Page 85 of The Chase

I took off her coat and hung it up in the hall closet. She slipped off her shoes and left them at the door. She parked herself at the barstool while Benny handed her a plate.

“You want wine, baby?” I asked.

“Please.”

I pulled out the bottle of wine I had been saving for her and poured us glasses.

“Goddamnit,” Benny swore as he ate his tacos on the other side of Max and stared at his phone.

“What’s wrong?” Max asked.

Benny rubbed a hand down his face. “Rox was gonna come over, but now she wants me to go over there. I’m getting tired of this shit.”

I handed Max her glass of wine and came around to sit beside her. We shared a concerned look. “Dude, just ask her,” I said.

“I want to wait for her lease to be up.”

“What are we talking about?” Max interjected.

“Benny wants to ask Rox to move in,” I explained.

“Here?” she asked and raised an eyebrow.

Benny shook his head. “No. I want to get a place of our own. I hate being apart all the time. It sucks. I want to cuddle with her every night when I’m not on the road, but half the time, we’re trying to figure out whose place we’re gonna be at.”

“Whipped,” I whispered under my breath.

Max slapped my thigh teasingly. “You should talk to her about that,” she said to Benny.

He shrugged and ate his tacos at record speed. “I’m out. Don’t get up to anything too bad while I’m gone.”

I grinned at him. “She likes to keep me in line.”

Benny left in a hurry, and I pondered his predicament. I understood what he was getting at. I hated that I didn’t get to wake up with Max every morning. Maybe if I had her beside me every day, I wouldn’t be afraid of her slipping out of my fingers.

She must have sensed what I was thinking. “TJ, I’m not moving in here.”

“Why not?”

She set her taco down and took a sip of her wine. “We’re not there yet.”

I brought her hand up to my lips and kissed it. “But I love waking up beside you.”

Her face softened. “I love that too, but it’s too soon. You need to learn to live by yourself.”

I felt like she had been talking to my sister. Rox was the only person who called me on not liking being by myself.

“I like when you’re with me.”

A smile played across her lips. “I like being with you, but we just started dating. It’s way too soon to move in together.”

“I don’t like being alone with my thoughts,” I admitted.

Her face softened. “Oh, T. Is that because of Natalie?”

I nodded. “I hate the doubt that creeps in when I’m by myself.”

She cupped my face. “You’re enough, okay? Don’t let that stuff that goes on with me make you feel like you’re not. I love you, okay?”