Eye of the Hurricane

Chapter 12 - Chase

She's beautiful. I never thought I would say that about a girl that has the imprint of a snorkel mask around her face, but she takes my breath away. Maybe it's from the way she is so captivated by everything she sees. I've hardly even looked to see what's under me. All I can do is look at her.

Slowly it's getting harder to say no to her when she is like the opposite end of the magnet and keeps pulling me closer and closer.

We've spent enough time in the spring that I'm all pruned up. I will admit this was the best idea. I was mad at Paul when he first mentioned it. I was mad that she wanted to get out. I needed her to stay as close as she could to me to make sure nothing would happen to her. I was mad that he wanted to take her and experience this with her if I turned her down.  That was never going to happen. I would make sure of that. Sometimes I think he knows me better than I know myself. He even recognized that she needed to get out of her head today and enjoy this to help her forgot about her crappy morning. Finally, I was mad when I realized that she's never done anything like this in her life. 

There's no way that she has. It actually seems like this is Christmas morning for a five year old right now. I don't think she's realized that she's barely even broken the surface this whole time. When she does, she has the biggest smile on her face and she's laughing and pointing at things for me to look at. How can I not be completely consumed by this girl. 

She finally decides that she has had enough and we head back towards our towels and dry off. Once we do, I put my hand on the small of her back and lead her back the to the bathhouse so we can change back into our clothes. Hopefully I can be quick because I need to grab something out of the gift shop before she gets back. 

Thankfully, I was able to do just that and when I walk out of the gift shop, I notice her over by a different spot in the spring with a walk out deck to the water. She's taking a picture with the creamsicle sunset in the background. 

She didn't notice today but I took a few pictures of my own. They were all of her and maybe just one manatee because I knew she loved them so much. 

I sneak up behind her and whisper in her ear. "Beautiful, isn't it?" I didn't mean the sky and spring though.

"It is, Chase. It's perfect. Thanks for bringing me out here today."

I love that she's smiling. I haven't seen a lot of those the past few days. 

"Let's get out of here and grab a bite to eat, yeah?"

"Yeah." 

We stop and grab some takeout and then head towards my apartment. I'm not letting her go back to hers tonight. The cops helped fix her door but I don't trust that anymore.

I look over to tell her that I want her to stay with me and notice that she's asleep. She's cuddled up to the side of the car. She had been looking out the window. I smile down at her and rest my hand on her thigh, that possessive wave comes over me again. 

Once we make it home, I decide what I should do. I don't want to wake her up but it's going to be pretty difficult to get her out the car without waking her. I decide to try it anyway. It's a balancing act as I try to not spill our food.

I go to move her and a little sigh leaves her mouth as she starts moving around.

Damn it. I didn't want to wake her up. She starts to stretch and I know she's not going to go back to sleep.

"Baby girl, we're at my place. Let's get you inside." She's rubbing her eyes as she sits up and tries to take in her surroundings. She doesn't argue and she goes to get up. I help her the best I can and she leans against me and doesn't pull back. I smile down at her and notice her eyes are closed again. I lean in and kiss the top of her head as we walk inside.