Chasing Leah (Journey Series) (5 page)

 Just as I stick my keys
into my black clutch, the door across the hall from ours pops open and out steps
tattoo guy,
Allys
quickie from the first night we had
went out. Jeez he really gets around, is he trying to conquer his way through
all of the single tenants in the building? He locks his bright green eyes on to
me and flashes his dimples at me
.“
Oh hey Leah. Wow you
look really good.”

Even his voice is sexy, kind of
low and gruff like he just woke up.
Or just got done having
wild ah-
mazing
animal sex.
Get your head out
of the gutter Leah. I bite my bottom lip anxiously- how does this guy know my
name? I don’t remember introducing myself and I certainly didn’t catch his
name. Ally must have mentioned it to him.
“Uh, hi….thanks.
Sorry I’m in a bit of hurry. Good to see you again,” I wave over my shoulder as
I hurry away and see him staring after me with his hands stuffed in the pockets
of his jeans and an amused look plastered on that oh so amazing face of his. I
really need to get out of here before I suddenly find my panties on the floor
and am added to his list of conquests.

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

The dinner party was just as I
expected. Everyone came out trying to up class all of the other attendees by
who was driving the most expensive car, had the best designer clothes or the
most jewels dripping lavishly off their bodies. Gage looked handsome in his
charcoal suit and black dress shirt with the top two buttons undone. He was
definitely in his element here, escorting me around the crowd and introducing
to me an endless amount of people.

All of the alums were in
attendance so I figured I would be meeting his dad tonight too. Gage had an arm
wrapped around my waist as he introduced me to his father who was an older,
grayer version of Gage and his step mother, Catherine, who looked young enough
to be Gages slightly older sister with her sleek blonde bob and enough diamonds
on to feed a small country for a year. “Hello Leah, so nice to meet you,” she
says with an upturn of her clearly fake nose as she gives me two air kisses on
each cheek. “So we’ve heard a little here and there about you from Gage. We’ll
have to get together sometime soon for brunch at the club so we can chat, just
us girls.” Wow that sounds like a ton of fun and definitely not something a
friend
would probably be doing with ones
friends
step-mother.
I smile at her not wanting to embarrass Gage and politely answer back, “Oh of
course that would be great. I’ll have to check my schedule though I’ve been
super busy with work and school.”

Gages father who seemed to be
studying me since we were introduced interrupted, “So Leah what do your parents
do for a living?”
Uhh
….
I had been hoping to avoid this question tonight but it
always seemed to come up in situations like these. “They’re both kind of out of
the picture. I’ve been living with my Grandmother the past few years.” 
Mr.
Mccroy
nods his
head,
he’s eyes darting around the room like I’ve already lost his interest since I
don’t come from an influential family. I hear his name being called by another
guest that I had been introduced to earlier in the night. “Excuse me, it was
very nice to meet you Leah, it’s not often that Gage brings any girls around.”
Really, huh?
That kind of surprises me, he seems like he’s
such a ladies’ man and oozing with confidence whenever we’re out together, I
know I’ve seen girls checking him out all over campus.  I look over at
Gage and he looks down sheepishly at a spot in the floor that all of a sudden
looks rather interesting.

“C’mon,” he places his hand on
the small of my back and leads me to my seat before dinner starts. “So I’m the
first girl you’ve ever brought around, huh?” I raise an eyebrow at him. He
flashes a tight smile at me before lightly running his fingers on over my bare
shoulders. Yup, he definitely thinks were more than just friends
.“
Well I wouldn’t say the first but I don’t do it often. You
see how some of these people can be a little….pretentious. Your special to me
though and you kind of have the attitude where you don’t care what anyone
thinks about you.”

I shrug my shoulders, “I just
like to be myself. I’m not going to pretend to be someone I’m not just because
they drive a nicer car than me.” Gage moves his long fingers to the base of my
neck and rubs lightly, “Thanks for coming with me Leah you definitely make it
more interesting.”

We finish our meals and Gage
does his rounds saying goodbye to his father’s acquaintances as we make our way
towards the exit. Gages father leans in and murmur something in his ear as we
leave and I can see Gages body tense up, his jaw tighten as he gives a quick
shake of his head. “Thanks for coming Leah, it was very nice to meet you,” Mr.
Mccroy
says stiffly. “Thanks for having me I had a great
time,” I grab Gage’s hand as he pulls me hurriedly to the door.

I slide into the passenger seat
as Gage climbs in and slams his door, hitting his fist on the steering wheel. I
can see the anger flash through his eyes as he guides us out of the parking
lot. “Gage what’s wrong? I thought we had a nice time. Did your father say
something to upset you?” He sniffs before giving me quick sideways glance. “No
nothing that I haven’t heard before Leah. It’s just….you’re so…different than
anyone I’ve ever brought around before.” I rub my hands on my skirt trying to
wipe away the sweatiness. “So I take it your father didn’t approve of me?”

 He dryly laughs before
replying. “He doesn’t approve of anyone Leah unless their parents our in his
‘class’. I’m sorry I shouldn’t have taken you there.” I chew on my lip and look
down at my hands. “I don’t mean it like that,” he says, “I just don’t want you
treated poorly because you didn’t have a privileged childhood like I did.” I
grab one of his hands in mine
.“
Trust me Gage I know
how people can judge you based on your parents. You’re a good
guy,
you’re not like your father at all.” I see his
shoulders relax as I rub my hand on his thigh reassuringly. Okay now maybe I’m
going over the
friends
line a little bit, but he is a
good guy and his father is an asshole.

Gage pulls up to drop me off and
runs around to open my door for me. “Thanks Gage, I had a nice time tonight.”
And before I know it Gages lips are planted squarely against mine and I
instantly tense up from the abruptness. He seems likes he’s trying to devour my
mouth, probing with his tongue trying to inch my mouth open that’s clamped
tightly shut.

“Gage,” I push lightly on his
chest and he abruptly pulls away rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m really not
looking for a relationship right now.
Seriously.
I
have way too much going on that you just wouldn’t understand. Can we be just
friends or do we need to end this now?”

“Yeah sorry Leah.
I just got a little carried away.” He shoves his hands into his suit coat and
shuffles his feet on the parking lot, kicking stray rocks around.

“Gage you’re a great guy, any
girl would be lucky to have you
ya
know?”

“Yeah but the one girl I want is
the only one I can’t get.”

I feel badly that I’ve hurt his
feelings but a friend is all I can be right now.
And not that
I’m some kind of hopeless romantic or something but I didn’t feel any kind of
sparks or fireworks when he kissed me.
Like at all.

“Kay well thanks again well get
together soon Gage.”

“Bye Leah,” he says in a
defeated voice and jumps back into his car.

I step into the apartment and
Allys
sprawled out on the couch with
Skylar
watching movies.

“Hey guys, how was Caleb
tonight?”

“Great as usual, we even got him
to try some of our tofu.”

I groan and plop down in the
recliner, kicking off my heels.
“Really Al?
You are
not allowed to turn him into a vegetarian.”

“I don’t think you have to worry
about that,”
Skylar
replies. “He spit it back out in
my hand and demanded something good.” Sounds just like Caleb. He can be a
sweetheart but he can also be a demanding little man.

“How was your ‘date’?” Ally asks
with the little bunny ears. “Well it wasn’t a ‘date’,” I answer back. “But you
were right, Gage clearly thought differently about our whole relationship.
Maybe I just can’t be friends with a guy.”

“Well you’re pretty hard to
resist,” she replies back with a wink. “
Me
and
Skylar
are going to head back to his place. Are you free
tomorrow? I was thinking we could do a girls day, well plus our little man,
maybe a little shopping and some lunch.”  Tomorrow being Sunday I have a
day off and am free of school so that sounds perfect. “Yeah Al, I’ll see you
tomorrow around
noonish
. You two have a good
night.” 

Leah

We head out early the next day
and grab some lunch at a little deli near an outdoor shopping plaza. I found a
few cute shirts and shoes that I splurged on with a little of the spending money
I set aside from the tips I had been raking in at
Ginos
.
I rarely bought new clothes for myself, most of that extra money went towards
stuff for Caleb but I figured I was due for a few new things. Kids were
expensive and while I loved him and all I wouldn’t be having one of my own for
a long
long
time, if ever.

“So,” Ally says as she pulls out
of the parking lot of the outlets to head back to our apartment. Caleb has
already conked out in his car seat after running from store to store with us
and he has arms wrapped around the new stuffed giraffe that Ally bought for
him. “You sure you don’t want to date Gage? I know it’s hard with Caleb but I
don’t mind helping and you deserve to have some fun every once in awhile.”

“Ally,” I give her a warning
tone. “Please don’t
start,
you know how it is for me.”

“Nope, not
gonna
accept that Leah. You just don’t want to put yourself out there so you can’t
get hurt. It’s going to happen but someday you’ll find your Mr. Perfect. Now I
don’t think that’s Gage, he’s
kinda
stalker-
ish
the way he always just happens to pop up wherever you
are, but sometimes you have to kiss a
lotta
toads to
get your prince charming. I mean are you planning on staying a virgin till
Caleb turns 18 or something?”

“Stalker-
ish
?
Is that even a word? Gage isn’t a stalker Ally,
I know you don’t seem to like him but he’s a good guy.
A good
friend.
As far as dating him I just don’t get that vibe. So when I think
I’m ready you’ll be the first to know.”

She huffs out a breath as we
pull into the parking lot. “Fine
be
that way Leah. I
do have someone you should meet
though,
we just never
seem to run into each other lately.”

Ally grabs our bags from the
trunk while I hoist Caleb up onto my hip and we head upstairs as Ally opens our
door and throws are purchases onto the couch. “You
wanna
lay down for a bit baby?” I ask a sleepy Caleb as he rubs his droopy eyes and I
lay him down on the recliner, covering him with a blanket before he quickly
dozes off again.

Allys
phone buzzes and it lights up with My Sky on the caller id. “Here, its lover
boy.” I toss the phone to her and she hits the side button to decline it. I
raise my eyebrows at
her,
normally she’s on the phone
with
Skylar
almost every minute she’s not with him.
“Trouble in paradise?”
She shakes her head at me, “No I told
him this was strictly a
girls
day. I felt like I
haven’t spent any time with you at all since we’ve gotten here it. I miss you.”
I roll my eyes at her, “Aw thanks Ally,
I
knew you
loved me. I do have a ton of laundry to catch up on though so I really wouldn’t
mind. We’ve had all day together.”

“You sure?
I could help if you want.” “Uh no but thanks I think I can handle my own
laundry. Now go!” She stands up and grabs her keys back out of her purse, her
phone already glued to her ear calling
Skylar
back.
“’Kay, see
ya
later. Don’t wait up either. Feel free
to have any guys over. Just stick a sock on the door or something.” She slams the
door behind her and I can hear her excitedly talking and giggling with
Skylar
. Ah young love.

I change out of my clothes and
put on a pair of comfy black yoga pants and a bright orange racer back tank top
and throw my hair up into a messy bun. If I’m feeling motivated enough I’ll hit
the gym down there while my laundry is running. I pack up a small backpack for
Caleb with some juice, snacks, and toys that will hopefully keep him
entertained for a little bit.

I grab my two overflowing
laundry bags and a sleeve of quarters. By the time I’m ready, Caleb is wide
awake and refueled for the day so we drag the laundry bags down the two flights
of stairs to the basement where the small laundry room and gym are.
Another plus to this apartment complex.
We didn’t have to
drag our stuff to the laundry mat every week and with the gym we could work out
whenever we wanted.

Surprisingly, I’m the only one
in there on a Sunday night and I grab two machines separating mine and
Calebs
clothes and dumping
detergent in. I grab some skittles from the vending machine, debating on
whether or not I want to head to the gym before getting Caleb settled. “Here
buddy you want to color while our clothes get all clean?” I rifle through
Calebs
favorite Elmo book bag and pull out two of his
coloring books, settling him down at a folding table that’s been stuffed into
the corner. “Sure Mommy. Can I have a snack too?”