Sunkissed (Dreamboat Sequel) | Chase Stokes Love Story

Chapter 23

I knocked on the door, waiting patiently for someone to answer. After the events of last night, I went around making my peace with everyone. The response was positive and all my friends had said that there was no need for an apology but I still felt terrible.

"I know you're gonna beat yourself down for this but none of us could have seen this coming. Unfortunately, this is just something that comes with doing what we do. I just wish others could see our side of it," Maddie had told me earlier.

No one answered the door after I knocked yet again. I sighed, before leaving to go to the gym and blow off some steam. I opened the door and heard the sound of weights hitting the floor. I was startled for a second before realizing it was the one person I was looking for.

"Hey," I said softly.

"Before you say anything else, I need you to know that I am not mad at you," Drew said taking off his weightlifting belt.

"How could you not be mad at me?" I asked approaching him, "I fucked up. Royally."

"Because I know you and I know you'll be putting yourself down for this when it isn't your fault. How were you to know?" He asked sitting down on the bench beside him.

"It is my fault, I'm so gullible and will take any chance to make a new friend without a second thought. It's not like last year when I was a nobody so no one was trying to be my friend," I started rambling, "It's all different now, anyone will try anything to be in our group and I didn't think of that until it was too late."

"Ro, you gotta stop," Drew said reaching for my wrist. I shut my mouth and sighed angrily, not at Drew but at the situation.

"I'm just angry, that's all," I shrugged, "You're one of the last people I'd ever want to hurt."

"Well you didn't, she did. And what's done is done, I won't blame you or Chase or anyone else but her for it," he told me.

"How can you be so calm about this?" I asked as he let go of my wrist, "All I wanna do is hit or break something."

"Well there's a punching bag over there," he nodded towards the corner, "Want me to show you?"

I nodded eagerly, "Yes please."

Drew grabbed some rolls of tape and led me over to the punching bag. He had me hold out my hands to wrap them in two different kinds of tape before showing me the correct way to punch without breaking my fingers. He then stood behind the punching bag to hold it while I let it loose, letting out angry grunts as I did. Drew would tell me which hand to punch and then we added in kicks too. After about 20 minutes we stopped to break and I grabbed some water, "That was exhilarating," I breathed, tired from the workout.

"The best way to get the anger out," he nodded, "Well I gotta go make dinner but I'll see you around? Don't beat yourself or the punching bag up too much."

I nodded reaching to him for a sweaty hug, "I'm still sorry but if you wanna talk it out or need someone to hold the punching bag, let me know."

"Will do, Ro," he laughed patting my back before heading out.

I still had a bit left in me and decided to continue with the punching bag. I grabbed my earphones and got back to work, using the technique that Drew showed me. After a while sweat was pouring down my face. I didn't want to stop though, it helped clear my head a bit. As I continued all I could hear was the beat of the music in my ears matching the beat I was hitting the bag. My thoughts were clear and I could put all my focus on one thing and not have to think about what was going on around me. My strength was coming to an end though as exhaustion took over and my punches slowed down. With all that I had left I forced my fist forward and into the bag with a yell, this time catching it as it swung back toward me.

I turned to grab my water bottle and found a figure in the doorway. I jumped in surprise and took my earphones out.

"That was hot as fuck," Chase grinned uncrossing his arms.

"How long have you been there?" I asked gasping for breath, not only from the workout but out of being startled as well.

"Long enough," he stuck his hands in his pockets, "I hope you weren't imagining my face on that bag.

"Never," I shook my head, grabbing my water bottle, and took a long drink. "I found Drew down here, we talked it out and then he showed me this," I continued.

"Sounded like you had a lot of pent-up anger," he smiled as I took a seat on the bench and sighed. "Here," Chase said reaching his hands out to mine. I put one out as my hands were now shaking from all that I put them through. He turned it over to look at my knuckles that were beat red but luckily I didn't have too many cuts. "A lot of anger."

"A bit, but it's actually a pretty good tactic to clear your mind," I shrugged as he started unwrapping the tape. Once he finished one I grabbed my water bottle again and then waited for him to finish. Chase didn't let go of my hand once completed but tilted it up to interlock our fingers.

"You alright?" I asked tilting my head to catch his eye and he nodded.

"I'm just glad you're not angry with me, this whole situation could have gone a whole different direction and I don't want to lose you," he responded.

"You'll never lose me," I squeezed his hand. He smiled and leaned forward connecting our lips before I gave him a hug. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Alright, I gotta go shower," I sighed standing up.

"Yeah, hugging you right there felt like squeezing a wet sponge," Chase shot back with a shocked look, grinning at what he had just said.

I shoved his shoulder, "You're so mean!"

"Come on, I'll wash your back," he took my hand leading me towards the door.

"Yeah, I at a minimum deserve that."