CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Trevor
I’m treading water, waiting for Blaze to come out of the women’s section of the locker room. She just got off work, and I’m doing one of my last physical therapy sessions before they’ll be releasing me. The month of January is flying by, but I can’t wait to know what my game plan is for the rest of my career, and truthfully, the rest of my life. I have an appointment with the shrink tomorrow, and I just need to make it through this workout.
We’re the only ones here, and since it’s near closing time, I think we’ll probably be the last ones to show up. Luckily for me, I know the owner and we have a key. I love working out in the pool because there’s little impact on my joints, and right now, they do hurt if I abuse them. The physical therapist told me in the next few weeks that should go away and then I’ll be able to rejoin my guys in the Moonshine Task Force. Truth of the matter is, I’m so ready. Sitting around is definitely not the life for me, I can’t fucking stand it. I hear the door open and turn around, whistling loudly as I see Blaze headed toward the pool dressed in a white bikini. The white shows off her hair, her skin color, and her tattoos. Damn, she looks smoking.
“I can’t wait until this summer at my parents’ house,” I wink at her. “I’m gonna do things to you in that pool I’ve always fantasized about.”
She gives me a look as she sinks into the water, shrieking at the temperature. I’d had to do a deep intake of breath when I entered the pool as well, maybe I should have warned her.
“It takes a minute to get used to.”
I swim over to her, gathering her up in my arms. I can’t help but notice her hard nipples rubbing against my chest. It puts thoughts of those fantasies back into my head.
“I’m all for doing sexually adventurous stuff, Trev, but it seems wrong to joke about doing it at your parents’,” she curls her arms around my neck.
“So much more exciting though, and need I remind you, we did it at yours” I tease and remind her, thinking about all the pervy situations I’d gotten into as a teen. There was something much more exciting about doing all those things with her.
As my eyes land on her tits, she smacks my bicep. “Get your mind out of the gutter, you’re supposed to be doing your laps.”
God, I hate laps. They help to build up the strength in my leg and it’s making a huge difference, but damn do I hate them.
“I’ll be here waiting on you at the end,” she blows me a kiss.
“Alright, let’s do this.”
The entire time I do the laps, I focus on my movement; one arm in front of the other, kick the way I need to, use my core to help offset the less muscle in my leg. Repeat over and over again until I count off the one hundred laps I’ve been told to do. Once I come up, panting from exertion, I see Blaze hanging out on the side of the pool. She’s holding a beach ball in her hands.
“You ready?” She bounces it from one hand to the other. In the shallow end, she can stand up straight and the water goes up to her shoulders, on me it’ll be at my chest.
“I’m always ready.” The cocky part of my personality shines bright sometimes.
As I’m walking to her, she rears back and throws the ball slightly to the left of me. I have to plant my feet and lean to catch it. Last time I did this, it knocked me off balance and I’d face planted in the water. This time I catch it – a little wobbly, but I make it.
“Good job, Trev! Now throw it back.”
I do as she asks. This exercise helps me become more flexible and tolerate standing. I can’t wait until they allow me to run on my leg. Hopefully next week, and damn am I ready. “Thanks for coming to hang out with me.”
She gives me a look, the ends of her lips tilting up in a pleased smile. She throws the ball, this time with a little more force behind it. “I’m sorry I haven’t been around as much. It’s hard getting back into the swing of things and obviously I don’t plan on working late, but sometimes emergencies happen when we’re about to go off shift.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Babe,” I throw it back at her. “I think I understand that better than probably anyone. I’ve been able to drive myself with no problems. More than anything, I want my life to go back to normal, and while I know you want to be with me at everything, I kinda like doing a few things for myself.”
I wince, because I’m afraid I’ll offend her by what I just said.
She laughs loudly, stopping our volleying of the ball as she giggles. “You should see the look on your face. You didn’t offend me.”
“Good! I don’t want to. Just because I’m doing things on my own doesn’t mean I don’t want you around. I want you around, all the time. I’m used to you being around.”
This hadn’t been planned, but I’d been thinking about it a lot lately. I don’t want Blaze to go back to her apartment, I want her to stay full-time with me, in my house.
“Are you asking me to move in with you?”
“I guess I am,” I throw the ball behind my shoulder and swim toward her. “It wasn’t planned, but I’ve been thinking about it for a while. I don’t want to live without you now that I have you. We’ll go slow. I know we’re still learning things about one another, and we obviously aren’t at the same point that Ryan and Whitney are. But I also want you to know that’s where I’m heading. If the wreck taught me anything, it’s that I want you in my life forever. No one else can take care of me the way you do, and no one makes me feel more loved than you do. If something were to ever happen to you, I know I would be the same way.”
She’s quiet, and I’m scared I’ve overstepped and possibly shocked the hell out of her. “You don’t have to answer right now, I know that wasn’t the most romantic way for me to ask. But real talk, I felt it and wanted to ask. I don’t regret it.”
“Neither do I,” she launches herself at me, and at that moment, I know my leg’s okay, because it doesn’t give out as I catch her against me. “I’d be super excited to move in with you.”
My heart starts beating again as I hear the words leave her mouth. “I love you, and thank you for being everything I’ve needed throughout this crazy process. We’ll get you moved in as soon as we can. I don’t want to spend a night without you.”
She squeals as I pick her up, putting her legs around my waist.
Here in this pool, with the woman I love hanging onto me, is the happiest I’ve been in months. With everything I have, I know I’m going to do whatever it takes to keep making this happen.
Blaze
“You sure this isn’t too much?” I ask as I look around at the boxes that have invaded Trevor’s home.
I’m still unsure what I’m going to do with my apartment. There are certain furniture pieces I have that I love, and I don’t necessarily want to part with. I’ll figure it out as I have more time, but everything that matters to me in the world is here with me right now.
“Not at all, we’ll figure out where to put everything,” he pulls me into a hug, wrapping his arm around my neck. “The most important thing is you’re here with me, and you’ll be here with me for the foreseeable future.”
I grin up at him, because I like the sound of that. “Thanks for helping me,” I throw Ace a fifth of Jim Beam, his payment for helping me move today. “I think I remember this is your favorite.”
He grabs the bottle out of the air and grins at me. “It is. I’ll have fun drinkin’ this on the lake next weekend.”
“You’re already going out to the lake?” Trevor questions, as he has a seat, pulling me down in his lap. “Little early for that, isn’t it?”
Ace rolls his eyes. “This is Alabama, it’s eighty in February. It’s never too early for the lake.”
I have to laugh because he’s right, in our part of the state, it’s always hot. “Either way, thanks for helping today.”
“Yeah,” Trevor holds out his hand for his friend to shake. “I appreciate you doing the heavy lifting.”
“I’m sure you’re healed up nicely, but there’s no sense in testing it out. I was happy to help,” he grabs his wallet. “But if you don’t need me anymore, I’m out. I got shit to do tonight.”
“Thank you again,” I get up off Trevor’s lap and hug the man who saw me at my worst. Ace was the only person who saw me hit my knees that day on the road as I realized it was Trevor in the wreckage. We’ve never spoken about it, but as he hugs me, he offers me a little squeeze.
“Cherish it, every day,” he whispers.
“I will,” I whisper back.
And like that, we’ve said all we’re going to. I go back to Trevor’s lap, and the world keeps spinning.