Remember This (Virgin River)

Stay With Me

"That was good," I told him, carefully setting my fork on my plate so it wouldn't make a rather loud clinking sound when metal connected with ceramic. "I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to roll myself out of here."

"I take it you never eat that much?" He eyed my empty dish, a fair amount of amusement playing at his lips. I loved his humor, although it made me wonder what he was hiding behind that smile. Heaven knows I had a lot behind my own.

"Almost never."

"Almost. Well, this may sound a bit premature, considering we don't really know a lot about each other. I was wondering if you would like to come back to my place, you know after we're able to roll ourselves out of here."

"I don't know." I half teased, half considered taking him up on the offer. "I was kind of hoping to sleep in my own bed tonight, considering I haven't really spent a lot of time in it."

"Humor me one more time?" He made it sound like this would be the last time we would be spending together, which seemed rather odd for him to say, but maybe he was fearful of losing the thing closest to him. We all had something we were afraid of. "If we're being honest, I don't know what to call what is happening between us, but I really like it. You're giving me hope that I won't be alone for the rest of my life."

"What makes you think you'll always be alone?"

"You probably already know this, I've done some things I'm not proud of." He swirled the ice around in the remaining half glass of water."It doesn't help that I'm not the most popular guy in town." I didn't know what to say to that. I wanted to ask him more questions, however, I had a feeling he would stonewall me if I asked. "How long do you think you'll be staying at Jack's?"

"I still have some things to work out first, then I'll work on finding a place to live."

"Are you worried at all that Jack will find out about us?"

"I think Jack has a lot on his plate already. I know he's trying to be there for me. He's also really distracted, to the point that it's hard to know how to connect with him."

"From what I've heard, siblings can be both a blessing and a curse."

"This is true."

"Hey, have you thought more about joining me for the night?" He asked hopefully as he rubbed his fingers over mine. "Or am I taking you home?"

"I think I can do with one more night. I need a little more time before I face Jack again. I'm not sure when the games ended, but I should probably think about picking up my car. I have a few things I need to do tomorrow."

"You sure? I have the day off." We scooted out of the booth, thanking our server as we passed by. "I can take you back up later. I'm closer to the games than we are here right now."

"I really don't want to leave it up there."

"Okay. We'll go grab it and then I guess head back to my place." I nodded as we headed to the parking lot. There wasn't a lot of talking between us after that as we made our way back up toward the mountain. As we leaned into those winding roads, I found myself holding onto him a little tighter until we reached the parking lot again. It was still full of cars, the echoes of laughter signaling Jack and Jill was

"I'll follow behind you," I told him, handing back the helmet and reaching into my pocket for my keys. Once I had located them I got into my own car and took in a few deep breaths before starting up the engine. He backed up slowly, then signaled to turn left.

The further we got away from the event, the better I felt. I was happy enough that I didn't have to talk to anyone else and I could enjoy the rest of my night with Brady. That was at least one reason I had told him yes. I didn't have to wait long. We were back at his place in about a half hour and I was seriously considering all the things we would do to pass the time.

"Besides a nap, is there anything you feel like doing?" He asked stepping off his bike. He looked charmingly handsome with his helmet hair and I had to bite down on my lip to keep myself from laughing at him.

"Maybe watch a movie? I seriously don't ever eat this much, so I'm going to need a little more time to let my food settle."

"Then let's see what we got here." He unlocked his door quickly, keys jingling and hitting against the metal door knob. While he knelt down to check out the movie selection, I shrugged out of my jacket and scarf and draped them over the couch. "Looks like tonight's selection is Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Serendipity, or While You Were Sleeping."

"Mr. and Mrs. Smith." Slipping my shoes off, I placed them by the door and returned just as he was inserting the disc in the blu ray player. "I don't know how your day has been going, I could use a few laughs."

"This day definitely warrants a few laughs for both of us." He didn't elaborate on what he meant as he placed one hand over my shoulder. I was glad for the comfortable silence as it seemed like neither one of us wanted to talk much about our day, except being in the presence of one another as we watched the movie. We both laughed at first. By the end, I was doing my best not to fall asleep.

"What time is it?"

"Almost four."

"I am still stuffed. Not sure watching a movie was the best decision after eating so much food. I think I missed the last fifteen minutes of the movie."

"Yeah. Need a little nap?"

"Shut up." I slapped him on the arm, although I wasn't sure if it did anything considering he had muscles of steel these days. "You are not helping."