Chased Dreams

A dream is a wish your heart makes,

When you’re fast asleep.

In dreams you will lose your heartaches,

Whatever you wish for, you keep.

Have faith in your dreams and someday,

Your rainbow will come smiling through.

No matter how your heart is grieving,

If you keep on believing,

The dream that you wish will come true.

~Walt Disney’s Cinderella

CHASED DREAMS

Moonstruck Media - Arizona

Copyright © 2014 Moonstruck Media/Lacey
Weatherford/Chase Walden

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Published by

Moonstruck Media

Arizona

Smashwords Edition

Without limiting the rights under copyright
reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced,
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any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of
both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the
author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author
acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various
products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used
without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not
authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark
owners.

This book is available in print and ebook
format.

DEDICATION

For all our loving grandpas.

By

Lacey Weatherford and Chase Walden

Prologue

“You ready for this, Walker? This is the
rest of your life. Are you sure you’re up for it?”

I stared down at the gorgeous girl in my
arms, as I stepped over the sliding door threshold and into our
little beachside bungalow decorated in cream and white. “Oh, I am
so up for it.” I chuckled. “You have no idea.”

“I think I have some idea.” Her eyes
sparkled mischievously and she giggled as I let her slide down the
length of me onto her feet. I made sure to keep hold of her slinky
gown as I did so, enjoying that it bunched up in my hands the
further down she moved. “Are you taking my dress off already?” she
asked, a soft pink blush touching her cheeks.

“Yep, I sure am.”

She lifted her arms and I pulled it off over
her head, leaving her standing there in front of me in nothing but
her silky underwear. She stepped forward and slid her hand over my
white shirt. “You like what you see?”

I grinned. “Yeah, but I think you’re still
extremely over-dressed.”

She laughed, again, as she fiddled with
undoing the buttons of my shirt. I ran my hands over the soft bare
skin of her back until she exposed my chest and pushed the shirt
away, so I could easily shrug out of it.

Her eyes followed my hands when I reached
down and began undoing my belt buckle, followed by the button and
zipper. Leaving the pants on, hanging loosely from my hips, I
reached for her, but she evaded my grasp, stepping quickly backward
toward the giant bed.

I raised my eyebrow. “Just keep moving in
that direction. You’re gonna end up there, one way or another.” I
strode toward her and she bit her bottom lip. I wanted to lick her
right there and, well, . . . everywhere.

She grinned seductively and I felt my heart
do little flips inside me. I was crazy about her. “I thought maybe
you might want to wait until after dinner. You know, romance,
candlelight, and all that.”

“Heck no. I’m gonna take you right here,
right now, in this nice late afternoon sunlight. I’ve waited long
enough—watching you waltz around all morning and during the
reception in that dress clinging to every curve like a glove. I
thought I might die before I got it off you.” I moved nearer and
she backed up even closer to the bed. We kept up the game until
there was nowhere else for her to go. “Well, now. This is much
better,” I added as I sidled up against her.

I slid my hands around and grabbed her butt,
anchoring her body against mine. “Slide your arms around my neck,”
I ordered, and she did so without arguing. Reaching down, I grasped
her by the legs. She squealed when I picked her up and tossed her
on the bed, covering her with my full weight. “Mmmm,” I whispered
as I trailed my fingertips up her bare leg, loving the feel of her
skin beneath them. “I like this.” I continued my path up her body,
caressing over her hip, her tiny waist, and up to her chest.

My mouth descended to hers and she opened it
readily for me, our tongues twisting together, kissing hotly before
I moved across her cheek and down to her neck. I sucked there
briefly, feeling like I was holding a piece of heaven in my arms,
slowly drifting on to farther regions as we quickly divested each
other of the rest of our clothes. There wasn’t one place on her I
didn’t love exploring. Hearing her soft moans and feeling her
feathering strokes and touches in response to me only served to
ignite the fire between us even hotter.

I worshipped every part of her delicious
body and thrilled in the fact that she did the same to mine,
actively participating and enjoying every single thing the two of
us could dream up to do together, over and over again.

She was mine in every sense of the word and
I couldn’t wait to spend the rest of my life losing myself in her
this way—every single day.

Darkness fell with the two of us still
wrapped in each other’s arms, listening to the rhythmic sound of
the surf beating against the shore. I lazily ran a finger over her
bare shoulder, drifting up occasionally to string it through her
long blonde hair from where her head was tucked under my chin.
Thoughts of how far my path had deviated from when I’d been with
Nikki entered my mind, and I shoved them brusquely away. I didn’t
want that hurt surfacing here. I didn’t want that pain to mar my
relationship with Brittney.

“Are you happy, Chase?” she asked in a soft,
drowsy whisper.

I kissed her forehead. “Of course I am. Why
would you even need to ask me that? Can’t you tell?”

“You seem to be.” She snuggled closer,
wrapping her arms tighter around me. “I just wanted to make
sure.”

I squeezed her, wanting to put any fears she
might have to rest. “I’m happy . . . deliriously so. Life is
perfect right now. I’ve got my girl, we’re married, I’ve got a shot
at the college championship game—all of my dreams are falling right
into place. Are yours?”

“Your dreams and my dreams are the same.”
She placed a kiss on my chest. “There’s no doubt in my mind you’ll
get to the championship. Then all those NFL scouts will see you
play and they’ll be clamoring all over themselves to sign you. The
hardest choice you’re going to have is deciding which team to
choose.”

I laughed. “I’m glad you have faith in me. I
wish it were going to be that easy.”

“It will be. Just you wait and see.”

“Have I told you I love you, today?” I
asked.

She let out a soft quiet snort. “I don’t
know, maybe once or twelve thousand times.”

“Hmmm, is that all? Well, let me say it
again. I love you, Brittney. Thank you for marrying me today.”

She lifted her palm to stroke my cheek. “It
was fun. Let’s do it again tomorrow.”

I laughed. “Okay, but let’s forget the
minister, guests, and the ceremony next time and just skip straight
to the sex.”

“Sounds perfect,” she said with a wide
smile, and she stretched to kiss me, again.

Chapter One

Three months later

I started my day with a groan, rolling over
and burying my face into the pillow, attempting to place the
annoying aroma floating in the air. Automatically, I reached to
feel for Brittney next to me, but her spot was empty.

Sighing, I realized what was happening. It
was our new morning ritual—breakfast, to use the term loosely; and
if I was correct, it was complete with the lovely smell of burnt
toast and cheap bacon. I loved her, but I’d learned back when we
were in college that cooking wasn’t something she excelled at. It
made me miss the Muffin Mondays we’d shared in the past.

Running a hand through my hair, I couldn’t
help but smile. She had been trying so hard these first few weeks
to be the perfect wife. Always cooking, cleaning, and even leaving
love notes for me in places she knew I’d find them. I didn’t think
it was possible, but they actually made me fall for her even
more.

“Hey, baby,” Brittney said as I dragged
myself into the dining room, seeing exactly what I had smelled
waiting for me on the plate. It looked like she’d tried to scrape
off the worst of the blackness and added some butter and lots of
jelly in an obvious attempt to camouflage what was underneath.
Thank goodness she’d added a bowl of cold cereal to the mix. That
would probably save me later at the football combine.

I’d never been one to do a lot of talking in
the morning; instead, I pulled her into my arms for a quick hug and
kiss before sitting down at the table. She smiled widely at me and
I vaguely listened as she started talking nonstop about some new
cooking show she’d been watching and how she thought a certain new
set of pots and pans would make preparing food easier.

I nodded here and there, telling her to get
the pans if she needed them; but my mind kept straying to the
upcoming NFL camp and focusing on it. Despite all my playing time
as quarterback, I knew this was going to be a big test for me. It
wasn’t every day that people had the opportunity to try out for NFL
scouts. This would be huge for my career, not to mention it had
been my dream for as long as I could remember.

“So, are you nervous?” Britt’s voice broke
into my thoughts and I looked up to see her eyeing me. I felt bad
for not paying better attention.

“Sorry. I kind of zoned out on you there,
didn’t I?”

“Just a little, but I totally understand.
You have a big week ahead of you.” She reached across the table and
grasped my hand. “I wish I could come with you. I’m going to miss
you so much.”

I smiled and squeezed her hand back before
lifting it to my mouth and placing a kiss there. “You’ll barely
even know I’m gone. I’ll call or text you every chance I get.
You’ll be telling me to shut up before you know it.”

She stood and wrapped her arms around my
shoulders. “I’ll never be sick of you, Chase Walker, and you know
it.”

I scooted back in my chair and she straddled
my lap, keeping her arms draped around my neck. My hands splayed
around her waist, rubbing gently down toward her hips. “Prove it.”
I challenged with a grin, totally forgetting about the rest of my
uneaten breakfast as I stared at my sexy wife.

“I thought you wanted me to help you to
finish packing this morning.”

Lifting a hand to her face, I palmed her
cheek, gently rubbing my thumb over her lips before sliding my
fingers around to the back of her head.

“Later,” I whispered, giving her a wink and
pulling her head to mine.

***

I pulled up to the field and parked, taking
a moment to survey the area and check out the massive number of
other athletes who would be my competition. There were hundreds and
hundreds of them—well over a thousand, if I were to guess.

Suddenly, I felt uneasy. Even though I’d
recently played and won the college championship, this level of
nervous anxiety foreign to me. It was something I hadn’t felt since
we’d won the State High School Championship. Suddenly I was
concerned—worried I hadn’t prepared myself enough. My whole future
was riding on this.

I squared my shoulders. I wasn’t going to
talk myself down. There was no way these guys had the same
competitive drive I did—the drive that made me special. When I
played, I played with my whole heart, body, and soul. I knew this
game—inside and out. It was part of me and I was a part of it. I
grabbed my things and headed toward the field, more determined than
ever.

There were several people milling about on
the track in matching blue t-shirts who appeared to be in charge. I
approached one of them, a tough looking guy who glanced up from his
clipboard at me with annoyance. “Yes?”

“Where do we sign in?” I asked quickly.

He frowned and pointed in the direction of a
large sign next to a row of tables, I’d somehow missed, with the
giant words “SIGN IN HERE” written in big capital letters.

“Thanks, man. Sorry, didn’t notice that.”
Hurrying over to the tables, I noticed they were organized
alphabetically. I found the W section and quickly added my name and
position to the list.

“Throw the luggage you don’t need for
practice in the pile over there by the fence,” a kid with
wire-rimmed glasses said as he placed a tag on the handle of my
duffle bag. “Someone will haul them to the dorm rooms for you.”