The Promise (26 page)

“Hey,” I
smile back at him. “I’m almost ready.”

“Take your time,” he
tells me while continuing to watch me through the mirror. I throw on some clear gloss and spray myself quickly with a little perfume before tossing everything back into my bag. “You look amazing as always,” he says as I turn to face him.

I
decided on wearing a coral colored sundress with a gold embellishment at the waist, accompanied with gold sandals. I have to admit that the coral against my newly tanned skin looks pretty good. I’ve left my hair down, with a few loose curls hanging down and chose to apply neutral makeup that will complement the outfit. Chase appears to like the finished product. I reach up and give him a peck on the cheek, wiping the gloss from his skin that I manage to leave behind.     

“So do you, Baby. I love this color on you
. It brings out your eyes,” he smiles down at me, pushing a stray curl back behind my shoulder before placing his hand there and slowly rubbing his thumb across my collarbone. He looks as though he wants to say something but isn’t sure if he should or not. “Are you okay?” I ask. His smile widens as his eyes meet with mine once more.

“I’m perfect. Are you ready to head out? It’s almost eight
o’clock,” he asks. Leaning down, he kisses me on the lips before he takes a hold of my hand and leads me out to his truck. Both sitting securely in the truck, he looks over at me again and throws me another smile. “I’m so glad you decided to stay over this weekend, Baby.”

I love it when he call
s me Baby.

“Me, too,” I smile
back at him in reply before he backs out of the driveway.

***

Chase

As I stan
d in the doorway of the bathroom and watch Sophie getting ready for our night together, all I want to do is tell her that I love her. She looks at me in the reflection of my bathroom mirror though, and the words seem to catch in my throat.

I r
un my eyes over her from head to toe and still can’t believe she’s really here or that she’s really mine. Her pink and gold dress flows perfectly over her small frame and that combined with her sun-kissed skin, blonde hair and green eyes makes my heart ache with emotion for her.

She smiles
back into the mirror at me as she catches me admiring her. It makes me smile knowing that she’s just been doing the same to me. God I
love
her. I want to tell her so badly but I lose my nerve and so instead I find myself just smiling at her.

“Hey
, Beautiful,” I say quietly.

“Hey,” she smile
s back at me through the mirror. “I’m almost ready.”

“Take your time,” I say. I’ll
wait forever for her. I watch as she puts on some lip gloss before then turning to face me. I’m almost knocked out by her beauty. “You look amazing as always.”

She smile
s as she walks over to me, giving me a light kiss on the cheek before gently wiping the lip gloss off of my face.

“So do you, Baby. I love this color on you. I
t brings out your eyes.” I love it when she calls me Baby. I smile and reach down to move a stray strand away from her face so I can see all of her.
I’m going to tell her I love her right now. I need to.
I move my hand over her collarbone and gently stroke her there.
This is it, I’m just going to come out with it and tell her
. “Are you okay?” she asks.

“I’m perfect. Are you ready to head out? It’s almost eight.”

Fuck. I just lost my nerve again. She nods her answer. I lean down and give her a light kiss on the lips before taking a hold of her hand to lead her to my truck.

W
hy can’t I just say it? I’m being such a fucking loser.
Just say it!
 

I
nside the truck, I glance over at her and decide that I need to just do it.

This is stupid, dude. Just say it.
I smile at her gorgeous face.

“I’m so glad you decided to stay over this weekend, B
abe,” I say with the words I’ve been wanting to say still not willing to be spoken.

Why
can’t I do this?

“Me, too,” she smile
s back at me as I pull out of the driveway.

I’m such a fucking loser.

***

I decide to take
Sophie to this amazing Mexican restaurant that I’ve always loved and I know that she’s never been to before.

She tol
d me that she likes Tex-Mex when we first started dating. We’ve planned on having dinner here a few times but just haven’t managed to make it here until now.

We snack on the chips and salsa
that the server brings over to us with our drinks and begin to talk some more about our families.

I want to invite
her to come with me to Florida for Emily’s wedding but decide that it might be better to wait. I don’t mind speeding things up with our relationship but I can still sense a little hesitation on Sophie’s part on opening up and I meant what I said. I’ll wait forever for this girl if I have to.

We enjoy
our dinner together and once we’re finished, we head straight over to the bar to meet up with Drake and Ana.

“Are you going to sing tonight, Baby?” she ask
s me as I pull into a vacant parking spot, her words making my heart speed up at her endearment, like always.

“Probably,” I answer,
slipping my hand over hers as I shut the door on her side of the truck. “What about you?”

She looks
instantly nervous before looking up at me while slowly shaking her head. “No, I don’t think so … not tonight,” she answers with the same reply as always. I figured that’s what she would say but I always ask her anyway. I kiss her on the forehead as I pull her closer to me.

“Okay, well do you want to pick out my song then?” I ask.

“Really?” she asks with a surprised expression crossing over her face making me smile.

“Why not? I’ll sin
g you whatever you want me to,” I tell her as I watch as her cheeks start to turn a slight shade of pink. “I trust you. I know you won’t make me sing anything dumb,” I laugh.    

“Actually, I like when you pick. You always surprise me with your song selections,” she
laughs back at me as I open the door up before leading her inside.

“Okay, I’ll pick somethin
g out just for you then,” I say gaining a smile from her as she looks up at me while rubbing her hand up and down my arm affectionately.

“Just for me and everyone else
in the bar you mean?” she jokes and I smile as I pull her back over to me.

“I don’t care who’s in here.
It’s always just for you, Baby,” I tell her, kissing her on the neck once before releasing her from my hold.

I w
ave to Drake and Ana as I make my way over to the song book and Sophie heads to our normal booth.

Looking through the song selections they ha
ve available, I see so many that she’d sing so beautifully, still not being able to understand why she won’t. I know that she said it was something she’d done with her ex, but I think it’s a little odd that she won’t sing at all.

I’
ve heard her here and there singing along with the radio but that’s about it. I can tell she has a great voice and loves to sing, I just don’t really get why it’s such a big deal to her. She told me that things will make sense soon and I’m hoping that she’ll explain this particular thing to me a little more too.

I find the song I want
to sing to her and then walk over to the bar and order our drinks before joining the others at our regular booth.

Drake st
ands up to greet me. I pull him in for a handshake and a hug, saying hi to Ana as I sit down beside Sophie. Without looking up from her conversation with Ana, she reaches over and places her hand affectionately on my leg, giving it a gentle squeeze as I stretch my arm across the back of the booth behind her.

She and Ana
appear to be in the middle of an animated conversation about some girl that they both know with Sophie laughing hysterically at Ana’s story. She leans over and puts her face against my side to steady herself, grabs a hold of her stomach, and then laughs even harder.

“Shut up, Ana!
You’re such a liar!” she yells through her fit of laughter.

“I swear! She said that and then took him to the back and came out ten minutes la
ter with twenty bucks!” Ana exclaims loudly.

“What the hell are y’all t
alking about?” I ask which prompts Sophie to laugh even harder.

“Ana’s being a liar!
She told this girl we know that she was dressed like a prostitute the other night, and then today, she took the beer guy into the back and came out with twenty dollars. So Ana thinks she really might be a hooker and is now worried that she offended her,” Sophie laughs again as she glances back over at Ana. “She probably only did that to mess with you for calling her a prostitute in the first place!”

“Who would do that? That would be
the dumbest plan ever!” Ana says, throwing Sophie into another round of hysterics.

Drake and I
watch them talk for a while as we drink our beers, laughing over their reactions occasionally. Twenty minutes, they call Ana and Drake up for the longest rendition I’ve ever heard of ‘Endless Love’ and I smile at Sophie as she quietly giggles at the two of them.

“Wh
at did you pick, Baby?” she asks me.

“You’ll see,” I answer
and watch as she laughs.

“You won’t tell me
what song you chose?” she asks, pretending to be offended but I just shake my head.

“Nope,” I tell her
playfully. “You said that you wanted it to be a surprise.”

“Well, give me a hint
then,” she says. I look down at her and think for a second.

“You’ll probably be really surpri
sed that I know it so well. Every time I hear it I always think of you,” I kiss the end of her nose which makes her blush again.

A few seconds later, Ana and Drake climb back into the booth a
s I get called up. I lean over to kiss Sophie on the neck, whispering in her ear, “Remember, it’s just for you, Babe,” she nods as I wink at her and make my way up and onto the stage. I may not be able to say the words outright, but I won’t chicken out of singing them to her.

***

Sophie

As I watch Chase make his way to the stage, I suddenly fe
el a little nervous. I have a feeling this will be a pivotal moment in our relationship. Even though I know that it’s a lot of pressure to put on a song, I can’t help the feeling that I’m having.

His hint wa
s so unbelievably vague and he’s been acting strange all night. It’s as though he has something on his mind but every time I ask him what he’s thinking about, he doesn’t say anything. I have no idea what’s about to happen, but I hope that whatever it is I’m ready for it.

He takes
a seat up on the stage and grabs the microphone from the stand.  Good God this man is drop dead gorgeous. The women in the bar that are gawking up at the stage don’t escape my attention, though as jealous as it makes me, I can’t say I blame them for getting their fill.

As
Chase raises his eyes to look back out at the crowd, though, his eyes find mine and stay put, making me feel special even though I can feel thirty sets of daggers on me. As he waits for the music to begin, he throws me a small smile and winks. It has only been about ten seconds since he sat down on the stool but the anticipation is already killing me.

As
the music starts, a wider smile creeps across both of our faces when I realize what song he’s chosen to sing to me. The opening notes to ‘Don’t You Want It’ by The White Buffalo begin and I find my mind drifting back through thoughts of our lovemaking session on his couch earlier this afternoon.

I begi
n thinking about how he panted my favorite lyrics into my ear as he pushed himself further inside of me. His eyes remain locked with mine and I can’t get over how great he looks up there.

I
t becomes obvious he’s singing the lyrics directly to me and he winks again causing another ten pairs of jealous eyes to glare directly over at me.

I barely notice
them though. I’m too blown away by his voice and the emotion he’s able to pack into each and every word, it’s as though this song was written just for this very moment.

He sound
s amazing and as the song begins to come to an end, it almost seems like something in him has shifted. He still finishes the song and I don’t think anyone else notices, but there’s something different within his eyes that I’m struggling to place. At the very end of the song, the crowd erupts as he makes his way back over to me, leaning over before giving me a small smile and kissing me on the lips.