Hard to Desire - Chase Elliott

Chapter 3 - Taking Flight

I smile down at my phone while it rings. I accept the call and see Chase's face. I can't believe it's been 2 months since we met. He's done really well on the track recently. In the last few weeks he has finished at least top 10 every time. He's also called me a ton. Here, I thought he would forget about me.

"I should be at Pocono soon. I may stop by your place though. There has been a mess up on everything" he looks stressed.

"Oh no, what happened" I question.

He sighs, "The motorhome was supposed to be at the track and I was gonna go there but it won't be here until tomorrow so I have to find a place to stay. Any good hotels around that you know of?" He smiles.

"There is one not far from my house. Why don't you just stay at my house though? Alex is away for the night at his girlfriends house. Just stay there. It would be way easier and much cheaper. And moms breakfast is better than any hotel food you could find." I plead my case.

He thinks about it for a bit before saying "we'll see."

"Do you need someone to pick you up from the airport? I can do it considering you are coming here" I don't give him a choice on where he is staying.

"Yeah that would be great. I get to see you even sooner than!" He makes his eyes big and flirty. A slight smirk appears on my face. He's too cute. Nothing happened between us and I don't think it will but I can now say I'm friends with Chase Elliott which is cool. "I'm about to board the plane and it's about an hour and a half of air time"

"Well, Allentown is an hour away and I always get lost trying to get to the pick up spot so I will leave right now! See you soon" I do a little wiggle out of excitement.

I throw my phone on the bed after hanging up and get beyond excited. "Ahhhh! I get to see Chase in 2 hours!" I squeal. I hear laughing from my bed and see that I never actually hung up the FaceTime.

"You're too cute" Chase can't stop smiling. "I'm excited to see you too" he says before hanging up. I flop onto my bed in complete embarrassment and groan into my pillow. Why am I 178% more embarrassing when he is around?

I grab my car keys and go downstairs. I grab my purse by the door and put some shoes on. It is 95 degrees today and I feel bad for the drivers this weekend. They are going to be sweating in their cars. Luckily, Elliott is spending extra time here to adapt a bit.

He usually leaves to go to the track on Thursday but this week he wanted to catch up so he is coming on a Tuesday.

I see my mom in the kitchen, feeding the dogs and figure I should give her a heads up. "I'm going to pick Chase up from the airport but I kinda jumped the gun and offered Alex's room to him since his bus isn't at the track yet. Sorry I didn't run it by you sooner. It just kinda happened while we were on the phone."

She pulls me into a surprise hug. I didn't think this was a hugging moment but sure, why not?

"You really like Chase. I haven't seen you this happy with someone since Patrick."

"Mom stop. Nothing is happening between Chase and I. We are just friends. Do you allow him to stay in the house?" She nods her head in agreement. "See if something was happening between Chase and I, you wouldn't be ok with him staying in your house."

"You are so quick with your answers. You're right though" she laughs. "But you're 22 and can make your own decisions. I'm just happy you told me about it before he just shows up."

I run to my car and listen to Eric Church and drive to the airport. I was never that big into country music but Chase told me to listen to Church and I haven't stopped since. Chase is all country, all the time. I'm not a country girl at all. I'm still trying to figure out why he talks to me if we're being honest.

I pull up behind a parked car and see him sitting on his bags like a bench, along a wall. He finds me and starts throwing his arms up. He puts his bags in the back seat and gets in the front.

"Let's recap. My flight was an hour and a half in the air, I had to go to get bags, oh and let's not forget the 40 minutes you wait while everyone boards the plane until you lift off the ground. You had an hour long drive and you still kept me sitting outside. How does that happen?" He laughs. I punch his arm playfully. "It's good to see you again Els" he wraps his arms around me.

"You too William" I make a surprised face at him. I'm sure he didn't expect it. He hates being called William. Not many casual fans know but his full name is William Clyde Elliott. Friends call him Clyde but NOBODY calls him William.

"You're the only one that can call me that. No one calls me William" he makes a disgusted face as he says the name.

"I don't know why you hate that name. It's a nice old fashion name yet it even fits a little kid or an old man. Plus, you have a lot of nick name options" I debate.

I put the car in drive and pull away from the airport. "I didn't expect you to be a Buick person. Little miss luxury car."

"Hey! I love my Buick Encore. Besides I'm nervous right now. I never drove with a professional race car driver in the passenger seat.

I drive home and help Chase with his bags.

"Good to see you Chase" mom gives him a hug.

"Elliott" my dad does the awkward 'stating someone's name while shaking their hand' gesture. "You must really like my daughter to want to spend extra time around the Poconos." My mom hits him and he smiles. "I'm just saying, there's not much to do around here. He must really like Elsie" dad defends his original statement.

"Believe me sir, I sure do" Chase smirks at me as I look away, smiling over blushed cheeks. He likes me...