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I shrug. “What was I supposed to do? Purposefully do a piss poor job?”

“No, but you could’ve at least given the other teams a fighting chance. This made for a very boring race.”

I shake my head. “No way. When I see something I want, I give it my all. And I wanted to win.”

Lina turns her gorgeous smile on me and it lights up my insides. “Yeah, I guess you do, don’t you?”

I give her one of my smoldering grins that always makes her hot for me. “If you’re the prize, I’ll give it my all every single time.”

She cups my cheeks and kisses me like she can’t get enough of me. And I love every single minute of it.

Chapter 31

This is my life

Lina

A few weeks later …

I’d be lying if I said everything has been perfect since the day I told Chase that I loved him. Far from it, in fact.

Mostly because I’ve consistently been a pain in his ass and have fought him on everything he insists on doing for me.

It’s his own damn fault. I wouldn’t have to fight with him if he’d listen to me. He hasn’t let me pay for anything in weeks.

I thought he was going to have a coronary when I admitted that part of the reason my migraines got so bad was because I didn’t eat enough. I haven’t gone hungry since. He cooks for me on the evenings I don’t work and makes sure my kitchen is stocked with enough food for both Dad and me.

My car never has less than a half a tank of gas. I still haven’t figured out when or how he fills it up for me. I suspect he sneaks out in the middle of the night after I fall asleep and fills it up from one of the many gas cans they keep in the garage. When I ask him about it, he plays dumb.

The electric bill is on autopay to one of his credit cards. He bought my dad a new TV and upgraded his cable so he’d have the sports channels. He and Dad talk football all the time, and when Chase found out he couldn’t watch the games, he took care of it.

Last week I caught him trying to make a payment to one of Dad’s many medical bills. While I appreciate all his help, I can’t let him do that. I snatched the bills away and hid them from him. He’s still pissed at me about that.

With everything he’s done for Dad and me, I have a lot of free cash that I didn’t have before. I can take care of my dad without help. While I give Chase shit about how much he pays for—let’s be honest, the makeup sex is amazing—I’m also eternally grateful for it.

Dad is getting better care because I can pay for the bills.

It also helps that the Village of Beaver was awarded the grant to fund the arts center. Mrs. Engle and Mrs. Hoffman could barely contain themselves when they got the news. They hunted me down until they found me at Chase’s house. That was an embarrassing moment of my life. They caught us in the stables partially undressed.

That didn’t stop them from telling me all about the grant and the job they hoped I’d accept. There’s nothing quite like getting a job offer while topless and pressed against the wall with your half naked boyfriend as a shield. Thank God I hadn’t gotten his pants undone yet.

Despite the challenges we’ve faced, things with Chase are damn good.

Mornings like this one have become my favorite. I don’t stay the night with Chase every night but watching him care for his goats from his balcony makes me want to.

I’ve gotten used to his early morning routine, and I don’t always wake when he gets up. Sometimes—like this morning—I’ll wake when I hear the click of the door closing behind him. Other times, I wake when he comes back to bed once he’s finished his chores.

As much as I love waking up to his warm body wrapped around me, I prefer to watch him like this from the single seat on his balcony that overlooks the farm. I only get this moment if I wake before he returns.

He doesn’t like to sing with an audience other than his goats, and damn can my man sing. Anytime I ask him to sing for me, he refuses. It’s the only time I’ve seen him get embarrassed.

So I treasure these mornings when I get them.

I grab my sketchbook and pencils and flip to a blank page. Since I started spending so much time here with Chase, I always keep a sketchbook with me. His farm is full of inspiration, but this morning it’s him that’s inspired me to draw.

He’s too far away for me to see the details of his sculpted arms and washboard abs, but I’ve seen them up close enough that his body is burned in my memory. With hardly a thought, my pencil glides over the blank page.

I start with a rough form. Chase sitting on the stump with his guitar in his hands and his four goats jumping around him. His body takes shape first. I capture every curve and ridge of his roped muscles and defined chest.

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