Page 56 of Broken on the Mountain
He sets me down on the deck, and the mountain air hits my naked skin like a crisp slap of reality. I yelp, nipples still standing at attention, though for a completely different reason.
"Cold, cold,cold—"
"Get in, baby."
I practically dive into the hot tub, sinking into water that's perfectly heated. Chase follows with all his muscles and that stupid sexy grin flashing in the moonlight.
He reaches over to press a button and the jets roar to life.
"Oh mygod." I moan as the bubbles pummel my well-used muscles. "This is better than sex."
He arches a brow. "Um,excuse me."
"Okay, fine.Tiedwith sex."
Steam rises into the cold mountain air, and the stars are thick overhead, I can't help but try to count them. Candle lanterns glow along the deck railing, and the pines rising up the mountain stand like silent soldiers against the sky.
Chase settles me against his chest, and I let my head fall to his shoulder.
"This place is magic," I murmur.
"Yeah." Chase's fingers trail up and down my arm. "It is."
"And still, I'm counting hours until I have to leave." I sigh into the night. "I hate that."
"Then count from the other end." His lips brush my temple. "Not hours till you go—hours till you come back."
I huff a laugh and shake my head. "How do you do it? How did you get to be like this, Chase? Why are you always so…Mr. Brightside?"
He's quiet for a moment, but then I feel him shrug and when he speaks, his voice is unusually low and careful.
"I wasn't always like it."
I wait, because there's more where that came from.
"When I was nineteen, I enlisted in the Army." He says it like he's confessing a crime. "Thought I'd prove myself. Become the kind of man my dad never was. Be the man of the house that Mom deserved."
My heart squeezes. "What happened?"
"I washed out. Eight weeks into basic training." His laugh is bitter. "Combination of anxiety, homesickness, and a training injury. They discharged me, and I felt like… like I'd confirmed every fear I had about not being strong enough to be a true hero. Tough enough. Just…enough."
I turn in his arms, searching his face. "Chase—"
"After that, my mom remarried. Some German businessman she met online. She moved to Germany and took my little sister, Lily. She left me with a choice: come with them or stay in America."
"What did you do?"
"I stayed. Told myself I was being mature. Independent. That I could prove her wrong, and maybe she would come back."
He swallows hard.
The pieces click into place—the gummy bears, the fierce loyalty to his team, the way he lights up when someoneneedshim.
"Lily sends me those gummy bears," he continues, voice softer now. "Every few months. It's the only connection I have left to her. To any of them."
"That's why you carry them everywhere?"
He nods. "I'm not always alone then. She's still with me."
