Chasing Leah (Journey Series)

by Williams, C. A.

  “I’m glad you got along with everyone. Mom loved you too I can tell and believe it or not with being so sweet and all, she is hard to impress.”

  My phone rings and I reach down to pick it up off of the floor after shuffling around to find it. Unknown caller comes up on the screen. “Hello?” I answer. “May I speak to Leah Rossi please,” a gruff voice asks.

  “Yes, this is she. Who is this?”

  “Ms. Rossi, this is Detective Barnes from the Nevada precinct here in Detroit. I’m sorry to have to tell you this over the phone but your mother Marie Rossi was brought into the emergency room tonight and was pronounced dead on arrival.”

  My hands begin to tremble as the news the detective has just relayed to me begins to sink in.

  “But what? How….what happened? Why?” I manage to stutter out. Chase looks over with a worried expression and grabs my shaking hand, rubbing light circles across the top with his thumb.

  “I’m sorry m’am. We received a call from a motel off the interstate from a Tank Harvey. He had left your mother for a few hours and when he came back he found her unresponsive with an empty bottle of pills and a letter that she left for you.”

  I drop the phone and shake my head repeatedly trying to erase the words from my brain.

  “M’am, m’am?” I hear but I can’t listen to what else he has to say. Nothing else matters but that my moms gone and now I literally feel like I have no one left. Sure she was never there for me but she was still my mom, I still loved her or maybe the idea of her. Chase scoops up my phone from the floor and finishes the conversation with the detective. By this time I realize that we’ve already arrived back at our apartment complex and our sitting in the parking lot.

  “Leah, baby are you okay?” Chase asks me in a low soothing voice.

  “I don’t….I um….I don’t know how to…..” I can’t manage to form a single thought as I feel the tears filling my eyes. But I can’t let them spill out, not in front of Caleb. He doesn’t need that drama in his life. And now I guess that’s all gone for good.

  Chase jumps out of his seat as he tugs me across the drivers side and wraps me in a hug. I breathe in the reassuring scent of Chase-soap mixed with a subtle spice of cologne. “Shhh its okay. The detective told me everything, you don’t need to explain, let’s just get you two inside.” And with that I remember the only important person here, Caleb. If I’m going to break down it won’t be in front of him.

  He sets Caleb down in the hallway and I begin to aimlessly search through my purse for my keys with blurred vision from my tears. “No Leah. I’m not letting you stay alone, your coming to my place.” He lifts a finger to my lips, trying to stop the oncoming argument that he knows I’ll put up. But I don’t have the energy to fight, I just let him lead me into his apartment. He makes up the extra bed he has in his spare bedroom and tucks Caleb into bed, who was almost asleep on his feet. Apparently he can sleep anywhere too, he didn’t even bat an eyelash about being in a strange bed.

  I’ve never been in Chases apartment before but with the shock I don’t even look around. He sits down on the leather couch in his living room and pulls me onto his lap covering me with a blanket that was sprawled across the back.

  I mindlessly wipe away the tears and notice I’ve soaked the front of his sweater. “I’m sorry,” I sniffle out as I try to wipe at his chest. “Leah you don’t have anything to be sorry about. You just found out some pretty bad news, I don’t mind having a damp sweater.”

  “I know Chase but obviously me and my mom were never close. I didn’t expect to feel that kind of emotion. I’m a mess.” I mumble out, trying to wipe at my face which I’m sure is covered with running mascara.

  “Leah I know the situation. But she’s still your mom, you have the right to cry,” he pauses and looks down at me, running his fingers through my hair. “And you’re not a mess, you look beautiful. I hate to say it but you make crying look sexy,” he says as he wipes a stray tear from my cheek.

  I snort out a laugh as I try to stop the tears, “Thanks Chase that really makes me feel better.”

  “You need some sleep,” he says. “I’m gonna go make my bed since I’m sure it’s a mess and you can borrow one of my shirts to sleep in.”

  “That’s okay Chase I can take the couch,” I insist. I feel bad enough as it is invading his apartment.

  “No way Leah, you need a good nights worth of sleep. I’ll be right back.”

  I look around his apartment after he heads down the hallway to his bedroom. Surprisingly the whole place seems to be well organized. I figured Chase would have the ultimate bachelor pad, being a single male college student. There’s framed pictures placed on shelves and end tables of Chase and his sisters and a few of him and his band mates.

  “Here,” he says as he walks back into the room and tosses a faded black shirt at me. “Pretty sure you know where the bathroom is right?”

  Our apartments are exactly identical to each other just flip flopped so I head down the hall. I pull off my clothes and slide the shirt on that reaches all the way past my knees with Chases height compared to mine. I look in the mirror over the sink and note my puffy, bloodshot eyes. Sexy, not so much. I splash some water on my face and walk out to meet Chase in the hall way.

  “Kay you sleep in here, I’ll take the couch.”

  I walk into the room and am instantly swept up by the scent of Chase. Like the rest of his apartment, its tidy and I notice the feminine touches I’m sure his mom or sisters added to the apartment with pictures scattered around and little mementos from Chases childhood. I wish my relationship with my mom had been different, I wish we could have had the gift of what Chase has. I wipe a stray tear away as I stand next to the bed.

  “Wow you make that shirt look so much better than I do,” Chase whispers into my ear as he wraps his arms around my waist giving me instant goosebumps and making me love the feeling of his arms around me. “Yeah,” I twist my body around so I’m now wrapped in his warm embraced and pressed against his chest. “Boobs tend to make anything look better.” He smothers a laugh against my hair before placing a kiss on my forehead. “That is so true.”

  “Thanks for being there tonight Chase. I can’t imagine how it would have been if I’d gotten that news alone. I’d probably still be a mess sitting on the floor of my apartment. I didn’t want to break down in front of Caleb. He doesn’t even know about her.” I stand on my tiptoes and give him a kiss on his cheek. He turns and places a tentative, gentle kiss on my lips as he wraps his arms around my waist, his hands resting on the small of my back through the thin fabric of his shirt.

  I let myself melt into the warmth of Chase and slowly place small kisses all across the length of his chiseled jaw that’s slightly rough with a layer of stubble. My lips come back to his which are warm and still taste of the cherry pie we had for dessert. He lets out a small groan as I snag his bottom lip with my teeth, sucking it into my mouth.

  He over takes the kiss as he probes my mouth tentatively with his warm tongue mixing with mine, starting off gently and then moving on fiercer as if he’s trying to taste every part of my mouth. I feel the coolness of his tongue ring as he flicks his tongue in and out and over every inch. I place my hands at the hem of his sweater and slide them underneath, gliding my fingers up across his flat stomach and abs, grazing the sprinkling of hair across his chest as our kiss seems to grow wilder. I pull my hands out and try to yank his sweater over his head and he grabs a hold of my wrists.

  “Leah, stop.” He breathes out heavily. I look down at his hands in confusion and drop my eyes to the floor sniffling, “Why? Don’t you….” He quickly interrupts me as he puts a finger under my chin forcing my eyes to his. “Of course I want you, your all I think about day and night, from the time I wake up in the morning,” he pauses, “well I guess that’s not true, you tend to invade my dreams too so I guess I’m always thinking about you. Trust me I’m all for this Leah,” he says motioning between us with his hands. “But I don’t w
ant our first time together to be like this after you’ve had such a shock, it’s been a long night, so let’s get some sleep. If you’re feeling the same way in a few days there’s no way I’ll be putting a stop to that.”

  He gives me a sexy grin and gently places a soothing kiss on my forehead before pulling open his closet door and grabbing an extra pillow and blanket from the top shelf. “If you need anything, just yell I’ll be right out on the couch,” he says as he turns to head out the door.

  “Chase, wait,” I say as I reach for his hand. “Stay, please.”

  He rubs the bridge of his nose with his fingers, “Leah really I only have so much self control, I don’t think I can tell you no more than once tonight. I am a guy and all.”

  “I think I can control myself now,” I jokingly say. “I meant just to sleep, in the bed. With me. I’m so tired of being alone, I just need you to be here with me tonight.”

  He raises an eyebrow at me, “Okay I have no problem being here for you. As long as you think you can resist yourself from jumping on top of me, I guess I can do that,” he adds, lightening the mood.

  “Haha you’re so funny and awfully full of yourself.”

  “Well when ya got a body like this,” he says as he points to himself, “you do get sort of an ego.”

  “Oh jeez and here I thought you didn’t know how sexy you were, turns out you’re your biggest fan.” He laughs out loud, “Well someone has to be the president of my fan club, figured I’d be the best for the job.” He rifles through his dresser and pulls out a pair of black athletic shorts. “I’m gonna go take a cold shower and change, I’ll be back in a minute,” he says as he heads to the bathroom connected to his room. Apparently I got him all worked up. Woops.

  I slide back the covers to his bed and fluff up one of his pillows as I scootch into bed. Mmm I’ll have to steal one of these pillows to take back to my apartment and sleep with. They have the smell of Chase and his clean soap scent mixed with yummy manliness.

  Chase comes out of the bathroom and flicks off the lamp sitting on the nightstand before pulling back the covers and sliding in next to me. He snuggles up to my back and wraps an arm around my waist and I scootch back into his warmness. He brushes my hair to one side before lightly kissing the side of my neck, “Night Leah.”

  “Night Chase. Thanks for today too, it really helped with you being there. I can’t believe I broke down like that, it’s been so long since I’ve even seen my mom I didn’t think I had any emotions left for her.”

  Chase starts to rub small circles on my back and shoulders instantly relieving some of the tension that’s built up. He really does have some magic hands. “I’m glad I could be here Leah. She was still your Mom though so it’s okay to cry, maybe you’re crying more for what you never had with her and now you won’t ever have that opportunity.”

  “You know you’re actually a genius for being such a pretty boy.” I say as I feel my eyelids grow heavy from the relaxation brought on by Chases expert hands.

  “Uh thanks,” he laughs out. “I guess that’s a compliment.” We lay there together a bit longer and I can’t help but enjoy the warmth of Chase. I wouldn’t mind sleeping with him every night if possible. Maybe taking things slow with Chase would work if I just tried, life can be taken away in the blink of an eye just like my mom. I hear the slow steady breathing of Chase and realize he’s fallen asleep and I close my eyes and do the same after the draining day.

  Chapter 16

  Leah

  I wake up the next morning to the enticing smell of coffee wafting into the room and realize Chases warm body isn’t beside me. I rub my fingers over my eyes and can fill the puffiness still there from the tears the night before.

  “Hey sleepyhead,” Chase says as he walks into the room with a cup of coffee in one hand and his laptop in the other. Caleb is following closely at his heels and he jumps onto the bed with a squeal. “Mommy, mommy me and Chase were playin’ games. You can play too if ya want.”

  “Oh yeah, what were you guys playing?”

  He replies back between each bounce. “Um hide and seek,” bounce, “duck duck goose,” bounce, “ring around with rosie.”

  “Wow you’ve been keeping him pretty busy, huh?”

  “I was trying to keep him occupied so he wouldn’t try to wake you up,” he says as he flops down onto the bed by my feet.

  “Why what time is it,” I ask as I stretch my arms above my head.

  “Its almost 11.”

  “Wow I can’t believe I slept that long, I normally like to sleep at least past 7 but not that long.”

  “You needed it. Can you grab my glasses for me off of that nightstand?”

  I reach across the bed and grab a pair of square black frames and hand them back to Chase as he slides them on to look at the screen of his laptop.

  “I didn’t know you wore glasses, do you normally wear contacts?” That would explain the brilliant green color of his eyes, I knew it couldn’t be natural.

  “Nope I just use these for reading sometimes,” he says as he stares down at the screen intently, occasionally clicking the mouse.

  “Oh well they definitely give you a more studious look.” I stand on my knees and run my hands through the mess of his short dark hair. “And with your hair grown out now you don’t look like such a bad ass, more like the sexy teacher all the girls dream about.”

  He grins back at me as he slides back to sit next to me with the laptop balanced on his knees. “Good that’s totally the look I was going for.” Caleb squeezes his little body in between us and stares intently at Chases laptop. He types in a few more things and then turns to me.

  “So when I took over the phone call for you last night from the detective, he said that it would be best for you to come to Michigan. They have some paperwork for you to sign since you’re the next of kin and then you can handle any funeral arrangements that you decide on. I figured we should probably leave pretty soon it looks like it’ll be about a six hour drive.”

  I hold up a hand in protest, “Whoa, whoa Chase. We? I can do this on my own, you don’t have to chauffer me around. I don’t need to depend on you.”

  He grabs my hand and kisses each of my fingers and I can’t help the butterflies that shoot through my stomach just from the simple touch of his lips.

  “Leah I WANT to be there with you. You don’t always have to do everything on your own. Besides it’s a long weekend, we still have three days left till classes start back up. We can make a road trip out of it. And I can take care of Caleb while you’re handling everything.” I press my lips together contemplating what he said. This would definitely be a next step in a relationship with Chase. And of course he played the Caleb card, which kind of makes sense, he doesn’t need to be around to hear that stuff. Three days alone with him. I guess we could use it as a trial without the distraction of school and work.

  “Well…” I say as I try to contain my smile looking at Chases defeated expression.

  “Please Leah?”

  “Okay, fine. You can come with me. I guess.” I tack on at the end.

  His face transforms as his smile lights up his face reaching into his eyes as he jumps up off the bed, grabbing a duffel bag out of his closet. “Awesome, since I already made reservations for us. You should run over to your apartment and grab a few things for you and Caleb. He can stay here with me.”

  “Oh you were pretty presumptuous in thinking you could convince me to let you tag along, huh?” I teasingly ask as I climb out of bed.

  “Well I can be very persuasive,” he says with a smirk as he grabs a few t-shirts out of his closet. “By the way I called Ally for you this morning, I figured you didn’t need to go over it all again.”

  I grimace as I imagine Allys reaction. She tends to be a little bit of a drama queen sometimes. “And how did she take it?”

  “Uh well it took me about ten minutes to reassure her that you were okay. Then she was demanding Skylar drive her back here so she could take care
of you but she settled down after I explained I have everything under control.”

  “Yeah that sounds like Ally. She’s the one person that’s been there for me the past few years, she’s like a sister. I’m sure Skylar had his hands full with her this morning.”

  “I know shes pretty awesome but Skylar seems to handle her pretty well. She said to call if you need to talk to her though. Apparently I don’t know about women’s feelings or something.”

  I smoothed my hair out and gathered it up into a ponytail and then found my purse that I had thrown in the corner of the bedroom to dig out my keys. “I think you have a pretty good handle in that area. I’m going to take a quick shower and I’ll grab some things from my apartment and meet you out front in about 30 minutes, sound good?” I lean down and kiss Caleb on the forehead who’s found a game on Chases computer. “You gonna be okay with Chase for a minute buddy?”

  “Yup I’m a big boy now ‘member Mommy?”

  “Oh sorry I totally forgot.” What was I thinking three years old, he’s practically a grown man.

  “Yup, I’ll see you in a bit,” Chase stops me before I leave the room and pulls me into a hug. “You doing okay with all of this?”

  “Yeah I’m good. I think I just needed to get a long cry out of my system but I’m really okay. Especially thanks to you,” I say as I stand on my tiptoes and place a quick kiss on the corner of his mouth. “Now hurry it up, I’m sure we’ll be hitting tons of holiday traffic.”

  I head across the hall to my own apartment and pull out a comfy outfit of jeans and a hoodie for the long car ride before heading into the shower. Afterwards I toss a few clean outfits into a small rolling suitcase along with some underwear and bras, selecting a few of my sexier pieces in case things go any farther with Chase. I tuck in my bikini at last minute, thinking the hotel that Chase booked might have a pool. Now onto Caleb. He’s never been on this long of a road trip before and I’m not sure how he’ll do, it should be interesting. Plenty of snacks and toys should do the trick. Hopefully. Before heading out to meet Chase I grab my cell phone and dial the one person that I figured should know about mom.