First thing I noticed after I was able to peel my eyes open was the pounding in my head, I don’t think I’ve ever been that wasted in my life and I can normally hold my liquor pretty well. Second thing I noticed was that my bed felt strangely empty when I realized Leah wasn’t next to me. I figured she was up with the little dude but after a quick search of the small apartment, I quickly got my answer.
No familiar sounds of cartoons coming from the living room TV or the squeals from Caleb that I loved to hear. Maybe they went out, I did kind of sleep in pretty late. I needed to find my phone though, no clue where it was or if I still even had it. Before I got very far I heard a pounding coming from the front door. Shit I need some aspirin.
The pounding continued till I got there. Maybe Leah forgot her keys. I open up the door but not to what I expected. Instead I had one pissed off looking blonde standing at my door with her hands on her hips. As soon as the door was open an inch she plows her way in like she’s on a mission and I was not getting in the way of that.
“Nice to see you too Al. Can I help you with something? Leahs not here.” I scrub a hand over my face. I really need a shower and a change of clothes.
“Gee you think Chase? She’s over at her own apartment. And that’s where she’s staying too.” O-kkk. Obviously something is wrong here and I need to figure it out pretty quickly.
“Uh Al. You think you could explain to me exactly why Leah and Caleb aren’t here?” She abruptly stops what’s she’s doing and gets in my face. “Really Chase don’t play stupid. You need to tell me what’s going on cause Leah certainly isn’t.” She jabs her pointer finger into my chest like she’s trying to prod the information out of me.
“Trust me Ally I wish I knew. I have no clue, I had a ton to drink last night.”
She huffs out a breath at me and stomps angrily back to the door. “Whatever Chase. I never saw you as one to play the too drunk off my ass to remember cards and you know that’s not gonna fly with Leah.” I try to follow her across the hall and squeeze my way through the door. I’m sure if I can just talk to Leah the whole situation would be cleared up quickly but Ally is not having it.
“Don’t Chase seriously! She doesn’t want to see you right now.” I plop myself down in the hallway. Guess I’ll get comfortable here then until Leah decides to talk to me and clue me in on what the problem is exactly. “I’ll be right here when she’s ready then.” The only answer I get is a slamming of the door.
It felt like I sat there for hours before the door opened again. I glanced down at my watch. Nope only about 30 minutes but still. My freakin’ head was pounding, my breath smelled like ass, and I seriously needed a change of clothes. Of course it wasn’t Leah though. Just Ally and Caleb.
“You’re still out here Chase? You’re really going to be waiting awhile.” I ignore her and squat down to Calebs level. “Hey little buddy, what’s up?” I run my hand through his brown curls that remind me so much of Leahs. I really need to get him in for a haircut before Leah turns him into a girl. First nail polish, now long hair, not gonna happen. I’m sure my input probably wouldn’t matter right now.
“Nothing, Mommy’s in a bad mood. Auntie Ally’s taking me to get sketti, you wanna come?” I look over Calebs shoulder and get the death glare from Ally who’s shaking her head fiercely at me. Does she think I’m stupid? First of all I’m not gonna miss a chance Leah happens to come out of , second of all Leah would be seriously pissed if she found out I went anywhere with Caleb right now. I know how protective of him she is and he doesn’t need to get involved in our mess.
“Nope I’m a little busy bud maybe next time.”
He lets out a little giggle before grabbing a hold of Ally’s hand again. “Your silly. All your doing is sitting in the hall. And you smell funny.” He scrunches up his little nose and backs up from me.
“Thanks dude, I appreciate it.” Ally scowls at me again over Calebs head and I swear her blue eyes are trying to shoot ice straight through my head. I’m pretty sure I don’t like this side of Ally at all. Where’s my peace, love, and all that shit girl at right now? Usually she’s my biggest cheerleader, obviously I messed up pretty bad.
I try knocking a few times while their gone but don’t get a response and when I put my ear up to the door I hear nothing but silence. Okay I need to think up a new plan. This is freakin’ killing me not knowing what’s going on as I pace up and down the hallway, getting strange looks from my neighbors who come and go down the hallway.
“Chase your still here? You want some of my sketti, I got a doggie box. I told the lady we don’t have a doggie but she said I could still have it.” Caleb walks up pulling a still pissed off Ally behind him. Yup I hate that the thoughts creeping into my head but heres my in and I’m not gonna pass it up.
“Sure buddy, I’ll come over to your place. I need to talk to your Mommy first though if that’s okay.” If looks could kill I would have been dead about five minutes ago. Ha Ally, I’m sure I’ll get my ass chewed out about this later. Oh well.
Caleb plops down onto the couch while Ally turns a cartoon on for him and then tries to block my way protesting the whole way but I just brush her aside. “Sorry Ally but I need to talk to her. She’s not gonna push me away.”
“No, I don’t think that’s a good idea….just stop….please just give her some time…NO.”
I can hear the water running in the bathroom attached to Leahs bedroom and I guess I should seize the opportunity. She doesn’t have anywhere to run. “I’m sorry Leah, I tried to stop him,” Ally says over my shoulder when Leah opens up the shower curtain to see who interrupted her.
“It’s okay. Just keep Caleb occupied for a little bit please,” she calls out to her and Ally leaves the room, shutting the door behind her. And we’re alone. I have no idea what to say to her but the hurt look crossing her face and the pain that’s evident in her wide gray eyes tears my heart apart and puts a heavy weight on my chest. “What do you want Chase,” she spits out in an icy tone that I’ve never heard directed at me before.
“Leah,” I manage to choke out through my tightened throat and I step into the shower fully clothed, trying to wrap my arms around her small body, brushing her wet hair out of her face. “Stop Chase.” She squirms away from my reach and stands as far away from me as possible in the small containment of the shower.
“What’s wrong Leah, what did I do,” I ask pleadingly, hoping she can fill me in on how I caused her so much hurt so I can fix it.
“Really Chase. You even need to ask? I think I left enough evidence on your bed for you to clear anything up. Now please. GET OUT.” I clench my eyes shut tight and rub the bridge of my nose, maybe if I concentrate real hard I can remember.
“What evidence? I still don’t know what your upset about Leah but I’ll just give you a little bit of space for now. But please don’t cry Leah,” I reach over and try to swipe at a stray tear with my thumb. Even crying she’s so beautiful with her eyelashes all clumped together into spiked black clumps. She flinches at my touch and I pull back at her rejection, clenching both of my hands into fists to resist from the overpowering need to comfort her. “I don’t need any space right now Chase. We’re done. End of story.”
“Leah don’t say that, whatever I did or whatever you think I did we’ll get past it. I promise.”
She doesn’t even answer me with a reply, just turns her back to me and I know I’ve been dismissed. “I love you,” I rasp into her ear before pulling my weighted down body out of the shower. Now I needed to pull it together. Caleb was already going to be wondering why I was wet, he doesn’t need to be involved. I love that little guy like he was my own.
“Chase your being so silly today. You don’t take baths with your clothes on. You can borrow some of my jammies.” I force a smile onto my face and try not to drip onto the carpet.
“I know buddy. I’m gonna take a rain check on the spaghetti though okay? I don’t think your jammies will fit me so I’m gonna head home and get some of my own. We’ll han
g out soon, I promise.”
I leave Caleb curled up watching movies with Ally and head back to my apartment to take a warm shower and get a dry change of clothes. I hear the familiar chirp of my phone alerting me I have a message. I don’t even remember the last time I saw my phone, at least I know it’s here somewhere. Might as well clean up my room while I try to find it.
The only thing bad about Leah living with me was she’s kind of a slob. And with how she’s acting right now who knows if she’ll ever come back. I toss a few things into the laundry basket and hear the chirp again, coming from the direction of my bed. I toss back the blankets on my bed.
Aha! And what the fuck are these? I hold up a red see through thong that I’ve never before seen in my life and I know it’s not Leahs. She’s more into those sexy boy shorts that her ass fits so well into. I stare at the offending panties like maybe they’ll bring back some kind of memory but nothing comes. Oh fuck what did I do last night?
I pick up my phone and start scrolling through about a million messages, the majority of them from some chic named Missy. Missy, Missy. I know that name, she’s some girl that happens to show up at like every performance we have and can never seem to keep her hands off me. She’s not bad looking to say the least with her mile long legs and tits about the size of my head.
Speaking of tits those ones look pretty familiar, it’s pretty hard not to recognize them when she’s always trying to rub them in my face. But I’ve never seen ‘em uncovered before and why the fuck was she sending me a picture like that? She might look alright but she’s not Leah and I wouldn’t touch anyone other than her with a ten foot pole.
Now I know why Leahs pissed, I’d be fuckin’ hot too if I found shit like this on Leahs phone. I grab my keys from the usual spot by the front door. No clue how I got home last night, I hope I didn’t drive but somehow my trucks here and I know the place I need to go and find out exactly what happened.
********************************************************
“Teddy! Come on man I know you’re in there, open up.” I pound my fist on the door and try to peer through the little side window on the front porch. I’ve been banging away for the past five minutes but still no answer, his cars parked in the driveway so I’m guessing he’s trying to avoid me. Not gonna happen. “C’mon douchebag, open it up or I’ll kick the fucker open.” I bend my leg back to do just that even though I know it’s gonna hurt like hell when the door swings open and Teddy stands there with a towel around his waist.
“Dude you’re up already? I figured you’d be out of it all day after last night, you were smashed.”
I push my way past him with my shoulder and he slams the door shut behind us. “What the fuck did you let me do last night Teddy?” He points a finger at his tattoo covered body with a smirk on his face. “Me? I’m pretty sure you should be thanking me right now Chase. So you’re welcome,” he says with a fist out to me which I promptly ignore. “I’m gonna go throw some clothes on and you can explain to me what your bitchy attitude is all about.”
I plop down onto the only couch in their living room that I’m pretty sure him and Mark found on the side of the road and it still reeks even with all the febreeze they sprayed all over it. They have the ultimate bachelor pad with a keg set up on the kitchen counter, various band and Bob Marley posters plastered all over the walls and dirty clothes over almost every surface, a lot of which look like souvenirs left behind by all of Teddys women he brings home. I know why Mark refuses to bring Remy back here, she’d probably catch herpes just by looking at the toilet.
“So,” Teddy says as he runs a hand through his shaggy blonde hair. The girls seem to go crazy over that look. “Whats wrong, Leah finally get sick of your ass and decide she wants a real man?” He blinks back at my stony expression and my fist twitches with the need to nail him in his smug looking face.
“Dude you know I’m just messing with you when I say that shit, c’mon spill lets have girl talk.” I explain everything that happened with Leah and everything that I found in my room and show him the messages on my phone. He sends the pictures to his own phone before he hands it back to me. “I need those for research.”
“Whatever dude, just tell me why those are there.”
“Well you’re in luck Mr. O’Neil,” he says with a wink. “Everyone was buying you shots last night after you told us about that teaching job you scored. So me being the awesome friend that I am stepped up as your DD. You’re welcome again by the way.”
He continues on after he finally figures out he’s not getting a thanks from me. “That Missy chic was all over you, doing that ‘accidental’ bump thing that women think they’re so sneaky about. I tried to take her off your hands but she wanted nothing to do with me, I think that was a first.” He pauses as he rubs a finger over his lip ring likes he’s contemplating how something like that could happen, women don’t usually say no to Teddy.
“She ended up with your phone number. I think you thought maybe if you gave it to her she would leave you alone. Even with all of your drunken babble about how fuckin’ amazing and beautiful and smart and blah blah blah about Leah. She still hung around, she’s resilient I’ll give her that.”
Well that explains a lot I guess and I can instantly feel the tension release out of my shoulders. I knew I wouldn’t have anything to do with another girl and if I did I know Leah wouldn’t put up with an excuse of ‘the liquor did it to me baby.’
“What about these?” I reach into my pocket and throw the scrap of material I found in my bed this morning into Teddys face. “Thanks bud, I’ll add these to the collection. Never thought I’d get a pair of Leahs.”
“They aren’t Leahs dude, sorry to break it to you. Apparently she found these on me last night after I somehow made it home. I can see why she left my ass after seeing all this.”
Teddy shrugs his shoulders at me and examines the scrap of red. “Well obviously there Missys. Looks like something her type would wear, trust me I know her type well. But you didn’t go anywhere with her man. Just cause I like to get a lot of action doesn’t mean I would let you mess up this thing you have going on with Leah, not that you were trying to anyways. But damn that girl was throwing herself at you. I knew I had to get you out of there before anything had the chance of happening. She did wrap that smokin’ hot body of hers around you before I pulled you out of there; she probably slipped ‘em in your pocket. That’s the only way I can see it happened, I didn’t let you out of my sight. I took you out for coffee, a buddy of mine followed behind us in my car and I dropped you and your truck off. You were still pretty wasted man but I know you made it into your apartment. Looks like that slut was trying to set you up. Probably figured this is what would happen and you’d use her as your rebound chic or somethin’.”
He pulls out a cigarette and lights it up like he’s congratulating himself for a job well done, taking a long drag before crossing his arms over his chest. “Like I said your welcome.”
I stand up and pound Teddys fist with mine, after all that he deserves some credit. I really would never expect something like that out of Teddy. He was one of those guys that seemed like he would never have any type of meaningful relationship with a woman but he took care of me when I needed it.
“Thanks bud, I owe you. Now I just need to figure out how to get Leah to believe me.”
“I’m here if you need me man. Send her my way if she doesn’t want you back, I’ll take care of that sweet ass of hers real good.” And that’s the old Teddy that I was waiting for.
Chapter 24
Leah
After Ally finally convinced me I needed to get out of the icy cold shower that had my whole body covered in goosebumps she wrapped me up in a towel and forced me to explain what happened with Chase which I did because I knew she wouldn’t leave me alone until then.
After a few choice words that I was surprised came out of her mouth about Mr. Perfect, she started pacing my room back and forth to plot her plan of revenge ag
ainst Chase. I knew that girl had an evil streak hidden beneath all of her sunshine and rainbows. I told her I didn’t care one way or another if she beat the shit out of Chase or keyed his truck, as long as she kept me out of it.
I reluctantly left Caleb with Ally so I could head to work but Ally insisted she really was fine hanging out with him. Which was a good thing since I had only just gotten back into work and I really needed the money. Having a kid was freakin’ expensive. It seemed like Caleb was constantly outgrowing every pair of shoes I bought him and of course he always wanted those cool light up ones and I was not about to tell the kid no. Add ontop of that all of his clothes, food, and the pay by the month health insurance I had picked up for him, I needed to work.
Luckily Remy was off tonight so I could avoid her for a little while longer. I’m sure Mark would be filling her in soon enough if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes last night. I wonder why she didn’t try to call me. Remy was a good friend and she surely wouldn’t turn the other cheek if she caught Chase doing something with someone other than me.
I worked with a new girl, Tessa, who had been hired while I was recuperating. She seemed quiet but was a good worker and helped with some of my tables that I seemed to be slacking on. I messed up orders all night and even managed to spill half a pitcher of beer on someone’s lap. He didn’t seem to mind much though especially after I fumbled around to trying to dry it off his pants with a towel.
Guys are such assholes. A girl so much as touches them and they turn into pervs. Thankfully we were unusually slow and I headed back out the door around eight with pizzas in tow. Ally and I had decided on a movie night. She insisted we needed lifetime movies and junk food. They could solve anything apparently.
Chases truck was still missing from the parking lot and I tried to keep my mind from wandering about where he could be. Probably with his stripper, I’m sure he had a much less guiltier conscience since I ended things or maybe that was the thrill for him. Not going to think about, not going to think about it I repeated the mantra over in my head.
Chasing Leah (Journey Series) Page 19
