Despite the topic seeming to be a little odd, Chase nods and goes off into the story of how his baseball coach gave them a poor sex education class that scared him away from accidentally knocking someone up.
Our food comes out just as Chase is finishing up his story and Blake places the piping hot plates in front of us with a smile before darting off again.
We both dive off into our food and once again, I’m instantly in love. “Shit, there are some really good places to eat around here,” I say as I shove pieces of the omelet into my mouth.
Chase laughs softly. “You’ll go broke around here buying food if you’re not careful, especially since from what I’ve picked up with my police skills, you can’t cook.”
I let out a groan, “Just because I had a cookbook in my possession doesn’t mean I can’t cook.”
“So, you’re telling me that you can cook? Great, what time should I be over for dinner?”
When I look at him, there’s a smug grin on his face and my own lips twist into a grudgeful smile. “Fine, I can’t cook, but it’s the twenty-first century, a woman shouldn’t have to know how to cook.”
He laughs. “Of course not. Luckily for you, you have two and a half neighbors who can cook?”
“Where does the half come in?”
“Emmet. He can fix grilled cheese sandwiches and breakfast food but not much else.”
I laugh at that. “And what can you cook, Officer?”
“Just about any classic Mexican food you want. Ma insisted we learn how to cook.”
I nod at that. “My mother is Mexican, but she can’t cook any actual Mexican food to save her life. I grew up on more soul food than anything,” I admit. “I spent a lot of time with my grandmother and my father. Grandma would fill me up with greens and cornbread, saying she wanted to make sure there was something to stick on my stomach before she sent me back to my fast food buying mother. I don’t think she expected for me to inherit the same problem of not cooking, because no matter how much she tried to teach me, I’ve just never been able to pick up on it.”
Chase nods. “Christie, Nathan’s sister is the same way. Nathan and I have both tried to teach her, but she’s a lost cause.” I note the warm infection in his voice and when I look over at him, I catch the small smile on his face. A twinge of jealousy goes through me and it’s a shock. For fuck’s sake, he’s just talking about his friend, you have no right to be jealous. You’ve had non platonic interactions with two of his friends after all and he hasn’t shown an ounce of jealousy at that.
I push my ridiculous thoughts to the back of my mind as we finish up our food. Chase pays when the bill comes out and he leaves Blake a hefty tip. The car ride is filled with chatter about nothing important and I notice that conversation with Chase just seems to be easy. He doesn’t broach any deep topics but he also keeps the conversation on things that aren’t exactly useless.
When he walks me to my door, I find that I’m happy that I told him yes, no matter how confusing this whole thing feels.
“Thanks,” I say, looking up at him as I tuck my hair behind my ear.
He smiles. “It’s no problem. I enjoyed your company.” He pauses as he looks down at me. He mutters something under his breath, too low for me to catch, before I’m in shock as his lips press against mine.
Its unexpected but fuck, it’s not unwelcome as I return the kiss, moving my lips against his soft ones. And shit, kissing Chase is completely different from kissing Nathan or even Emmet. He absolutely dominates my mouth as he pushes me up against my door. I drop my purse as my hands move up to cup the back of his neck and his hands wrap around my waist. Tingles shoot through my body and heat fills my core as he pulls me closer to him. His hips press forward into mine and I feel the hardness of him pressing against me, insistently.
His lips pull away and I’m left slightly light headed, leaning against the door for balance as he grins down at me. He steps back and shoves his hands in his pockets. “Let’s do this again sometime, yeah?” And with that he leaves me on my porch, hot and wanting more.