Dreamboat | Chase Stokes Love Story

Chapter 23

I had no idea how long I had stayed awake last night. It was long enough for Maddie and Elaine to quietly come in thinking I was asleep. I agreed with the rest of them. Why did I have to overthink literally everything about this situation? Going to bed didn't help, I just sat there thinking about all the ways I could confess to Chase but I would start to stress and worry about if he'd reject me or just laugh in my face. I literally felt like a high school girl with a huge crush. I had gotten up earlier than everyone else and decided to go for a run which I hadn't done since I was in college and needed a break from the stress of school. I didn't go too far since there wasn't much around here and I didn't want to get kidnapped or murdered or something.

After I was satisfied and my head was clear, I headed back to the house. As I trudged up the long driveway I saw Chase and Rudy working out by the garage.

"Hey Ro," Rudy said as I passed them.

"Hi," I nodded, continuing on inside not wanting to stop and talk. When inside I found Austin making some coffee and I greeted him before heading upstairs. Maddie and Elaine were now awake sitting in bed on their phones. "Good morning," I told them.

"Hey, did you just go run?" Maddie asked.

I nodded, "I was thinking of eating some breakfast and maybe going to lounge by the pool. Did you guys wanna come?"

"I'm always down for some lounging," Elaine agreed.

I grabbed my swimsuit from my bag along with a pair of shorts and went into the bathroom to get changed. Once we were all ready we went to the kitchen and I grabbed some yogurt and granola pouring it into a bowl.

"We're going to sit by the pool," Maddie told Austin who was sitting in the living room watching some baseball game.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Austin nodded before running upstairs. We opened the sliding door to the back deck and went down the stairs where there was a hot tub below the deck and then the in ground pool with a diving board in the middle of the yard. I took a seat at the table and opened the umbrella to relax. Elaine and Maddie both laid their towels out on the lounge chairs to lay in the sun. Austin came and joined us while eating an apple. He set up his speaker and played some country music softly in the background.

"It's crazy how different the weather is here versus back in Charleston," he said.

"Hopefully there isn't any bad damage from the hurricane," I noted.

"Yeah definitely," he agreed.

It was so nice just to sit outside and just listen to the birds along with the slight breeze and just relax. Chase was right this was going to be a nice vacation away from work. I mean I wouldn't be stressed by work but now I'd be stressed by my own emotions.

"Alright, who's gonna be the first to go off the diving board?" Austin asked us.

"Be our guest," Elaine told him.

"I wouldn't mind cooling off after that run," I nodded, "You go first though."

Austin got up walking over to the board as I took off my shorts.

"Do a flip!" Maddie called.

I walked over as Austin tested the board to see how much it sprung. He stepped back before running down the board and launching himself off and flipping backwards. We all clapped and cheered as he came back up.

"I'd give it a seven," Elaine told us.

"Seven point four," Maddie added.

I stepped up on the boat holding the railing, "I can't do anything cool," I told them.