Page 76 of Hard To Love

Chapter Twenty-Six

“Stop trying to peek!” He scolded as I continued my lame attempt to remove his fingers away from my eyes while we walked out into the driveway. His taunts all morning about this mystery gift was driving me nuts and I had officially reached the end of my rope.

“Ready?” He asked through a dry chuckle.

Considering the giver of the gift, I knew I would love it but the anticipation was killing me. “Please?” I said stomping my feet like a little toddler. I could hear him laughing at my little temper tantrum and it was making me even more frustrated.

“Here you go.” He chuckled as he finally released his hands from my eyes.

My eyes blinked as they tried to adjust to the blinding sunlight. Once my vision fully returned there was a brand new, shiny white Ford F-150 Platinum pickup truck sitting in the driveway with a big giant red bow on top. I turned to him wide eyed and completely confused. “I don’t understand?”

The smile on his face told me he was enjoying this. “It’s your birthday present.”

I stood there, feet rooted to the pavement with my mouth hanging open. My eyes closed and I shook my head. “Chase, not to sound ungrateful but you can’t buy me a truck for my birthday.” I informed him with a look that said ‘are you crazy?’

His lips twitched up into a grin, “I can do whatever I want.” He smirked.

He was insane. And just when I thought he couldn’t get any crazier, he reached into his pocket, producing an envelope. “This is for you as well.” My eyes narrowed and very cautiously, I opened the envelope. The second my hands pulled out the two concert tickets that were resting inside, my eyes lit up with excitement.

“You got us front row, floor seats to the Country Jam Fest in West Palm Beach tonight? This has been sold out for months.” I flipped the tickets over and covered my mouth to stifle my gasp when I noticed who was performing tonight. “Oh, my god. These are my three favorite country singers. This is incredible, thank you, thank you, thank you!” I squealed, threw my arms around his neck and brought his mouth to mine.

He pulled away with the biggest smile I had ever seen. I swear, his dimples were so big they looked like they were going to pop any minute.

“I knew how much you loved their music and I didn’t want to pull into a country concert driving my sports car.” He explained, arching an eyebrow. “Besides, being here in Florida with you made me realize how much I missed coming here. I plan on bringing you back here as often as we can so I figured it would make sense to have an extra set of wheels.”

How many girls could say their boyfriend bought them a pickup truck for their birthday and treated them to the experience of a lifetime? It was the best gift I had ever received. The fact that we got to enjoy those gifts together made them even more special.

I grabbed the keys from his hand and grinned. “Why don’t we take the new truck out for a spin?”

His arms folded along my waist. “Sounds good to me. Maybe while we are out, we can find you a cute little pair of cowgirl boots.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, he was being too damn adorable. “Only if you promise to buy a pair of your own, and,” I paused and leaned in to kiss him. “Maybe we can find you a sleeveless flannel while we’re at it.”

He threw his head back in laughter. “Not a chance, sweetheart.” He looked down to his black t-shirt and faded jeans. “This is as urban cowboy as I get.”

I pulled on his hand and led him to the truck. “We’ll see about that.” I said as he lifted me into the driver’s seat. I started up the engine, hooked my phone up to the Bluetooth and selected my country playlist. Chase fastened his seat belt and shook his head in silent laughter as I adjusted my mirrors.

“I can’t believe I actually thought this was a good idea.” He mumbled as he pulled the owner’s manual out of the glove box and pretended to ignore my singing, which was extremely off key. But as we pulled out of the driveway, I could see him grinning from ear to ear, which brought a smile of my own to my face.

* * *

The concert was amazing, in spite of the three separate times Chase caught me checking out my man, Luke Bryan. I was a little surprised when I spied him singing along to a number of the songs. Even though he didn’t want to admit it, my taste in music was starting to rub off on him.

We drove back to his house in the new truck with the windows down and the stereo up. The whole ride home I kept glancing over at him. It took every ounce of self-control I had to not to jump his beautiful bones driving up Route 95.

Once we were back in his gated compound, he threw the truck in park and killed the engine. “Did you have fun?” He asked with the moonlight spilling into the truck. Even though the sky was dark, the air around me heated as every taut muscle on his face was illuminated from the sliver of light streaming through the windows.

I took a deep breath trying to control the hunger that was fighting its way through my body. “Fun?” I reached over and tilted his face to mine. “These past two days have been the best of my life. Thank you.”

His eyes rested on my face for a moment too long, causing my body to heat from their intensity. I immediately climbed on top of him and straddled his lap, feeling his erection press beneath me. As my hands slid up his chest, I could feel his heart racing against my palms.

“I want you now.” He demanded, with his hands gripping my ass, pulling me tight against him.

“When’s the last time you had sex in a pickup truck?” I teased with my hands continuing their journey up and down his solid chest.

He pulled back slightly with a grin taking over his face. “Well, you may find this hard to believe, but I’m a truck fuck virgin and I think it’s time we christen your new truck. I even got the fabric protection package.”

I threw my head back in laughter, thinking only Chase could make a sentence like that sound so damn sexy when it was funnier than shit. But once his hands started to slowly crawl the length of my back, all common sense left my brain as it filled with lust.

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