Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
When I checked my phone again, I realized I had notifications from the morning that I’d never looked at.
I scrolled through to see texts from Chase, from earlier this morning.
Chase Blau: Ignore that note I left you. I’m at the coffee shop, do you want anything? I could bring it back.
Chase Blau: …Aaaand, ignore that last text. I won’t bug you, you seemed like you needed sleep.
Chase Blau: Last night really was fun. When can we film again? Filming with you was the most fun I’ve had in a long time.
Chase Blau: Honestly, everything I do with you is more fun than anything I do without you.
There was a gap in time of about forty-five minutes between those texts and the next one:
Chase Blau: Ignore all those texts. I’ll see you when we come over to film in a bit.
Chase Blau: Or maybe not, if you’re working. I’m not trying to say you have to be home, or anything. Christ, I am texting you too much.
A smile slowly spread over my face as I read each text.
He was rambling. Fumbling, like I always did. And it wasn’t that I enjoyed seeing someone else be awkward—I usually hated it, actually, and I just wanted everyone to be as socially confident as I wished I could be.
But with these texts, I saw a portion of myself in Chase. Which was a rare thing to witness. He was second-guessing himself, but it only came off as intensely charming.
Everything Chase did came off as intensely charming.
Adam Richardsen: See you soon, Chase. And here’s a little something from this morning.
I sent him the short video I’d just taken, straight to his text messages.
I had filmed it with the intention of uploading it to OnlyShots, but I knew deep down that the person I’d filmed it for was him.
And only him.
Every word I’d said in the video, I’d been thinking of him. And I wanted that video to be all his own.
Twenty minutes later, a knock sounded out from my front door.
“Let’s finish up this kitchen,” Shawn said as I swung the door open. He was there with Nathan and Charlie, all three of them in their work clothes with tool belts slung around their waists.
Behind them, in the driveway, one of the film crew vans had just parked, and I saw Chase’s blue car pulling up behind it.
“Kitchen’s all yours,” I told the construction guys, giving them a little salute.
Chase walked up to the front door and the look he gave me made me feel like my chest was made of butterflies.
If I thought he’d been adorably awkward in the text messages, it was only ten times more apparent in real life.
He came up to the front door, glancing behind me toward the other guys, who had all filed into the kitchen. He cleared his throat, shifting on his feet.
“Ah, thank you,” he said. “For the video.”
I bit my lower lip. “Did you enjoy it?”
He swallowed, his gaze dancing from my lips to my eyes and back again. “I didn’t have time to… fully enjoy it, because I was heading out to my car when I got it. But holy fuck, Adam.”
“It’s one of my favorites.”
“You’re crazy if you don’t upload that one,” he told me. “It’s one of your best, ever.”
I shook my head. “I decided that video is just for you.”
His eyebrows shot up. “What? Why?”
I shrugged. “Because I like you. And you’re worth it,” I told him.
A blush crept onto his cheeks and filled me with a deep satisfaction I didn’t even know I’d been looking for. Was this how Chase had felt when he’d first met me? Absolutely relishing every opportunity to make me squirm in the best possible way?
As the day went on, there were only more opportunities for me to make Chase feel special. I offered him some more fresh-cut watermelon in the morning, which he loved. During his lunch break, I came downstairs and showed him a couple of recent comments on our last video that had been complimenting the specific film quality of it compared to my other videos.
In the afternoon, I went out to get fresh-squeezed juices for the whole crew, and came back with the haul and passed them around to everyone.
Chase was upstairs using the spare bathroom and when he came out, I caught him alone for a moment, standing in the light by the hallway window.
There was no one around upstairs.
So I leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek and watched as his eyes went all dreamy, just for a moment.
“Got you your favorite,” I said, handing him the juice. “Mango and strawberry.”
“How do you know that’s my favorite?” he asked, taking a sip. “Fuck, that’s so good.”
“You told me it was your favorite combination on the night you did trivia with me,” I said. “Remember they had a question about where mango was native to?”