Chasing Leah (Journey Series) (7 page)

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 look 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.