24. Adam

"Pass me the pistachios," I told Chase, reaching over from the driver's seat.

He reached down into the grocery bag stuffed with snacks, treats, and drinks that we'd picked up from the store before heading out onto the open road.

"I can't believe you got pistachios," he said. "That should have been the moment I knew we had to break up."

"Oh yeah?" I asked, smiling at him from behind my sunglasses. The morning sun was pouring through the front window of my car as we drove down the pine-tree-lined highway toward Aspen, Colorado.

"Yeah," he said with a grin as he handed me the open bag. "Cashews are better. "

"No way," I said. "Pistachios are clearly the superior road trip nut."

"I'll show you a good road trip nut, if you know what I mean," Chase joked.

I snorted and shook my head. "And that's why I know you're the best boyfriend ever," I told him. "Jokes like those."

"That's why you're going to keep me around, huh?" Chase said.

"Damn right."

We had just gotten onto the main mountain highway that led to Aspen. When Emmett Waycott had invited a big group of the Fixer Brothers and TV crew to a summer cookout party at his mansion in Colorado's fanciest ski town, both Chase and I had jumped at the chance to say yes.

And now, only a few weeks after we'd decided to make it official and actually date each other, we were going on our first short road trip together.

"How far away is Aspen, again?" Chase asked.

"Three and a half hours," I told him. "A very easy road trip, in my opinion."

"I bet it's an awesome place to be in the summer," he said, looking out his window. "None of the wintertime ski tourists. Just lots of mountains and beautiful green grass."

"We both know Emmett lives large," I said as I drove up one of the many curved mountain roads we'd be driving on today. "I think that guy made more money before age 25 than most people do in a lifetime."

"And he's still so invested in his business," Chase said. "If I had as much money as him, I'd just fuck off and paint all day. And film stuff, still, of course."

I glanced over at him for a moment and he looked at me at the same time, too.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking right now?" I asked.

"I think you know I am."

"We film a secret video while we're there," I said. "We can go out on a short walk after lunch, maybe. Find a little tucked away corner of the mountains, and…"

"And I can get on my knees for you on a picnic blanket," Chase offered. "The followers would fucking love that."

My cock was already hardening at the thought of it. "You are so fun, Chase."

I could never have imagined telling anyone about what I filmed myself doing, let alone that I'd find someone who was just as into it as I was.

Over the past few weeks, there had been plenty of times where I'd witnessed Chase get spooked about all things involving a committed relationship. There was one morning where he woke up next to me in my bed, turned over, and blurted out to me that he was worried he was spending too much time at my place. He'd slept over for three nights in a row, and had opened up to me in a panic, asking if it was "too much" that he'd been there that long.

I'd softy chuckled, hugged him close to me, and kissed the top of his head. Chase could spend as much time as he wanted in my place, and I'd only be happier for it. I told him so.

Truthfully, I even found his little freakouts to be charming. Chase had seemed so confident and untouchable when I'd first met him, and I never would have thought anything could bother him at all.

I liked that he'd let me into his heart in a deeper way. Shown me the things he was scared of. The parts of himself that he thought were shameful.

And I loved all of them.

When we pulled up outside of one of the nicest houses I'd ever seen just over three hours later, Chase had just woken up from his nap in the passenger seat.

"See?" I teased him. "I was exactly right about how you'd be on a road trip."

"And I didn't snore?"

"You didn't," I said. "You made a cute sighing sound at one point, though."

His smile was so contagious. He leaned over, pressing a kiss to my lips before he looked out the front window.

"Holy shit. Is this Emmett's house?"

"Pretty amazing, huh?"

It was a modern, wood-and-glass mansion tucked into its own little section of the Aspen mountains.

"Looks like Shawn and Nathan are already here. That's their brother Tristan, too. Charlie said he's coming, right?"

"I think the gang's all going to be here," I said. "Emmett Waycott's motto seems to be the more, the merrier."

Chase reached over and rubbed my shoulder. "You going to be okay? I know it's a social event."

I pulled in a long breath. "You want to know something crazy? I hadn't even thought about that. This is the kind of party that would usually make me nervous, but I feel really good, actually. I know these guys, by now. I really like them. And I have you here with me."

Something twinkled in his eyes. "And you're ready to…"

I swallowed. "Go public?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

We hadn't told any of the other Fixer Brothers guys that we were officially dating, yet.

"I'm ready," I said. "I'm more than ready. But are you sure you are?"

A smile formed on his lips. "I'm actually so fucking excited to tell them."

My heart fluttered in my chest. "I would have thought you'd be freaked out and ready to back out of telling people the moment we got here."

He shook his head. "No. I really want to. I want people to know that I'm yours."

I saw how his eyes flickered to mine right after he said it, the little sign that he was worried he might have been too intense, or said too much.

But he hadn't.

Nothing he ever did was too much for me.

"I love that you're mine," I said softly. "And that you're here with me."

The look on his face was beautiful. He calmed down again. "And you are aware I'm definitely going to make you do at least some shots with me, later tonight?"

I laughed. "What would an overnight trip be without some late-night shots?"

Chase buried his face at the side of my neck, just under my hair. I breathed in deep, inhaling his scent.

And everything hit me all at once.

I was showing up to this cookout party with someone who wanted to be mine, as much as I wanted to be his.

I had always believed in love. Wanted it.

But I'd never actually known if it was something that would ever be available to a person as introverted as me.

Now, it didn't just feel possible—it felt as inevitable as everything had, with Chase.

I didn't know if he felt that yet, too. If he was ready to let himself fall that hard for me. But no matter how long it took, I wanted to be with him. I was still falling for him, more and more every day.

Chase got out of the passenger side first, stretching in the midday sun right as Emmett emerged from the big, glass front doors of his house.

"Chase!" I heard him call out. "You made it. Who'd you drive up with?"

Chase glanced back toward where I was sitting in the car.

"I drove in with my boyfriend," he said, smiling at Emmett.

Emmett took a few steps closer, looking through the car window and recognizing me. I stepped out of the driver's side, slamming the car door shut.

"Hey, Emmett," I said. "Nice place you've got, here."

Emmett looked at me and then at him again. "Wait. You two are an item?"

Excitement stirred inside me. How long had I been waiting to be able to say that? To actually be an "item" with someone as incredible as Chase felt like something out of my wildest dreams.

"Guilty as charged," I said.

"Oh, my colleague is going to kill me," Emmett said, smiling and putting a palm to his face.

"What?" Chase asked.

"I knew it," I said. "That guy you brought to the dinner had a thing for Chase, didn't he? I swore he was going to ask for his number at the end of the night."

Emmett chuckled. "No. He just asked me if you two were together, and I told him you weren't. He was convinced. He'll probably be here at the party tonight, so get ready to witness him chewing my head off."

I felt a familiar heat reaching up to my cheeks.

There was a time when I would have hated the idea that anyone was talking about me without me knowing about it. All throughout my childhood, when people were speaking about me behind my back, it always led to bad things.

But the instinct felt different now.

No one was talking behind my back in a bad way. And I liked the feeling of people talking about me and Chase. Being able to handle even the smallest social situations that used to send me into overthinking-mode was a massive step in the right direction.

I didn't know if I'd ever feel "normal."

I wasn't even sure it was a thing that existed at all, or that I'd even want, anymore.

I just wanted to feel like myself. Something that had seemed like a thorn in my side for most of my life now really did feel like a superpower.

"Well, I'm glad he was right," I told Emmett. "I feel like the luckiest man in the world dating Chase."

The look in Chase's eyes was all I needed.

I wanted him to feel like he was the most important thing in the world, and I'd never stop trying to show him that.

"I only hope I'm as lucky as you, one day," Emmett said. "I'm happy for you both."

Emmett was whip-smart, attractive, and a multi-millionaire. I knew he wasn't going to have any trouble finding a man of his own one day, too.

"Thanks, Emmett," Chase said. "It means a lot. And thank you for inviting us to this party pad, because I've never seen anything like this before."

Emmett waved us forward toward the front door. "Come on in. Let's get some drinks in those hands. My personal chef has some killer appetizers already out on the backyard bar for us."

As we followed Emmett inside, Chase came to my side, giving me a mischievous grin.

"Hey," he whispered in my ear. "How much do you want to bet there's some sort of chocolate cake chips and dip as one of the appetizers?"

I struggled not to laugh. "Or maybe some deviled egg cupcakes?"

"Ugh," Chase said, but both of us were laughing like idiots now. Luckily Emmett was many paces ahead, not paying attention to us in our little world.

"I think there will at least be mac and cheese pie," I said.

"Actually," Chase said, "that kind of sounds like it might be good."

"It does, to be honest."

He beamed at me as we entered Emmett's colossal front doors. "We should open a restaurant."

I put my hand on his lower back, giving it a squeeze. "I'd do anything with you, Chase."

He leaned in and pressed a sweet kiss to my lips. "And I want to do everything with you."

"I knew it!" I heard someone call out from further inside the house, and I knew it must be Emmett's marketing coworker.

"Let's get this party started," I told Chase, taking his hand and heading on in.

No fear in my heart.

No worries that I was going to do or say something wrong.

Because I really did feel like I could do anything, with Chase at my side.