Truly His | (Book 2) 18+

ten

HAYDEN
**
***
*****

Okay, maybe the place I was taking Casey was a little bit far—farther than I told her, at least. I mean, I would be worth it in the long run because: 1) it's a beautiful sight to behold, and 2) I'm going to be able to talk to Casey about something serious. I want to be able to help her because I hate seeing the conflict in her life bring her down so much, so hopefully tonight will change that and she can open up to me a little bit.

I know it's asking for a lot from her but I want to try, at least. Casey deserved to know that someone was there for her and that someone cared—I was that someone and I would be damned if I let somebody else try to take that title from me.

"Where are we?" Casey asked me, glancing in my direction when I turned onto a dirt path. "Is this the date when you kill me and throw me in a ditch?"

I chuckled. "No, that's our next date."

"Ah, I see. My mistake."

After driving up the steep hill for a good five minutes, I stopped the truck and hopped out, watching Casey do the same with a slight stumble. I moved my hands to her hips to keep her steady, then kissed her temple and grabbed a bunch of blankets and two large fabric bags from my trunk, walking behind her up the rest of the hill.

"How often... do you come here?" She wheezed out, making me grin and entwine our hands together. I began to pull her up with my longer strides, hearing her groans of protest at how fast I was.

"Only when I need some time alone to think," I responded, stopping her and spreading the blankets out. "It's too light out right now but this is the best place to watch the sunset, I promise."

Casey smiled at me and I finally sat down, patting next to me. She sat next to me and watched as I pulled out more food, most of it being chips.

"This is quite the view," she murmured in awe, sitting up as she looked over the horizon. You could practically see the entire city and, to the right, was the beautiful whitewater beach. Though it was distant, you could still hear the waves crashing against the shore and the seagulls flying over the sand.

I hummed, feeling her rest her head on my shoulder as we allowed the silence to consume us.

"I've never been here before," she told me quietly, entwining our fingers.

"Not a lot of people know about it," I responded, looking down at her features to find her already smiling before she bit her lip. "But, considering I'm still trying to find ways to impress you with my amazing-ness, you're an exception."

I heard her quiet chuckle. "That's unnecessary, Hayden. I'm already impressed. You don't need a reason to be trying so hard anymore. I just don't understand why you haven't—"

Her sentence trailed off as she cut herself off and I pursed my lips, raising an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean? What don't you understand?"

Casey grunted but didn't respond, playing with her fingertips. I pulled away from her slightly to get a better look of her face, only to find that she was avoiding eye contact with me.

"I just don't get why you're still sticking around," she finally admitted, meeting my gaze. "I mean, you've met my family, Hayden—you've met me. How the hell can you possibly want to stick around with someone like this? I'm a... a walking disaster so are you honestly willing to get pulled into it? I'm a huge package and you'll realize how much harder it is being around me sooner or later."