Chased Dreams (11 page)

Relaxing under the water, I let my thoughts
wander back to the man I’d met this evening and even further back
to when I got ready for football games in high school. That seemed
so long ago—strutting around the locker room with my shirt off, all
my teammates staring at me. I missed that. There was no other
feeling like that of Friday night lights—the hometown stadium
packed with friends, fans, and family cheering on their team to
win. The smells from the concession stands drifting over to the
field, mixing with the scent of the freshly cut grass and newly
painted lines. Even the thrill of playing to crowds of tens of
thousands paled in comparison, at times. I missed home—I missed the
beginning—the familiar.

Right at that moment, I’d have given
anything to be standing back on that field in Silver Creek, the
rough skin of the ball between my hands, listening to the shouts
and calls of the coaches as a game commenced.

Both
of my girls would be there
too—Nikki and Brittney—on the sidelines, cheering for the team
together.

Nikki . . . I couldn’t stop thinking about
her. There were times I wasn’t sure if God was real, but I liked to
believe He was. One thing I was sure about—if there was a God, He
and Nikki were close. She was one of the most amazing people I’d
ever known and I missed her—not just the kisses or her body—but my
friend
, Nikki. Her support had always meant so much to
me.

It was time for me to remember the positives
things that Nikki had given me in my life. I needed to quit
thinking of her as an empty, gaping hole and see all the gifts
she’d left behind for me.

And then, of course, there was Brittney. I
was completely in love with her—heart and soul—and everyone knew
it. I couldn’t imagine my life without her. I wouldn’t
wan
t
a life without her.

I felt my skin prickle as the water suddenly
turned cold and I realized I’d been standing far too long letting
my thoughts run rampant. Quickly, I finished up and got ready for
bed. It took a little extra time to do it on my own, but I finally
succeeded; and when I reentered the bedroom, I found my pretty girl
sound asleep.

Smiling, I slipped under the covers,
snuggling close to her. A small moan escaped her as she curled up
to me without waking.

Happiness infused me—something I hadn’t felt
in a long time, and I realized how badly I missed it. Happy
Chase—it was nice to recognize this part of myself, again.
Relaxing, I closed my eyes.

Britt’s soft breathing whispered against my
skin in a gentle caress, and for some reason, the feel of it made
me ponder my existence and what the true meaning of life was. Why
was I here? What purpose was I meant to fulfill? Why did everything
seem so hard?

There were points, over the last several
years, that seemed like muddled fog to me—nothing but blurred
memories mixed with pain and heartbreak. Was there some divine
lesson I was supposed to learn from all this? I wasn’t sure, but I
would’ve been happy to continue on my merry way without having to
go through all the bullshit I’d been through. It seemed as if when
I finally made it to the top of one hill, there was an even bigger
one to climb behind it. I just wanted to live my life and be happy.
Was that such a hard request?

Sighing heavily, I ran my hand through my
hair. Brittney stirred beside me.

“Why are you still awake?” Her voice cracked
and I jumped, not expecting to hear her speak.

“Oh, I was just thinking, babe. Sorry if I
disturbed you. I’ll go to sleep, now. I love you,” I answered in
the dark, but she didn’t reply, instead she rolled over and scooted
her butt up against me as she spooned against me. It was comforting
to feel her there and I felt myself relax even more, closing my
eyes and allowing myself to drift off to sleep.

Chapter Twelve

The sound of the shower, combined with loud
music, brought me back to reality in the morning and I sat up,
eyeing my crutches by the bed. I didn’t want to use them anymore.
They were irritating. The doctor had warned me not to put any
weight on my leg, but I didn’t care. I’d been working hard in
physical therapy and I was going to test it out. Gingerly standing,
I carefully applied some pressure to my toes. There was a slight
twinge of discomfort, but it faded quickly. Slowly, I half hopped,
half hobbled toward the bathroom.

Spying the cup next to the toothbrushes, a
hateful, truly nasty idea popped into my head. Brittney hadn’t
noticed I’d come in, due mostly to her singing along with the
music. Quietly, I snatched the cup and filled it with cold water
before sneaking over to the shower. Reaching the cup over the top,
I dumped its icy contents right on her.

Laughter bubbled out of me as her shrieking
echoed off the walls, hurting my ears. The shower door flung open
and I was instantly rewarded with a five star slap to the face.

“What the hell, Chase?” she yelled, her skin
red with anger.

My cheek tingled sharply from where she’d
hit me, but all I could was stare at her dripping wet body.
“Sorry,” I muttered, surprised she’d gotten so angry with me. But
my mind could only focus on one thing at a time and currently I was
wondering how fast I could get out of my clothes.

Doing my best impersonation of a stripper, I
quickly managed to shed everything and get into the shower, happy
that I no longer had to bag my leg to prevent it from getting
wet.

“Well, someone is starting to feel better,”
Brittney said wryly. I could see the admiration in her eyes.
Lifting her hand, she stroked the side of my face. I’m sorry I hit
you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I replied, gathering
her into my arms. “It was kind of hot.”

She laughed. “You’re such a dork.”

“Hmm. Not the name I was going for.”

“Really? And what name was that?” she
teased. “Nerd? Asshole?”

I chuckled. “That’s a wide gap from nerd to
asshole. Ouch.”

“You deserve it,” she said.

“I suppose I do, but maybe just for now you
could call me something like hot lover, or super stud.” I pressed
her against the shower wall.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” she said
with a laugh.

“You know I would. Let’s hear it.”

She paused, her eyes narrowing as she looked
over me. “Nope. I think I’ll stick with nerd.”

I shrugged. “Okay. Guess I’ll have to earn
the new nickname then.” I dropped my lips to hers, determined to
have her changing her tune as soon as possible.

***

The aroma of eggs, bacon, and sausage hit me
as I moved toward the kitchen, bringing back memories of Grandma’s
breakfasts and the country. It seemed like forever since I’d been
home, and suddenly I ached to be there.

“Babe, let’s go camping tonight,” I said, as
I sat down at the table.

“Are you joking or serious? I can never
tell.” She slid a plate in front of me and then sat in the seat
beside me.

“I’m completely serious,” I replied. Great
ideas of fun things to do were racing through my head. It seemed as
if my outing last week had refreshed my desire to be active. “Let’s
forget everything here and go. Grandpa will let me use his camping
trailer and I’m positive Greg would let us borrow his quads and
Ranger.” I couldn’t keep the smile from my face. This idea excited
me.

“Tonight? Are you sure?” she asked, and I
could see the excitement starting to build in her too. She hadn’t
been home in a while either. It would be nice for her to see her
parents.

“Well, it is Friday. Why not? You don’t have
to work today. Let’s go! We can stay two nights and come back on
Sunday, so you can sleep in your own bed before going to work on
Monday. I can go get gas, coals, and all the camping supplies, if
you want to get the food. What do you think?”

“I’m on it, sweetie,” she said, leaning in
to kiss my cheek before she jumped up and ran toward the bedroom,
without even touching her food. It felt good to see her happy like
this. I knew she needed a break too. She’d been looking so tired
lately, the dark circles under her eyes growing deeper.

Grabbing my crutches, I left my food as
well, hurrying out to my truck and heading off toward the gas
station. This was going to be a great retreat! I needed to call my
mom and let her know I was coming home. She’d be upset if I
didn’t.

A buzzing in my pocket alerted me to a phone
call and I smiled when I dragged it out and saw Brett’s name. “Hey,
Brett! What’s up, man?” I answered.

“What’s going on, bro? You sound chipper
this morning. How ya feeling?” His voice crackled through the
speaker.

“Me and my girl are about to head up the
mountain and do some camping this weekend. What about you?” I
asked, knowing full well he’d want to go. Brett loved camping. He
and I had gone out several times together during high school.

“I don’t have anything planned. I was just
calling you to see if you two would like to get together and do
something.”

“You know it. Why don’t you and Tana come
with us?”

“Thanks for the invite. Sounds like fun.
Where are ya headed?”

“Going somewhere by Silver Creek. Figured
I’d take my Grandpa up on his standing offer to use his camp
trailer and see if Greg would let us borrow his quads and the
Ranger. I’m feeling the need to mix things up a bit. Get out of my
own head, ya know?”

“I do. Hang on a sec and let me ask
Tana.”

“Okay.” I parked next to the gas pump and
waited, needing both my arms for the crutches.

“She’s down for it too. Sign us up, buddy.
We need a couple of hours to get ready. Will that be all
right?”

“Not a problem. Britt is still out buying
food and I’m picking up a few supplies.”

“Perfect. See you soon!”

I hung up the phone feeling pretty excited
to have Brett and Tana coming with us, hoping Brittney would feel
the same. I probably should’ve run it by her first. Hurrying over
to the gas pump, I started filling up my truck, my phone ringing,
again, a few minutes later.

“Hey, babe,” I answered.

“Hey,” she replied, her voice sounding
flat.

“I’m guessing Tana called you?”

“Yes. She wanted to know if I needed help
getting food. Do you want to split things or should I just buy
everything myself?”

“Go ahead and get enough for everyone. We
can treat this time. Thanks, baby. Can you call my mom and let her
know we are coming too?” I knew for sure she was upset when she
hung up without replying. Hopefully I hadn’t done anything to ruin
the trip for her.

Surprise greeted me when I arrived home
about an hour later to find everyone already there and ready to
go.

“There you are!” Brett said joyfully, as I
climbed out of the truck. “It’s about time you got here!”

Smiling, I glanced around, confused. “How
long have you all been waiting on me?”

“Oh, about two whole minutes,” Tana replied
with a laugh. “I haven’t seen Brett this excited in a while. He’s
worse than a dang kid.”

“Well, let’s get this show on the road
then,” I replied, glancing at Britt who was smiling at all of us,
albeit somewhat reluctantly. Going to her, I lowered my voice.
“Sorry, babe. I didn’t stop to think you might want some alone
time. I figured you were probably sick of all your alone time with
me lately. I haven’t been the easiest person to live with.”

Her shoulders relaxed. “It’s okay, Chase. I
think having them there will help cheer us both up. I love my
brother, plus Tana and I haven’t had time to hang out in ages.
It’ll be good for all of us.”

“Thanks for understanding.” Giving her a
quick kiss on the cheek, I straightened and stared toward the
garage. “Did you get my tackle box and fishing poles?”

She shook her head. “I’ll go get them.”

Grabbing her arm, I stopped her. “I’ll go
get them.”

She snorted. “You can’t carry them with your
crutches.”

“I don’t give a damn about these crutches. I
leaned them against the truck and took a step toward her. I’m tired
of those things. I can walk without them. I’ve already been doing
it.”

She placed her hands on her hips. “Chase
Walker! I don’t want you messing up that leg any worse. You do what
the doctor told you to do.”

“I’ll be fine, I promise,” I replied with a
smile. “Really. I’m tired of watching you do all the heavy lifting
around here. I can see it’s starting to wear you out. Let me help
you.”

Searching my eyes for several moments, she
finally released a defeated sigh and I knew I’d won. “Fine. Just be
careful. And take your crutches camping in case you get too
tired.”

Making a disgruntled face, I growled at her
softly.

“Chase. Don’t argue with me. It’s this or
you have to use them all the time.”

“Fine, I’ll take them.” I tossed them into
the back of the truck where Brett and Tana were already loading
their things, since we were riding together. I went into the house
and entered the garage through the kitchen, grabbing all my fishing
gear before raising the garage door and heading out to the truck.
“Do I need to go pack some clothes still?” I asked Britt, as I
passed by her.

“Not unless you don’t trust me,” she said
with a smile. “I already grabbed a few things for you. I think I
got everything you need. I packed all your toiletries and razor
too.”

“Toiletries? Razor?” I asked. “Why do I need
that? We’re heading to the wilderness, woman. The place a man can
be a man!”

“If that man doesn’t look and smell good in
the wilderness, he will be getting nothing from his wife,” Brittney
replied with a wry smile.

“Oh. Well, then by all means, bring all that
crap. We can’t be missing out on any of that stuff.”

Brett and Tana both joined her in
laughing.

“Looks like she’s got you all trained,”
Brett said with a grin.