As we walked up to Chase’s truck, he reached past me and opened the passenger-side door. Then his hands landed on my waist, and my entire body thrummed in response to the contact, warmth flooding my veins. He moved in closer, his mouth finding mine, and I closed my eyes as my lips parted against his. The kiss was soft and brief but loaded with promises about later.

We pulled apart, and I looked up at him, raising my eyebrows teasingly.

“Did you give yourself a promotion back there?”

He froze on the spot and opened his mouth, but shut it again quickly, his brow furrowed. It may have been a first for Chase. Immediately, I felt bad. I had thought he would banter back.

“I didn’t—”

“I’m messing with you, Carter,” I said softly. “I like it. I mean…if you like it.”

He grinned, squeezing my waist. “I definitely like it.”

A rush ran through me, excitement mingled with desire. We stood in silence for a moment, both smiling.

“Movie night?” I asked.

“Sounds perfect.”

We both knew we wouldn’t be watching a movie. At least, not first.

31. all yours

CHAPTER 31

ALL YOURS

Chase

The bad news was we’d lost to Callingwood.

The good news was James hadn’t run for the hills after my not-so-smooth slip of the tongue in front of everyone. And the best news of all was we’d slapped a label on things, and I could actually, officially, call her my girlfriend.

Oh, she was stuck with me now.

I eased my truck out of the space and navigated through Northview’s parking lot, then turned onto the main road. Home was only a ten-minute drive away, but right now, that seemed like a lifetime. My mind was firmly locked in one-track mode.

All I wanted to do was get James into my bed, get her naked, and have a little repeat of the other night. Or a big repeat, as the case may be. Maybe multiple repeats? Hmm…

“What did Luke say to you earlier?” Bailey asked, snapping me out of my happy, horny daze.

“Nothing important.” My grip on the steering wheel tightened a notch. “Just shooting off his mouth when he shouldn’t be.”

Brutal honesty was my default setting, intentionally or not. But in this case, she already knew Morrison was an asshole. I had nothing to gain by upsetting her with those details.

“You sure laid him out,” she said.

Satisfaction washed over me like a warm, fuzzy hug. I really did. According to my insider sources, I fucked up Morrison’s knee nicely. Pity it wasn’t his smug face, but a knee injury would keep him out longer, so I would call it a win.

I shrugged, stealing a glance at Bailey. “It was a clean hit.”