ready for him to throw me on the bed and take me, so I kiss hard down his neck and bite into his shoulder.
But he doesn’t drop me on the bed.
Instead, he moves into the bathroom and turns on a luxurious shower with jets and steam.
He sets me down but only long enough to pull my workout bra over my head and slip off my thong underwear. He frees himself of his briefs, then picks me back up—our fronts facing, our lips touching, his hardness pressing against my stomach—and steps into the shower. The steam envelops us in warmth, and the water pulsates against us.
Chase presses my back against the wall and kisses me while I take ahold of his hardness, stroking it with wonder and sliding it down between my legs, my intent clear.
“Devaney,” he says, momentarily pulling his lips away from mine. His breath is ragged, and his cheeks are flush with desire. “Do you—”
I don’t let him finish his question. I just nod and kiss him, showing him exactly what I want, leaning my back against the wall to allow it.
“Hang on,” he says, setting me down.
He grabs a towel and rushes out of the room, returning quickly with a condom package that he’s ripping open with his teeth. He rolls it on and picks me back up again, his mouth devouring mine as he leans me back against the shower wall and pushes inside of me.
At least, I think it’s in.
A brief tinge of pain tells me that it must be.
And although this isn’t how I imagined my first time—I thought there would be romance and candles—this feels perfectly right.
Because it’s with Chase.
I rake my hands through his wet hair, down his back, and finally come to land on his ass.
I feel an overwhelming need to have him even closer.
And just as I do, he shudders and lets out a moan that is muffled by my hair.
He puts one hand flat against the shower wall, like he needs the support, then takes a few steps backward, and sits down on the shower bench with me on his lap.
He closes his eyes and nuzzles his face against mine for a few moments before he caresses my cheek and whispers, “I love you, Devaney Diamond.”
But when his gaze meets mine, he says, “Wait. Are you crying?”
“Kind of.”
He gets a horrified look on his face. “Did I hurt you?”
“No. My gosh, no. It felt … nice. It’s just that … well, I always imagined my first time would be with you.”
“Until you started dating Malone.”
“We never …” I say, the words catching in my throat.
I can’t even describe the look in his eyes at the realization.
“You mean … that means—”
“You are my first, Chase. Look, I know when you were going out with Lakelyn—”
“No, we never,” he says. “I’ve never.”
“We really should talk more,” I say with a laugh because Chase and I have always talked about everything—just not about that recently.
He gently presses his lips against mine, and everything feels right in the world. Like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be, with the person I’m supposed to be with. And now, I’m really, really glad I didn’t sleep with Matt.
I can hear claps of thunder over the shower.
“Sounds like we are going to be stuck here for a while,” he says with a goofy grin.
“Remember how I told you I wanted my first time to be? Maybe we could, you know, again, like that.”
“There is a fireplace. You stay in here, keep warm, and I’ll go start it.”
I stand up, allowing him to do the same. I expect him to walk away, but instead, he grabs me and kisses me silly. Then, he turns off all the water jets, leaving on just the steam. He steps out of the shower and hands me a towel before disposing of the condom and drying himself off. He then wraps a dry towel around his waist before leaving the room.
I sit on the bench.
I can’t believe that I just had sex with Chase Mackenzie.
The boy who used to threaten to pee in my pool but never would. The boy who once put a frog in my makeup drawer. The boy who fights for me. The boy who has always been there for me. The boy who is my best friend. Who always has been.
I sigh happily, lean my head back, and close my eyes.
The sound of the steam shutting off wakes me, and when I open my eyes, I half-expect it to all have been a dream. Instead, I find Chase, his hand held out to me, a towel wrapped loosely around his waist.
I take his hand, and he leads me out to the living room, where a fire is glowing. The coffee table has been moved out of the way, candles are lit, and throws and pillows are scattered across the floor in front of the fireplace.
“You remembered,” I say with a happy sigh.
“Of course I did, and I thought about it the second we walked in and saw the fireplace. If I had known that it was … that you hadn’t—I guess I thought maybe you’d already done this.”
I laugh out loud. I mentioned my vision of the perfect losing my virginity scenario once to Matt when he was pressuring me about sex. He told me first times were never that romantic. That losing it was something I just needed to get over with, preferably in his backseat, so that we could keep doing it.
“Speaking of doing it, I don’t suppose you have another condom?”
He grins at me. “Your brother makes me keep two in my wallet at all times, just in case.”
“Wrap it before you tap it? Right?” I say with a laugh, but I stop laughing when he undoes the towels from our bodies and pulls me into the soft comforter with him.
I lie on my back, my head on a fluffy pillow, and look up at him.
“I love you, Chase.” I don’t say it because we just had sex. I say it because I really do.
He grins, then leans down, and tells me he feels the same way—with his lips.
“You know, I dreamed about my first time, too,” he whispers.
“I recall something about rose petals on your bed.”
“That’s what I told you, but it’s not what I imagined. You are the only girl I’ve ever really wanted to be with.”
“What did you imagine?” I ask, sliding my hand across his arm.
“That I was going to kiss you from head to toe before we had sex. That I wanted to touch every part of you. Know your body intimately before we did. I still want to kiss all of you, Dani.”
And he does.
Slowly.
Meticulously.
Every inch.
Front to back.
Side to side.
I should feel embarrassed by all of this, but I’m not. Not with him.
And when he turns me back over to face him, I throw my arms around his neck and kiss him.
“I’m not done yet,” he murmurs into my mouth.
“Chase, you’ve kissed every bit of me.”
“Actually, I haven’t.” He moves downward, spreading my legs, and kisses … well, down there.
By the time he’s done, I think I might have experienced another first, and I want him even more than before.
This time, when we’re together, it’s different.
It lasts longer, for one.
And I’m very certain that we are actually doing it.
By the time we’re through with what I can only consider lovemaking, the rain has stopped, and the sun is peeking out from behind the clouds.
Chase leans up on his elbow, glides his hand across my stomach, and kisses me for what feels like the thousandth time.
“I suppose we’d better get home before they start looking for us,” I say even though I don’t want to leave this magical place.
“The rain just stopped, but you’re probably right,” he agrees. He kisses me one more time and then hops up, pulling me up with him.
Our workout clothes are mostly dry, as Chase had the forethought to lay them out by the fire before retrieving me from the shower. My hair has sort of dried, so I pull out the ponytail holder and run my hands through it, shaking it out.
I feel free.
Grown-up.
In love.
But as we’re walking back to the house, I start to panic.
“What are we supposed to say when we get there? What were we doing? Are they going to know what we did?”
“Calm down.” Chase squeezes my hand and tells me a lie, “We worked out and then went for a jog. It started to rain, so we ran back to the hotel, took cover on a porch, sat outside, and watched the storm.”
“We sat outside? Where? Wouldn’t they have made us go in?”
“There are rocking chairs lined up on the porch of the golf course clubhouse. That’s where we were.”
“No one in the family was golfing today, right?”
“They weren’t because of the rain in the forecast.”
“Okay,” I agree even though I’m feeling nervous—like they will take one look at us and know that everything has just changed.
But Chase is right. No one notices when we roll through the front door—mostly because no one is there. Chase has been holding my hand, and I immediately drop it.
Because my dad really would freak out if he knew. But then again, maybe he is like Chase and assumes I already have.
“Where do you think everyone is?” I ask, moving across the great room and past the kitchen, looking out the big glass windows to the backyard and lake.
I hear a muffled boom.
“Movie room maybe?” he says.
“Should we go down there?” I ask. At least it will be dark, and I won’t have to look anyone in the eye.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m starving,” he says, making his way toward the kitchen as my stomach growls. “We were supposed to come back here and make smoothies after our workout.”
It’s hard to act normal, joining everyone in the basement hangout area after our snack. Not because Chase acts any different. He’s his normal, sweet self—other than the smile he can’t seem to wipe off his face. I feel like everyone will take one look at me and know. Know that I’ve changed. That things between Chase and me have just changed.
But if anyone notices, they don’t say a word. And after checking the radar, it’s determined that the storm has passed, and we’ll still be able to go out for pizza and watch fireworks at the bridge tonight.
I’m in my room, getting ready, when Chase comes in, pushes me against the door, and kisses me.
“Does it seem weird?” he whispers. “You know, being with everyone now?”
“Yes! I guess we didn’t look guilty because no one said anything. They didn’t even ask where we’d been.”
“They were wrapped up in the movie. Do you feel okay? Like”—he runs his hand through his hair, looking worried—“you don’t regret it or anything, do you?”
“We might have grown apart a little when I was dating Matt, but I’ve always been truthful with you, Chase.” I stop and look up at him. It wasn’t that long ago that we were eye to eye. “Actually, that’s not true. There’s something I haven’t told you. When you came home from camp, I realized how much you’d grown up. How you’d gone from my cute friend to … well, my hot friend.”
“You think I’m hot?” he says.
His nose is scrunched, like he isn’t sure. He doesn’t react at all like my brother would, saying something like, Of course I am.
“That means I’m doomed,” he says, a grin on his face.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Hot guys always break your heart,” he teases.
“Okay, fine. Matt was hot, but he was an idiot. Hunter, also hot, but an ass. You,” I say, snaking my finger from the base of his neck down to the waist of his shorts, “are hot and a nice guy. The kind of guy you said you hoped I’d end up with.”
“End up with,” he says, watching my finger. “Does that mean this isn’t going to be just a summer thing?”
My hand flies to my heart, and I suck in a breath. “Chase! You told me you … and we … I …”
He gently places his hand over mine. “Dani, I want everything with you. I want to date you, marry you, grow old with you. I told you, no other girl has ever compared to you. It’s just that you haven’t ever seemed to feel that way about me. You’ve always had reasons why we couldn’t be together, most recently that I’m too young. I don’t want it to be just a thing at all. But you’re the wild card in this. One of the things I love the most about you is the thing that worries me the most. You tend to live in the moment.”
“I don’t know that I can agree to forever just yet. I’m only sixteen. But I care about you, and I’m really glad I lost my virginity to you and not an idiot.”
He twists a piece of my hair. When we were little, he was always obsessed with my hair, how long it was. How it would curl around his finger.
“Then, we’ll see how it goes?” he says tentatively.
“We’ll see how it goes.”
