Lover of Mine ~Chase Elliott

crowded room | 12

J A D E      W R I G H T

"Bring it home baby!" I cheered as the field came out of turns three and four.

"CHASE ELLIOTT WILL WIN HIS FIRST EVER DAYTONA 500!" The announcer yelled as the field came to the finish line three-wide. Natalie and I exploded into cheers in my living room as Chase crossed the finish line, winning his first-ever Daytona 500. Chase does his victory burnout in front of the grandstands as the fans cheered him on. Proudness and happiness washed over every ounce of my body, seeing Chase climb out with the biggest smile on his face.

"Chase Elliott, wins his first Daytona 500, crossing off the last crown-jewel race he had yet to win. You formed a third line and blasted your way towards the front, how in the world did that work?"

"Yeah, it's pretty awesome how that all worked out for us in the end there. Had some pretty strong cars join me, and we just had all the momentum. I just have to thank my guys are putting together a great car. Our super-speedway program has really improved throughout the years."

"You've now won all the crown jewel races, earlier this week you said you thought you'd never win this race."

"I've either had terrible luck here or finished second, it's always been one way or the other. But it feels great to finally cross this race off my list. Thanks to HMS, my sponsors, my fans, friends, and my family back home in NC. Can't to celebrate this one."

| l a t e r |

It was around midnight when Natalie and I arrived at the airport, awaiting Chase's private jet to land safely back in NC.

"Good thing school has tomorrow off, we're going to be partying hard tonight." Natalie comments. "Do you think Chase has any hot, single friends coming to his celebration?"

"Of course you're worried about that. I don't know, I guess we'll find out together. I haven't met any of Chase's friends yet." I replied, folding my arms around me as a cool breeze hit my skin. "I think that's them." I pointed as a plane landed lower onto the runway. A few moments past until finally the stairs from the plane ascended down.

"YOUR BOY IS A WINNER!" Ryan shouts, pumping his fist in the air. Natalie and I laughed as other people started to board out of the jet. The last person out was my guy, who I could recognize him from miles away. "JADE COME GET YOUR MAN!"

I push myself off the side of my car and ran towards Chase, who's arms were wide open. I jumped into his strong embrace and just held him as his hand traced up and down my back.

"I'm so proud of you!" I said, hugging him tightly.

"Thank you darling, hope you're ready to celebrate."

"Always." I smiled.

| c h a s e ' s     h o u s e |

"Let's get this party started!" Ryan yelled passing out beers to everyone. "To the man of the hour, Chase fucking Elliott! Daytona 500 Champ!" Ryan raised his glass as Chase wrapped his arm around my waist. Everyone raised their bottle and toasted to Chase.

"Come on, I want you to meet some people." Chase whispered, guiding me out of the room. "Hey fellas, ladies, I would like you to meet Jade. Jade these are my teammates Alex and William."

"Hey guys, so nice to finally meet ya'll."

"Oh trust us, the pleasure is ours. Clyde here can't stop talking about you." Alex said swinging his arm around Chase's shoulder.

"Stop being a creep Alex." William rolled his eyes. "It's nice to finally meet you Jade, this is my wife Erin."

"We already know each other honey." Erin laughed pulling me into a hug. "How have you been?"

"It's been too long Erin. I've been great, how are you?"

"Great, we must catch up! I'll introduce you to the other ladies." Erin said, hooking our arms together. "I'm gonna steal her for awhile if that's alright Chase?"

"By all means, but don't keep her too long." Chase smiles, placing a sweet kiss on my forehead before Erin dragged me off.

"Hey ladies, this is Jade. Jade this is Kayleigh, Ryan's wife, and Alex's wife Allegra."

The night went on and my worries grew littler. The anxiety I built up with meeting new people, disappeared. I found myself socializing with everyone, it felt like I was a completely different person, I couldn't tell if I'd just changed or the alcohol was doing it's job.

The celebration was still alive and well. Alex and William surprised Chase will a celebration which Alex eventually smashed into Chase's face, leaving him covered in icing.

"Come here you." Chase laughed pulling me into a messy kiss, smothering icing all over my face.

"You jerk." I laughed.

After cleaning up, people dispersed around the house to socialize in groups. Chase and I stayed in the kitchen chatting with Ryan and Kayleigh, up until something, someone caught my eye.

"Chase." I whispered, he didn't hear me over the background noise. "Chase." I nudged his side.

"What's up darling?"

"Lauren is here." I whispered, indirectly motioning towards the front door. Chase's eyes searched the room and fell right onto Lauren, who was just standing there. Ryan and Kayleigh caught on quickly to Chase's demeanor changing, and other guests getting quieter as they noticed Lauren. She knew how to suck the life out of the room so quickly and replaced it with fear, anger, and uncomfortableness.

"You stay here okay?"

"Chase-"

"Jade, I'll be okay, just stay here." Chase said, giving me one last sympathetic look before ushering Lauren outside.

"You've met Lauren?" Kayleigh asked standing beside me.

"Unfortunately yes, it wasn't the most pleasant introduction." I sighed as Ryan kept the guests entertained, breaking the uneasy atmosphere. "I don't trust her."

C H A S E      E L L I O T T

"What the hell are you doing showing up at my house uninvited?" I angrily questioned, dragged Lauren out to the driveway. "You have no right being here!"

"Had to stop by and say congrats on the big win."

"Like you would care. Why are you really here?"

"To serve you these," Lauren said handing over papers. "Hope you have a damn good court case, because you'll need one. As of today, this is a real custody case." Lauren spat out.

"How can you do this?" I asked. "A couple of weeks ago, you stood here telling me you didn't care about Mackenzie. You told me that I could have her. Why are you doing this? Mackenzie doesn't need to be in the middle of this, she's too young. She's still a child, Lauren-"

"Well, she better grow up quickly. The first court hearing is next Tuesday."

"Are you serious?"

"Dead serious Chase." She yelled walking towards her car. "And Chase? Don't think I don't know what's happening between you and Jade. I'm not blind."

With that, she hopped in her car and drove off. I hopelessly sat down, leaning against the garage door, scamming through the papers, trying to process everything. All of a sudden I felt tired. Like every ounce of strength, I had left in me was drained.

A hand came into my sight, my body begging me to take it. I take ahold of it without looking up, I already knew who it was, her presence was calming.

"Let's get you inside."

Everything was a blur after that. All I remember was Jade helping me back into the house. She left me alone in my bedroom for a moment before she returned closing the door behind her.

"W-What about-t-"

"Ryan's making everyone leave, don't worry about it." She says. "Breathe Chase, breathe." She instructs seeing me close to a breaking point. She wraps her arms around me, holding me closer and tighter than ever before. "I'm here."