I heard a knock on my door and ran down the hallway to meet Chase. I opened up the door to Chase who was leaning against my doorframe in a pair of loose jeans and a plain gray t-shirt stretched tight across his chest, his tattoos peeking out. He had a light stubble across his jaw and chin and his green eyes were twinkling back at me.
“You guys ready to go Leah?” He asks as he slings a black duffel bag onto his shoulder. “Yup we are ready. Calebs been talking about it nonstop. What all do you have in store?”
“Oh you’ll see when we get there, Mark and Teddy are meeting up with us too.” He says as we make our way to the jeep with both of our bags and Caleb following closely behind him.
Good, I’m kind of glad I won’t be totally alone with Chase that way we can keep it strictly a friend relationship. I couldn’t resist glancing over at him though while he navigated the jeep to our secret destination. His signature black hat was turned backwards as his green eyes focused on the road and he sang along to the radio with his low sensual voice. No wonder the band had so many groupies, they could have the worst voices known to man and the girls at least would still come faithfully to all of their shows.
Ten minutes later we pulled up to a large complex that sat far off the road called Fastimes. Chase leapt out of the jeep and jogged over to help me and Caleb out.
“There’s Teddy and Mark,” he says motioning with his head toward the front entrance and we each grabbed one of Calebs hands swinging him between the two of us. “Let’s go.”
The complex consisted of go carting, putt putt golfing, batting cages, and an arcade. The guys insisted that we had to do everything and I felt like I was with three 10 year old boys. But Chase was right, we did have fun. Caleb was having a blast with the go carts and putt putt, even though I think I spent more time actually chasing down the small neon green ball that he kept chucking in every direction but the hole. But he was having fun too, especially with all the attention from the guys. Especially Chase, you could tell he was really good with kids.
“Yo Leah. Next race on the go carts, winner gets a congratulatory kiss from you,” Teddy says to me on our third trip to the track.
“Oh yeah and what if I’m the winner, what do I get?” I tease back.
“Well it would only be fair for me to give you a kiss since I did set this whole day up,” Chase says with a smug look on his face.
“Hmm…we’ll see. I am a little confused with the bikini you told me to wear. I don’t exactly see a swimming pool around here,” I say as I look around pretending to scan for the pool that I know isn’t there.
“Bikini, what dude?” Mark says with a raised eyebrow. “Didn’t they tell you that’s the requirement for driving the go carts Leah? Must have slipped our minds.”
Chase playfully shoves Mark. “Don’t worry Leah after we ditch these two, we’ll move onto the second part of the day. And I’ll be the only one seeing that bikini.”
We each pick a go cart with Caleb insisting he needs to ride with Chase and do our five laps around the track. Teddy ends up beating us all by a mile and stands with his arms crossed over his chest at the finish line waiting for me. I jump out of my cart and plant a wet kiss on his cheek as he looks back at me with a pouted lip.
“Really Leah, the cheek? I beat all of your asses. Most girls can’t keep themselves outta my pants.”
“Sorry I must be immune to you or something. Besides we never said WHERE the kiss had to be.” Chase slings an arm over my shoulder. “Well guys we are so ditching you now. Thanks for meeting up with us. You ready Leah?”
“Yep lead me away. Bye guys.”
We walk back out to the parking lot and its pretty much dark now, I can’t believe how much time we spent there it seemed to fly by. And right next to Chases jeep is Skylar and Ally. “Hey guys what are you doing here?” I ask, knowing that it’s pretty strange they would show up here, not their kind of place. At all.
“Oh Chase you are such a good secret keeper!” Ally says as she picks Caleb up and Skylar grabs his car seat to transport it into Allys car. “Chase kind of arranged things so you guys could have a little alone time. He wouldn’t even tell me where he’s taking you, can you believe that?” She stomps her foot down but I can tell by the smile creeping up on her face she’s just happy about getting us alone.
“Is that okay with you Leah? I know you don’t get a lot of time with Caleb but I figured it was pretty close to his bed time so..” He gives me a crooked grin and jams his hands in his pockets. He actually looks a little nervous that I’ll turn him down.
“Yup totally fine,” I lean down and give Caleb a kiss whose eyelids are already drooping after the long day he had. “Night baby, love you.” I lean into the passenger’s side window to talk to Ally before they take off, “He’ll probably fall asleep before you leave the parking lot. You sure you don’t mind?”
“Nope not at all, go have some fun but be prepared to spill all of the details.” I wave at her and hop into the jeep where Chase is waiting for me.
“Well there was your fun. Now I’m taking you to your relaxation,” he says.
What in the world could he be taking me to for relaxation? A massage maybe? We pull up to a building just on the edge of town called Oasis. Chase grabs the black duffel bag out from the backseat and we head towards the building where he checks us in. The attendant at the desk looks to be around my age and clearly has the hots for Chase. Who wouldn’t though? I don’t think she even noticed I was with him as she batted her eyelashes at him and left her hand on his a minute too long when handing him his credit card receipt.
“Right this way Mr. O’Neil,” she says as she sways her hips seductively down the narrow hall. “You’ll be in the Rainforest suite tonight.” She glances behind Chase at me like she just noticed I was there.
A suite! Did Chase seriously just bring me to a motel? Was this one of those charge by the hour type of deals? Now I know what Chase meant by ‘relaxation’. Well it was about to be a whole lot of not relaxing for him in a minute when my knee introduces itself to his balls.
Chase holds the door open for me and I step in already tensing for a fight. When I enter there’s a small bathroom to the right with a separate area for changing and a low bench with white fluffy bath towels. A clear glass door leads to an outdoor area with what looks like a hot tub. Oh ‘kay that’s what Chase was talking about. I feel the tension release from my shoulders as Chase sets his bag down.
“Well were you surprised? Have you ever been here before?” He asks as he rifles through his bag and pulls out a pair of black board shorts.
I look back at him with a smile, “No I haven’t but you really are a good planner. This is exactly what I need, you wouldn’t imagine how many aches and pains I get from waitressing and then running around campus all day. And not to mention hauling Calebs butt around sometimes, he’s getting to be a little porker.”
He walks into the bathroom and shuts the white curtain that separates the room into two. I slide out of my jeans and shirt and throw my hair into a messy bun. Chase steps out with his shorts on, “Wow you look amazing Leah. I’m not gonna lie and say I didn’t have ulterior motives in bringing you here, I just wanted to see you in a bikini.” I shove him playfully as we walk out the glass door to the enclosed area surrounded by three tall walls. There’s an outdoor fireplace in the corner that’s lit and surrounded by small waterfalls and low lighting. “Well you don’t look to bad yourself Mr. O’Neil.” And that is far from the truth. He looks sexy as hell. His chest as I suspected is broad and firm with a flat stomach and his trunks are hung low on his hips.
We both slowly sink into the hot tub sitting on opposite sides. “Ahh,” I moan. “That feels so nice.” Chase looks over at me with a smirk and shakes his head. I notice he brought his bag out with us and set it near the edge of the tub. He begins to pull out two wine glasses and a bowl of strawberries.
“Wow you seriously think of everything don’t you?” I ask as he fills a glass with champagn
e and hands it to me. I take a small sip and set it to the side.
“Well you’re not supposed to bring drinks or food in really so I just smuggled some in,” he says as he comes across to my side with a strawberry in his hand. I reach for it as he brings his hand up and he wags a finger at me and shakes his head, “Open.”
I slowly open my mouth as he sets the strawberry inside and I bite it off leaving the green stem in between his fingers. His green eyes have clouded over as he looks down at me when my tongue darts out and I lick my lips. I quickly change the subject trying to ease the sexual tension I feel building up.
I point toward his chest and arms, “So what do all of your tattoos mean?”
He looks down at me with a smirk clearly telling that he knows exactly what I’m doing. Instead of moving to the other side, he sits down next to me running his fingers lightly up my arm.
“Well some of them don’t have any meaning at all I just liked the design so I got ‘em.” He points to the elegant looking writing on his biceps. I squint my eyes to get a closer look and realize they’re names woven into an intricate design; Amy,Katie,Kristy,Rachel,Sarah,Belle. What does he get one for every girl he’s dated, like a tally or something?
“These are all of my sisters. I told you I’m really close with ‘em, this was just a way of me showing how much I love them,” he points toward a spot on his chest where there’s a small heart with mom written in the center. “And obviously you can tell who this is for. I’m not gonna lie, I told you I am a bit of a mamas boy.”
“Those are really sweet. I’m glad you have such a close relationship with your family, that’s something that I’ve always wanted. Unfortunately my mom just wasn’t interested.” I take a sip of my champagne as Chase looks over at me with a look I can’t quite figure out. Pity, maybe?
We talk more about his family. He tells me more stories of how it was growing up with so many girls around. He talks about his parents and their divorce, how their split was actually pretty amicable and he was lucky enough to get a great step dad a few years later when his mom remarried.
I complain about my job at Ginos but also about how much I love it, getting to know all the new people and the regulars that come in for my morning shifts. I tell Chase about the nursing program and how far along of come in the short time I’ve been on campus.
A phone rings near the outside door and Chase jumps out of the water to grab it as I watch the water trickle off of his beautiful body. And I just want to lick it all off. Whoa there settle down girl. “Okay thanks,” he pauses as he listens. “No thank you, I’m good. Yup, yup I’m sure, thanks.” He hangs up the phone and reaches in to get a towel, holding it out for me. “Sorry Leah our time here is up.” I reluctantly step out of the water and Chase wraps the towel around me as we hurry out of the cold air back to get dressed.
“What was that about on the phone?”
“Huh? Oh just to let us know our time was up.” He says as he towels off and starts to grab his dry clothes out, setting them on the bench.
“And….” Clearly there was more to that conversation than he is letting on.
He looks back at me with a smirk, “And that girl at the front desk was trying to give me her number but I told her no.”
“Why? She was clearly checking you out, you should go for it.” I say as I grab my change of clothes out and head towards the bathroom.
“Well there’s kind of someone I’m interested in. Not kind of really, more like a lot.” He answers back.
“Oh.” I simply say. I guess he, unlike Gage, was taking the whole let’s just be friends thing seriously. Maybe I should tell him I changed my mind. “You dressed?” I ask before stepping back out.
“Yup you’re good,” he says as I come back out and see him pulling his shirt back on and catch the top of his boxers.
We walk back out towards the lobby and the girl at the front desk gives Chase a sad look as we walk past her and wave.
“Thanks for bringing me Chase. I had a lot of fun with you and the guys. And the hot tubs really did help me to relax. I think I need to start doing that like weekly.”
“I would be more than willing to come with you. If you know you need company or anything.”
I laugh, “Sure I don’t think I would ever mind your company. So I was talking to my friend Remy that I work with. She said that her and Mark were going out tomorrow and she invited him to this party were going to next weekend.”
“Yeah Mark mentioned that, he asked me to come along after our gig that night.”
“Ok cool then I’ll probably see you there. Allys practically forcing me to go. I am so not dressing up though.”
“Really? I was kind of looking forward to that,” he says with a chuckle. We both get out of the jeep and go up the stairs to our complex.
“Well thanks again Chase. We’ll have to hang out again soon when I have some free time.” I say as I shuffle through my purse for my keys.
He tenses his jaw like he wants to say something but doesn’t. He leans over and gives me a swift kiss on the cheek while I lean against the door. “Night Leah.” The door to my apartment opens and I stumble back as Ally holds the door open. “Jeez Al!”
“Oops sorry Leah, didn’t know you were out there,” she says guiltily.
I snort out a laugh, “Bullshit Ally. You’ve probably had your ear up to that door the whole time.”
“Sorry I couldn’t help myself. ‘Can’t wait to hang out again soon’,” she says with air quotes in a sarcastic tone. “Really Leah you’re going to be just friends with Chase? He is freaking sex on a stick, not to mention a sweetheart.”
“Al I just don’t need that right now but he’s fun to hang out with when I have the time. Besides he said he was interested in someone.” Even though I definitely wouldn’t mind breaking my no dating rule for Chase. I mean wow one little peck from him and my insides all turn to mush.
“Well you could always just spend that time having wild crazy sex with him instead. And really Leah I don’t see him as the player type, if he’s interested in anyone it’s you.” She says as she follows me into my room. I pull my wet bikini out and throw it into my overflowing hamper. Ally raises an eyebrow at me. “What did you need that for?”
“Oh Chase took me to this place that has their own individual hot tubs, it was pretty cool.”
“Trust me I know exactly where you’re talking about. Me and Skylar have been there a few times,” she looks at me with a sly grin on her face, “but we don’t need bathing suits.”
“Ew Ally! I’m glad they use plenty of chlorine. Thanks for that mental image.”
“Well I think Chase probably had the same idea.”
“Whatever Ally,” I say as I push her towards the door. “He was a perfect gentleman and we are just friends. Now GOODNIGHT.” I emphasize.
“Sweet dreams, I know who they’ll be about.” She says with a wave as she skips out the door.
The next two days consisted of work and school. I ran into Chase a few times in the hallway as one of us was either going in or out and we would stop to exchange a few words before heading our respective ways. On Wednesday I had a break in between classes and work so I ran home and changed into a pair of black yoga pants and a loose fitting t-shirt so I could do some laundry and hit the gym that I still hadn’t made it to. I didn’t bother to pick Caleb up because I would just end up having to turn right back around to drop him off and that would probably not go over very well with the little man.
After sorting my clothes into two washers and starting them up, I head into the small gym that’s attached to the laundry room. It consists of two treadmills, some weights and an exercise bike with a TV mounted in the corner.
I start up one of the treadmills and set a timer so I could switch my laundry over. Some reality show was playing and since I hadn’t since any of this season I crank the volume up, no one else was there to be offended by the crazy antics of the show. I start off at a brisk walk and slowly work up to a l
ight jog. Phew I was really out of shape.
Back home I wasn’t really involved in any extracurricular activities besides the ones Ally dragged me to like save the earth or homeless shelters but I had always enjoyed running. Sometimes it was my only escape from the bullshit life dealt out, plus Caleb didn’t mind going for a ride in the jogging stroller I picked up at a garage sale for a steal. I hadn’t gotten much of a chance to do it since moving here but I really needed to fit it into my schedule, I could already feel some of the stress from school lifting off my shoulders.
My timer went off and I slowed down on the treadmill, dabbing at the sweat that had accumulated from my work out. I went back into the laundry room and switched out my clothes into the dryer. I took some change out of my laundry quarters and grabbed a water out of the vending machines and took a long swig. I head back towards the gym to run some more while my laundry was drying.
“Hey Leah,” I heard as I rounded the corner back into the gym. There was Chase in a pair of black athletic shorts and nothing else sprawled out on the bench with the weights. I could get used to this view while working out.
“Hey Chase, how have you been?” I ask as I start my treadmill back up. I reach over and grab the remote to turn the TV down.
He pauses as he sets his weights down and takes a break. I can already see a light gleam of sweat running across his abs. I feel my tongue dart out before I quickly tuck it back into my gaping mouth. Chase might be a little shocked if I start licking all that up for him.
“I’m good, just ran down here to get a quick workout in. I’ve really been slacking lately.”
“I know me too. I’ve always been a runner but I haven’t had much time. Plus I don’t know much of the area and good places to run.”
Chasing Leah (Journey Series) Page 7