The Secret (4 page)

“
Of course,” Jack says immediately, surprising me a little. “Let her sleep.”

“Thanks,” Chase offers. He seems to be about to speak again when we hear Sophie moving on the couch, distracting us.

When she lets out his name in a small whimper, he walks away immediately and crouches down to her side and brushing the hair away from her face.

“I’m right here, Sweetheart,”
he reassures her.

“Please stay,”
she says, her small voice sounding broken.

“Okay, Baby,”
he whispers before stretching out on the couch beside her, pulling her onto his chest. When she starts sniffling into his chest again, we hear him begin humming into her hair.

Jack slowly brings his hands up, rubbing his face
and causing my heart to ache for him. Reaching over, I squeeze his arm and scoot over closer to him. After a few minutes of sitting in near silence, I hear him clear his throat before abruptly standing up.

“I’m
gonna try and get some sleep,” he says suddenly. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“You okay?” I ask as I stand to hug him.

“Yep, I’m good,” he lies, avoiding my eyes. “I love you,” he says quickly, kissing me on the cheek and walking through the living room towards JT’s room where he’ll be sleeping.

After shutting lights off and locking up, I’m eager to head to bed myself.
Not only have I had an insanely emotional day, I’ve barely spent any of it with Drake.

I’m thanking God for the hundredth time at least today for bringing me the miracle I’ve been praying for nearly two
years as I walk past Jack’s room.

When I hear a muffled sob through the door, my heart shatters
.

Chase

The harsh light coming in through the living room window behind us wakes me. Rubbing my eyes, I glance down to where Sophie is still lying across my chest, clenching the fabric of my shirt into her small fists. I can tell by her breathing that she’s awake, although she remains silent. Running my hand over the small of her back affectionately, her eyelashes flutter slightly, but she doesn’t move or speak.

“Good
morning, Baby,” I whisper as I bend slightly to kiss her hair.

“
Morning,” she says almost silently, her raspy voice sounding even more empty and drained than it had last night.

Her body is trembling
slightly against mine. I glance down to see that the jacket I’d covered her with had slipped off of her shoulders while we slept, leaving her arms exposed.

“You cold?”
I ask her, moving my hand down to reach for my heavy jacket and pull it back over her.

“I don’t know,” she says softly with a slight shrug.
             

Keeping my hands under the jacket, I begin rubbing
life back into her arms, trying to help her snap out of the trance she’s in.

“
Babe?” I whisper, worry filling my mind when I get no response. “Sophie, look at me, Sweetheart.”

Slowly, she raises her head and brings her eyes to mine.
Her eyes are red and swollen from crying. The desperation there makes my heart ache.

“Are you alright,
Baby?”

“I don’t know,” she
whispers, her lip quivering and eyes filling with tears.

“It’s okay, Baby,” I say softly, cradling her in my arms and kissing her on the forehead. “Don’t cry.”

“Am I crying?” she says in the same lifeless tone, touching her fingertips to her cheek before examining the tears left behind on her hand.

After wiping
her tears away, I tuck her into the crook of my neck, loving the smell of her. I softly begin singing the opening lyrics of ‘Come Back Baby’ by Ray Charles into her hair. Wrapping her arms around my waist as best she can, Sophie nuzzles into my chest, causing me to let out a sigh.

I’ll admit I’ve been freaking the hell out over how Jack’s return would affect her, affect
us
. I’m still not sure what’s going to happen, but it’s hard to think of anything else when she’s lying in my arms.

“We have to go to the hotel,” I say softly
after a few moments. “We need to get our things, check out.”

“Okay,” she answers so low, I barely hear her.

“You need to eat breakfast. You didn’t eat anything yesterday.”

“I’m not
hungry.”

“Well, humor me then,” I say, gripping her thighs and raising up to stand. “Hang on to me, Baby.”
  

Walking into the kitchen, I set her onto the counter. I open the fridge, finding the orange juice and pouring her a glass.

“I don’t want this,” she says, her voice still low as she wrinkles her nose up at me after taking a sip. “It tastes like ass.”

“I’ll
drink it,” I say with a small smile as I take it from her. “You still need to get something in your stomach, Babe. We’ll stop somewhere on the way back.”

“Are we leaving today?” she asks nervously, causing my heart to drop.

“Well,” I start, releasing a breath as I stand in front of her, watching her features. “I was planning on it. I think Drake and Ana are leaving soon, too.” When she lets out a sigh of her own, I reach up, pushing the stray strands away from her face. “Do you want to stay little longer?”

“I don’t know,” she says, letting out a long sigh before
covering her face with her hands. “This is so overwhelming, Chase.”

“I know, Baby,” I say, cuppi
ng her cheek and moving closer to let her rest her face on my chest. “I can’t imagine what’s going through your head right now.”

“
I don’t even know what’s going on in my head right now,” she admits, pulling away slightly to face me. After holding my eyes for a minute, she lets out a sigh, pats my side and slides off the counter, grabbing the coffee I’d poured for her. “I’m gonna get ready to go. I need a shower and a change of clothes.”

“Okay,” I
nod, kissing her on the cheek and watching her leave the kitchen.

I’m still standing in the same place
, leaned against the counter and staring down at my coffee cup when I hear him enter.

“Hey,”
Jack says in a low voice after giving me the once over.

“
Mornin’,” I answer, moving so he can get to the coffee pot. I’m about to walk into the other room to give him some privacy when he speaks.

“
Is she okay?”

“She will
be,” I answer quietly, hoping it’s not a lie. 

“Hope so,” he starts, setting the pot back in its place before turning to face me.
He seems to be about to speak again when the topic of our discussion slowly rounds the corner.

Seeing us both standing in the kitchen, she comes to a complete stop. Her eyes are slowly moving between us, likely trying to decide if we’re being civil.

“Hey,” Jack says, smiling for the first time since he walked in.

“Hi,” she whispers, staring at him.

“How did you sleep?”

“I don’t know,” she says with a shrug. “You?”

“Same,” he answers. He glances down at the jacket she’s clenching in her hand and looks up at her
, clearing his throat. “Y’all leaving?”

“We have to go to the hotel to get our things,” she says, handing him her empty cup when he reaches for it.

“You coming back?” he says low, turning away from us to refill her cup.

“Yeah,” she says, fidgeting with the hem of the sweater she’s still wearing from yesterday.
“Probably in an hour or two?”

“Okay,” he nods as he faces her again, handing her the cup. “I’ll wait here for you.”

“Thanks,” she says in a small voice. “I’ll see you later then, I guess?”

“Yeah,” he smiles.

I lead her from the kitchen, hating the way she hesitates. I take her coffee from her so she can pull her jacket on. Glancing back over at him for a moment, I can feel the war of emotions rolling off of her. She takes a slow step toward me before back tracking and making her way back over to him in a few quick movements, wrapping her arms around him. He gently pulls her close, returning her embrace and settling his cheek against her hair.

“I know everything’s
a mess,” she admits with a sniff. “Thank you for coming back, Jack.”

“I told you,
Soph,” he says softly. “I’ll always come back to you.”

A small sob rocks through her frame, filling my chest with an ache like I’ve never experienced. Pulling away, she wipes her already swollen eyes and leans up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

“I love you,” she says quickly.

“I love you, too.”

Giving him a small nod, she turns to face me. After taking the coffee from me, she places her shaky hand in mine and gives it a gentle squeeze.

As we make our way
to the door, she lets out an exhausted sigh and pulls the door open.

“Shit
,” she says low when the cold air hits her, backing up to get closer to me and dulling the pain I’d been feeling only seconds ago.

“I know
,” I let out a weak chuckle, rubbing her arms affectionately. “Fuckin’ brr, Babe.”

As we make our way down the steps to my truck, Sophie cusses under her breath when the hee
l of her boot sinks into the soft ground.

“Come here
, Gorgeous,” I say, lifting her into my arms and carrying her to her side of the truck.

When I climb into my side
, I quickly turn the heat on for her, loving the way she instinctively scoots closer.

“Thanks,” she whisper
s.

“For what?”

“Saving my boots,” she says, squeezing my arm before resting her head against my shoulder. “Saving me.”

Resting my hand on her thigh, I give her a gentle squeeze
and kiss her hair as I back out of the driveway.

“You’re welcome, Baby.”

Turning the mp3 player on, Sophie slowly scrolls for a moment before she finds what she’s looking for. As Birdy’s version of ‘Skinny Love’ fills the speakers, she lets out another sigh, her low voice shaky when she begins to sing the words to me. Just like always, she squeezes my hand or kisses my arm when a particularly personal lyric escapes her lips.

“Love you,” she whispers as the song comes to an end.

“God Sophie,” I say, squeezing her thigh tighter. “I love you so much, Baby.”        

“I know,” she admits as she plants a kiss on my bicep, resting her head against me
and letting out another tired sigh. “I know you do.”

As we pull into the parking lot of the hotel, I take her hand and lead her to the room.
Both of us feeling disgusting from having spent so long in the same clothes, I immediately run the water in the shower. She’s pulling her clothes off slowly, looking so tired and emotionally wrecked it breaks my heart.

Normally, I’d pull her into the shower and help her, but for the first time in a long time, I’m not sure if that’s what she wants. This realization causes an overwhelming sadness to sweep through me.

“
Do you want me to give you some space, Baby?” I ask her quietly as I move to stand in front of her, terrified for the first time of hearing her say the word yes.

Luckily, my fear is for nothing as she slowly shakes her head.

“No,” she whispers in a shaky voice. “Please stay with me.”

“Always Baby,” I promise, stroking her hair away from her face and kissing her on the temple.

I pull the curtain back for her to step inside, watching as she wraps her arms around herself and looks over at me.

“You
comin’ in?” she asks nervously with a shudder.

“Yeah,” I answer as I begin pulling my clothes off.

Climbing in behind her, I take the shampoo from her and begin lathering it in my hands, watching as she works suds into her own hair. When she turns to rinse her hair clean, she holds my eyes. Even with the hot water splashing over her, she’s shivering and her frame looks so fragile. Moving her hands away from her midsection only causes her to shake harder.

“Come here Baby,” I whisper, moving closer to her. “Let me help you.”

Gently I begin rinsing the shampoo away before working conditioner into her golden strands. She watches me as I squeeze body wash into my palm, warming it slightly in my hands before placing my hands on her waist and turning her. She pulls her hair up into her hand, giving me access to her shoulders. As I slowly begin to massage the tense muscles in her neck, she visibly begins to relax. Working my way down, I wash her arms and back before crouching down to lather her legs.

Touching my hands to her waist, I stand and turn her to face me. Starting at her shoulders, I slowly work my way over her skin again, holding her eyes. As my palms sweep across her breasts, a tear escapes her perfect green eyes and I lean over,
gently kissing it away.

“
Shh, Baby,” I whisper, making my way to her stomach, careful not to tug on her piercing.

As I run my palm over her sex, it takes all my will power not
to slip my fingers inside her. As badly as I want to make her feel better, feel anything other than this soul crushing sadness sweeping over her heart, now isn’t the time for that.

Crouching down once more, I finish washing her inner thighs, placing a kiss on her navel before standing and pulling her to my chest, r
esting my hands on her lower back.

“Chase?” she whispers, looking up at me after a moment.
  

“What, Baby?” I ask softly
, looking back down at her emerald globes and brushing my thumb over her lower lip.

“I’m sorry I’m so fucked up
right now.”

“Hush, Baby,” I whisper
, tilting her head to face me. “There’s
nothing
I won’t do for you, Sophie,” I promise, giving her a soft kiss on the lips. “Just tell me what you need and I’ll do it, Sweetheart.”

Winding her arms around my waist, she pulls me as close as she can and rests her forehead into my chest.

“Just don’t let me go, Chase,” she says in a low, wavering voice. “Please don’t ever let me go.”

“I won’t, Baby,” I say, hugging her just as tightly as I kiss her hair again.
“Never.”