After last night we’re all a little worse for wear, so after a sluggish morning I proposed we set up camp, and watch light turn into dark, enjoying everyone’s last night at King Ranch under the stars.

Circled around a makeshift campfire, there are four teepee tents decked out with everything you need for a night outdoors; blankets, beverages, snacks and enough room for two.

Leaning back on my elbows, I’m flanked by Avery and Lucy. The three of us watching the guys take turns entertaining Jeremiah.

Everything about today has been surreal, finding my feet within the group, Chase and I have seamlessly fit in as the third couple. Problem? We’re not a couple.

Instead we’re two people determined to break one another’s hearts when we realize there’s no room for compromise. For all intents and purposes this is supposed to be a summer fling, but when I look at him playfully roughhousing with Jeremiah, it kinda feels like a forever thing.

“What’s got you thinking so hard there, B?” Avery asks.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I thought after last night I was your new bff.”

“You mean after you ratted me out to Chase?”

“Puhlease, that wasn’t ratting you out. That was me orchestrating the best sex of your life. Now,” she hits my thigh. “What is it?”

I fall on my back dramatically, covering my face from their prying eyes. “Fine. I don’t think my ovaries can take Chase playing with Jeremiah anymore. The laughs. The smiles. It makes me feel like my biological clock is ticking.”

Dainty fingers grip my wrist and pull my arm away. Avery’s eyes twinkle with mischief. “Can I hear one more time how it’s just sex?”

“Can you not be that I told you so person?” I groan, sitting upright again.

“Unfortunately, no. Ask Luce. She’ll vouch for me.”

“She’s right. It’s annoying as fuck.”

“Whatever, it doesn’t change a thing.”

“I still get that with Magnus, you know?” My ears perk up when Lucy talks. She’s just as fun and lighthearted as Avery, but she prefers quality over quantity when it comes to getting her point across. “The bond between him and Jeremiah is more than I could ever ask for. It makes me want to lie on my back with a huge sign that says ‘impregnate me.’”

“Eww, don’t ever say that word again.” Avery fake gags.

“What? Impregnate?”

“Yes. I’m getting images of you using a turkey baster.”

Avery and Lucy continue to joke and bicker, as I get lost in the fantasy of Chase as a dad. I’m entering dangerous territory and I can’t seem to stop myself. After our bout of office sex last night we came home and fucked like rabbits, trying to exorcise the want and need from our bodies, only to come right back to square one; famished, starving and ravenous for one another. Eventually, much to Chase’s disappointment, I forced myself to leave his room, a time-out in the game I so desperately needed.

“All I’m saying is you need to talk to him. Tell him where you’re at.” Fingers click in front of my face. “Are you listening, B?”

“Can we just enjoy today, please? I’ve got less than two weeks to work it out, I don’t want to waste your last night talking about me.”

“Looks like we won’t get the chance to anyway, Chase is coming this way. I think he wants to eat you.”

I laugh at the truth in her statement. “I’m going to hide in the tent. My body is going to burn into flames if he comes near me and I don’t need witnesses. Catch you later, alligators.”

I dart into the spacious tent, and throw myself on the air matress. The sound of someone entering follows quicker than I anticipated.

“Blaire, are you okay?” He slides up beside me, our faces close enough to share every breath.

“It just got really warm out there, and I haven’t drank like that in a really long time.”

His thumb skates across my bottom lip, “you spent the whole morning getting everything ready for us, let me take care of you now. I can run off and get Sandy to help me with my famous hangover remedy.”

Too tired to fight it, I let my mask fall off. “While I’m grateful for the thought, do you mind just holding me for a bit?”

“Come here.” I twist in his arms, my back curled into his front. He nuzzles his face in my neck, while his arms cradle me with reverence. “I’ll hold you for as long as you need me to.”

“Hey, sleepyhead.” Chase’s voice wraps around me like a blanket, “Want to wake up any time soon?” Lazily my eyes open to the heartstopping view of Chase looking at me like he’s seeing me for the very first time. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”

My lips find his neck, kissing til I reach his mouth. “While I love your lips on me, this isn’t it.”

“It isn’t?”

“Don’t act so surprised, there’s more to me than sex.”

“I guess there is.” I give him a quick peck before I get up. “Let me make sure I look half decent. I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

“Don’t be too long. I didn’t like being the only guy without his girl by his side.”

His girl?

I grab my makeup bag as soon as he leaves the tent. I check my bed hair, pop in a mint and pinch my cheeks for color. I feel like I’m in the twilight zone, where the sex crazed Chase is one upping me any chance he gets, laying his feelings out there for all to see, and making it impossible for me to ignore.

When I step out of the teepee the sun has already gone down, and so has everybody else.

Confused, but intrigued I look around until I find Chase sitting down on a portable table and chairs, decked out with candles and flowers. “Where’s the gang?” I ask, walking closer to him.

“Did you know Ben was gay?”

“Okayyy, that doesn’t answer my question, but yes, I did know. How do you know?”

“While I was planning this, he may have mentioned he’d done something similar with his ex-boyfriend. Now I know when I go back to the city you won’t be blowing him in your spare time.”

Shaking my head, I laugh at the way his mind works and what consumes his thoughts. “I guess I won’t be blowing Ben, then.” I reach the table, and a standing Chase who’s holding my chair out, waiting for me to sit. “But you didn’t answer me, where is everyone?”

“They’re having dinner on their balcony.”

I look up, and true to his word their set up matches ours. “Why aren’t we all together?”

“I wanted to say thank you for the last few days, you were the perfect host to my friends, and maybe I’m just using that as an excuse to spend some time alone with you.”

Sitting down, I wait for him to seat himself. Between us is a large plate covered with a silver cloche and two wine goblets on either side of a bottle of red. “Dare I say, this is very romantic.”

“That was the intention.”

“How did you get it all organized?”

“Did you know Ben and Sandy actually like me,” he says incredulously.

I smile wide, unabashedly wearing my happiness on my face. “It’s hard not to like you, Chase.”

“Does that mean you like me?”

“Stop fishing for compliments.”

“Well they helped. Seems King Ranch has a few night activities that need testing out.”

Giddy with excitement, I ask, “you found out about the movie screen?”

Nodding, his excitement mirrors mine. “I found out about the movie screen.”

“I wasn’t expecting for it to be installed yet. Show it to me.”

“But we have to eat.”

“We can reheat it. Pleaseeee. I fought tooth and nail to have that installed. It’s like my little girl fantasy come to life.”

“Well, we know I’m all about making those fantasies come true.” He holds his hand out to me, abandoning his carefully constructed plans. “My lady, your futon awaits”

“You got futons?” I squeal excitedly.

He chuckles softly. “I got everything I knew you would love.”

“Seriously, how did you manage to get everyone to stay in the suite?”

“That place is more than a suite, Blaire. It’s a fucking island with everything you could ever need right in front of you. Guests are going to have a hard time leaving.” He describes King Ranch the exact way I envisioned it.

“It just means they’ll come back,” I say with confidence.

He flicks the edge of my nose, “That they will, pretty girl. Including the bunch of loud mouthed people I call my friends.”

“You sure they’re okay with not hanging out and watching the movie?”

“Oh, they’re watching the movie. There’s futons on their balcony too, they have a perfect view.”

“You think they can see us?” I ask, conscious of the way this whole gesture will look to all of them.

“I think in about ten minutes Lucy will be busy putting Jeremiah to bed, and Avery and Wes will return to having crazy animal sex on every surface they can find. So, to answer your question. No, I don’t think they can see us.”

“You really did take care of everything,” I praise.

“Except for the movie. Ben said you loved it, and I haven’t seen it. It seemed like a good choice.”

“Which one is it?”

“The Proposal.”

“You’ve never watched The Proposal?” We’re finally settled on the futon, me nestled in his arms, his lips finding a permanent home at the top of my head. The screen in front of us is huge. The idea is to have guests watch their favorite movies under the stars; different genres every night, alcohol, soda, and snacks at their fingertips. It’s a one of a kind, and here with Chase, I’m mentally high fiving my business savvy self, for indirectly enhancing one of the most romantic gestures I have ever experienced.

“There’s a lot of things I haven’t done, but you’ve managed to cross many things off that list.”

Poking his side, I joke, “It’s a good thing you met me then, huh?”

Something in my words triggers a reaction out of Chase. He climbs on top of me, seizing my mouth. “It’s a fucking great thing that I met you.” We’re frantic, our tongues tangle, duelling for control. With no care for our surroundings, we’re tugging at our clothes. His hands. My hands. It’s a web of feelings and fucking, and I feel myself making a detour. It’s no longer about the high, and the pleasure, but it’s become about letting him know, there’s something here. Something that has irrevocably changed everything I thought I knew. About me. About Chase. About our future.

He pushes into me, nothing in between us. Everything naked, honest and bare, I let the gravity of our decision consume me and I join Chase in letting go. It may be the first time, or the only time. I can trust my mouth to lie for me, and cover up my deepest secrets, but I have no control over my body, and it’s clear I’m not alone. It’s the slowest seduction, every stroke scarring me from the inside out, every kiss marking my skin.

“This is crazy,” he whispers. “Unexpected. Accidental. Fucking life changing.”

Each truth is a stab to the heart, but a welcomed revelation. Because I would rather be damaged and destroyed than give up my small moments in time, with Chase.