Chasing Leah (Journey Series)

by Williams, C. A.

  I finish placing my folded clothes into my basket and rest it on my hip. “Well I’m going to head back up, I have a few things to finish up for one my classes.” He grabs the basket from me. “Here let me help you with that I can come back for mine in a little bit.” I gather Caleb up shoving everything back into his backpack. He’s colored pictures for both of us and Chase graciously accepts his scribbled page. “Thanks buddy I’ll hang it up on my fridge.” Hmm he seems to be pretty well with kids too. I think I just met Mr. Perfect. Surely he has a girlfriend.

  We head up to my apartment and he sets the basket down on the kitchen counter when we walk in. “So I was wondering if you wanted to come out on Thursday. I have a band that I’m in and we play a few different spots around town. We’re playing at Kilroys bar and grill that night.” Okay soon to be high school teacher, tattoos, good with kids, hot body AND he’s in a band. Isn’t that like every girls dream type rolled into one?

  “I don’t get out much with Caleb and I don’t think….” He interrupts me before I can finish my excuse, “Well that’s cool bring him too. It’s not a scummy bar, totally kid friendly I promise, just come on out to see us play.”

  “Okay I should be able to make that work. So what kind of band is it, are you guys gonna be big someday and be a major headliner?” He shrugs his shoulder and gives me a crooked grin, “Well I don’t know about that but we’re pretty good. I guess if we had to put a label on it I would consider us like an alternative rock. It’s just kind of a thing that I do to make some extra money while I’m in school, instead of getting a real job to pay the bills I get to play the guitar.

  “I wish I could play an instrument and make money off of it instead of running around on my feet all day and night hoping I get left a good tip.”

  “Yeah I can’t complain but I’m sure you look pretty hot doing that. The customers must get a pretty nice view.” And there he goes with his little wink again. Most of the time I think that’s pretty cheesy but not coming from this guy. “Well I should be going, got to grab my laundry. See you on Thursday, right?” He leans down and ruffles Calebs hair whose plopped himself down on the couch with a pile of books. “Good to meet you buddy. See you later.”

  “Bye bye Chase. Pound it.” Caleb gives him a fist bump that Chase returns with a laugh and heads out the door.

  “We’ll be there, see ya Chase.” I wave and shut the door behind him. Wow no wonder Ally wanted to set me up with him I could totally see myself dating him and a whole lot more.

  Chapter 8

  Leah

  I end up working the night shift with Remy on Wednesday night which is rare since we haven’t worked together since my first day on my own. Nights at Ginos are totally different than the mornings. Instead of the usual crowd being senior citizens, it is jam packed with students ordering pizza and guzzling down beer. Remy and I are both worn ragged by the flow of customers that are coming in. “Wow I’ve never seen it this busy,” I say as I take a sip of water and then start to fill up two pitchers of beer for a table of guys I just seated. “Yeah I like the breakfast shifts much better, they’re a little more laid back. At least they fly be this way though and the tips are so much better especially if they drink more.” Remy answers back. “So how are things going with you and Gage? I haven’t heard you talk about him much at class lately.”

  I shrug my shoulders, “We’re just friends Rem.” I remind her and she just rolls her eyes back at me. “Seriously,” I add on, “but he’s coming to hang out with us tomorrow night we’re going to see this band. The guy that lives across the hall from me is in it and invited me out. They’re playing over at Kilroys.”

  “You’re not talking about Major Hoosiers are you? I know they play there a lot.”

  “Um I have no idea. I didn’t ask him the name of his band. Have you seen ‘em before?”

  I head towards the table of guys and drop off the two pitchers of beer and take their order as Remy follows me over. “What can I get for you guys?”

  The guy with shaggy blonde hair spouts off the tables order. “Well we’ll take a large supreme no onions, 25 buffalo wings with ranch and one side of you.”He ends his order with a wink. Yup only Chase can make that sexy in my book. I roll my eyes at him as his friends bust up laughing and fist bumping. “’Kay I’ll put that right in minus the side,” and I turn on my heel to punch my order in. “Real original guys,” Remy mutters to them as she turns back to follow me. “So yeah to answer your question I have seen them a few times they’re pretty well known around campus and not just for they’re music. Please tell me the guy who invited you is Chase O’Neil?”

  I punch in the order to send back to the kitchen and print off a bill for a table that is finishing up. “Yeah actually it is, he lives across the hall from me. We met, well officially anyways, a few days ago.”

  “Oh he is so sexy, everything about him and his voice, ah! Plus he seems to be the only one of the group that isn’t a man whore. You have to introduce me to him please, please, please,” she begs.

  “Um, okay sure. How about you come with the group of us tomorrow night?” “Awesome I love you!” Remy gives me a hug and bounces off to check on her tables. Hopefully it doesn’t make things too awkward with Gage. We haven’t seen other since Saturday night and I had to call him a few times before he finally called me back and it almost seemed like I had to convince him to come with me on Thursday. Plus this will be the first time he meets Caleb, most of the time with any of my friends I explain the whole situation first but I had never had any guy friends before and wasn’t sure how he would react.

  ***********************************************************

  Ally and I are getting ready to go watch the band on Thursday night. We’re riding with Skylar and Gage told me he would just meet us there. “So does this look okay? I wasn’t really sure what to wear.” I look down and assess myself. I chose a short denim skirt and paired it with a white tank top and a black leather cropped jacket. “Yup you look totally hot. Gage and Chase won’t know what to do with ya.” Ally says as she shoves a pair of knee high black leather boots at me. “Here these will complete the ensemble.” I slide the boots on and face the mirror smoothing out my curls. “Ally I’m not trying to impress anyone. Especially Gage, he already has the totally wrong idea about us.” Ally snorts, “Whatever Leah. I’m surprised Mr. Stuffy is even going to this place. Isn’t it beneath him or something? I thought he only goes to the country club.”

  “Whatever Als.” I lean down and shove Calebs shoes on. “Ready to eat buddy?”

  “Mmhmm,” he replies back, running to the front door to wait for us. “Get to see Chase too.”

  Apparently the one time meeting with Chase went well with Caleb. We talked to him for about a whole 20 minutes doing laundry and Caleb is already in love. That’s one reason why I’m so hesitant to get in any kind of relationship. I don’t want Caleb to get attached to someone and then have them abruptly leave his life. He doesn’t need any of that drama.

  “Are you interested in Chase, in ya know that way?” Ally asks as we head towards the door where an inpatient Caleb is bouncing from foot to foot.

  I shrug my shoulders as we hear Skylar buzz us on the intercom. “Who knows? I officially met the guy one time. Besides I told Remy I would introduce her to Chase. She’s been in love with him I guess since the first time she heard his band last year.” We both head out the front door and meet up with Skylar at the front entrance. Ally runs at him and he catches her in a twirl. Ah to be that in love, it kinda makes me jealous.

  We get to the bar a little before the band is set to play. The bars really not that bad, I was expecting some kind of dive and was prepared to leave with Caleb if that was the case, but it’s pretty bright inside and clean looking. It’s in an older section of the downtown area and has dark mahogany wood paneling on the walls and the bar wraps around the back section. There’s a small stage for the band in a corner where some of their instruments are already set up. I loo
k around and see that Gage hasn’t made it, so I send him a text letting him know that we grabbed a table up front near the stage. “Hey Leah you made it!” Chase comes up from behind me and twists me around to grab me in a hug. I inhale deeply as my face smashes into his chest. Yum, he smells like soap and manliness. I wish I could bottle that scent up and I’d keep it with me forever.

  “Hey dude,” Chase leans down to run a hand through Calebs hair whose already munching on some crackers and coloring. “That’s an awesome picture. I put your other one on my fridge. Front and center so everyone can see your artwork.” Caleb shoots him a wide smile before cramming a few more crackers in and continuing on with his next masterpiece.

  “Well I told you we were coming. I even convinced Ally and a couple of others to come with me. I didn’t know your band was so popular.” He shrugs and takes off his black hat flipping it backwards. “Well what can I say we’re awesome. These are the other guys-that’s Mark he plays the drums,” he points to a shorter stocky looking guy who looks like he could be a bouncer at the front of the bar, “and Teddy he’s the lead singer and he plays a little guitar too,” he points to other guy who’s standing there with a smirk on his face. He’s not bad looking at all, I can tell why he’s the lead singer, got to have the face to promote the band, right? But Chase is like a 15 on the scale and he might be like a 9.

  “This is Leah guys. She lives across the hall from me. And this little dude is Caleb.” Chase ruffles Calebs hair again who shyly tucks his head into my side. He’s not into meeting strangers most of the time, that’s why I was really surprised he took to Chase so quickly.

  Teddy looks at me with the smirk still on his face as he appraises me from head to toe. “So this is Leah. I can see why you’ve been talking nonstop about her. You are smoking, you sure you don’t need a roommate Chase? I’d love to live across the hall from that.” He wiggles his eyebrows at me and licks his lips like I’m going to be his next meal or something. Ew.

  But back to what he just said. Chase has been talking about me nonstop? WHAT?!?! I must’ve heard that wrong probably just comparing my rack with someone else’s. Isn’t that all guys talk about? “Um yup I guess that’s me. Nice to meet you guys. I’ve been hearing a lot about your band, I can’t wait to hear you play.” Chase takes a step back, “Well hopefully you’ve only being hearing the good things,” he says with a wink. “We need to get set up, we’ll catch you in a bit.”

  Remy shows up along with another two girls from our study group that meets weekly, Maggie and Trina. They both seem like nice girls but we haven’t really gotten to know each other much outside of our group. I give them each a hug as they pull bar stools up to our table and introduce them all to Caleb, Ally and Skylar. Ally and Remy had already met and luckily hit it off since Remy seemed to be a pretty good friend to have around.

  “Leah you have to introduce us to the band. I’m such a big fan!” Trina says. “Um sure I just really know Chase and not really even that well but if he stops by I’ll introduce you.”

  I catch Chases eye as he sets his guitar down and motion for him to come over. “S’up babe?” He asks as he slings an arm around my shoulder. Remy raises a brow at this and mouths babe. “These are some girls from my nursing program,” I point to Maggie and Trina. “And this is my good friend Remy. We work together over at Ginos.” Remy creamy white skin instantly breaks in a blush at just the mention of her name. I swear that girl has an almost constant red tint to her skin to match her hair. “Nice to meet you girls. Have you seen any of our performances before?”

  I have Ally watch Caleb while I excuse myself to go use the restroom while Chase talks to the girls. I turn around and run right into Gages broad chest. “Hey Leah, sorry,” he says as he grabs my shoulders to steady me and appraises my body with his eyes. “That’s okay I was just heading to the bathroom. Our tables right here, I’ll be right back.” I turn and head towards the bathroom and mentally smack myself in the head. Well that’s going to be an interesting way of Gage meeting Caleb. Oh well it was bound to happen and it’s not like we’re dating or anything.

  I make my way back to our table through the thick crowd of people that’s shown up. Allys cutting up Calebs food for him as I sit down and Gage is sitting stiffly in the seat next to me, trying to sit as far away from Caleb as possible.

  “Hey how’s it going Gage? I haven’t heard much from you this week.”

  He replies with a tense jaw, “Uh Leah did you think you should have uh explained something to me before….” I shake my head at him to interrupt him. “No I don’t think I owe my friends any kind of explanation but I can fill you in if you’d like. Later.” He nods his head in agreement before placing his order with the waitress.

  The band starts off with a slower song and my eyes roam around the bar. There are really a ton of people packed in here and most of them look they’re here for the band. And quite a few of those are girls, looks like the band has a lot of groupies. I can see why, all three of them are pretty sexy in their own way.

  And they are really good, I was kind of expecting some sort of garage style band. Teddy being the front man has the perfect personality as he works the crowd, flirting with the group of girls lined up in front of the stage, some of the girls even have homemade shirts on with the band’s name written across their chests. And Chase. Wow. I’m not into music much but I can tell he’s an expert on the guitar and I love the low sexiness of his voice when he sings the chorus along with Teddy.

  Gage hasn’t made one peep to me the whole time and I can tell he’s uncomfortable. Especially after Caleb landed his ketchup covered hands on his perfectly pressed white polo shirt. “Oops sorry Mommy, it was accident.” Caleb looks over at me with his wide brown eyes at the look of horror that’s crossing Gages face. “It’s okay baby. I’ll try to get it off.” I dab a napkin in a bit of water and try to blot out as much of the stain as possible. “Sorry about that, he can get a little messy sometimes.”

  “Uh its fine,” he replies stiffly. I catch Allys eye and she’s trying to muffle a laugh about the look on Gages face. Obviously he hasn’t been around kids much. Most college guys are looking for a good lay, not some girl who’s tied down with a kid. And I know Gage was definitely thinking we could be more than just friends.

  The band ends their set and begins to pack up the instruments while a large group of girls swarms them trying to get each ones attention. I see Chase maneuver through the crowd and head towards our table. He lays his hat on our table and uses the bottom of his shirt to wipe off the sweat on his forehead. I notice his pants are swung low on his hips and the trail of hair down his stomach that disappears into his black boxers that are sticking out. “So, how’d you guys like the show?” Well I think I just saw the best part of the show right there.

  Everyone chirps up how great they were and can’t wait to see them play again. I nod my head in agreement as Chase turns towards me and I introduce Gage to him who stiffly shakes his hands and darts his eyes back and forth between me and Chase who’s now closely standing next to me and leaning over Calebs shoulder to check out the game he’s playing.

  “I’m going to take off Leah.” Gage says as he stands up and pushes his chair in. “Uh nice to meet everyone.” He looks down awkwardly at Caleb before meeting my eyes. “See you later.”

  Chase straightens up and slings an arm around my shoulder. He’s covered in sweat but it’s mixed with his soapiness smell and the combination causes butterflies to float around in my stomach. I never knew sweat could be so sexy.

  “You guys need a ride home Leah?” I look over at Ally and Skylar who are getting up to leave. Remy nudges me with her elbow and mouths ‘go’. I raise my eyebrows at her, I thought the whole point of her coming tonight was for her to meet her dream guy Chase. Remy pushes me a little closer to Chase as she stands up and grabs her purse, “Great show Chase. See you tomorrow at work Leah,” she leans over and whispers in my ear, “I expect details. On everything.”

  I
wave bye to her and Ally as they take off leaving me stranded with Chase. “Well I guess I could use that ride, seems like everyone ditched me. Oh shit I need to get Calebs car seat from Ally though.” I send her a quick text to wait for me outside and scoop Caleb out of his booster seat. “Ready to go buddy?” With a nod of his head he twists his little body around and reaches his arms to Chase who willingly takes Caleb from my arms.

  He gives me a smirk as he reaches for my hand with his free one and begins to lead me towards the exit, “Well I guess you’re lucky we live so close to each other. I don’t give just anyone a ride, gas is expensive nowadays ya know? What happened to your boyfriend, Grant wasn’t it? He left in a hurry.” He says to me over his shoulder.

  “Mommy doesn’t have boyfriends, silly. Just me.” Caleb giggles and buries his head in Chase’s chest and I feel a pang of jealousy shoot through me. How’d Caleb get so lucky? Maybe we should trade spots.

  “It’s Gage and we’re just friends. And I’ve never told him about Caleb before so I think he was caught off guard a little bit.” He looks at me with surprise as he holds the door open for me on his jeep, grabbing me around the waist and setting me onto the passenger seat. “Um I need to make sure you get the car seat in the right way,” I say as Ally hands it off to him with a quick wave before skipping back to Skylars car. “Have fun Leah!”

  “Don’t worry I’m like an expert with these things, I have a ton of little sisters and I was always helping my mom out.” I turn around to watch and sure enough he straps it in and more quickly than I do. He straps Caleb in and hops into the driver’s seat.

  “So he’s just a friend then?” He shoots me a crooked grin and I nod my head at him. “Cause he definitely looks like he wants to be more than friends.” I bite back a laugh before turning my head around to look at Caleb. Passed out already, I wish I could fall asleep that quickly.