Chasing Leah (Journey Series) (20 page)

“You think Leah?” Remy asks interrupting
my thoughts which again had drifted to Chase like always. I smiled at the
thought of his green eyes and realized how much I really missed him. We hadn’t
told each other we loved each other yet but I knew we both felt the same way. I
couldn’t imagine my life without him even after only being with him officially
for such a short time.

“Yes Remy you’re all he talks
about especially when you’re not around. He’s lucky to have you though so he
better be good to you or I’ll have to use some of my self -defense moves on
him.”

“Yeah those scared off Gage from
bothering you again, huh?

I hadn’t seen or heard from Gage
since Halloween night when I had put him in his place. Ally had told me after I
had left obviously shaken up, Chase had a few words with Gage too and had him
held up against the wall by his collar with one hand and the other was around his
throat. Chase had never mentioned anything about the incident to me and I never
brought it up but I figured whatever he had said combined with the damage I did
to him left Gage running with his tail tucked between his legs.

Remy and I both hustled to our
tables that were waiting to put in orders and to hand out bills. By the time
the last customer left it was close to midnight and both of us collapsed at a
nearby table to cash out for the night. I wiped down a few more tables and then
tossed my apron into a pile for the dirty ones. After a quick call to Ally to
check on Caleb, who of course was conked out, I was set to go.

“’Kay
Rem
I’m
gonna
head out. You almost finished up?” I ask as
I slide on my plaid pea coat and put my matching black hat and gloves on. I
press my nose up to the fogging door and see a coating of snow on the roads and
the few cars left in the parking lot.

“Yeah I’ll be right behind you
Leah. I just have a few things left to fill up. I’ll see you tomorrow at class,
yeah?”

“Bright and early, I can’t wait
till finals week is over. I’m seriously ready for winter break.” I say as I
open the door and instantly feel the chill that the snow blows in.

“Me too, be careful out there
Leah.”

“Always.
See
ya
Rem.” I wave to her over my shoulder and head
out to Chases jeep. He had ridden down with Teddy and Mark to their performance
they had scheduled and left me the jeep. I insisted I would be fine with my car
or walking but Chase wouldn’t agree with me on this one. He was ready to take
that piece of shit to the junkyard which I wouldn’t mind but it was nice having
my own car in case I ever needed it.

There was probably a few inches
of snow layered on the streets and sidewalks that had been untouched since
there wasn’t much traffic out around this time of night. This area of town
didn’t have a lot of
bars,
those were a few blocks
over from
Ginos
. My shoes crunched as I made a path
through the unmarked snow and I buried my face further into my coat to avoid
the heavy snow that was still coming down.

I heard the familiar ringtone
that meant Chase was calling just as I reached in for the keys. He had added
one of his guitar solos on as my ringtone for him and my heart skipped a beat
every time I heard it.

“Hello,” I answer with a smile
on my face.

“Hey baby, how was work?” Chases
gruff voice comes through the speaker and I swear my heart melts on the spot
just by the sound of it. “Oh
ya
know typical night,
my feet are killing me.” I unlock the car and root around the back seat. “Hey
do you have a snow brush somewhere in this mess?”

“Snowbrush, is it really snowing
there?”

“Yup, hence the snowbrush,” I
answer back sarcastically as I dig through empty fast food wrappers and school
books. Chases apartment might be clean but his car was a totally different
story. “Look in the way back babe. I think I stashed it there after last
winter.” I hear loud noise in the background- people talking over each other
and the sound of glasses clinking. “Aha,” I say as I grab the long brush and
begin to knock off the small accumulation that’s made its way onto the
windshield. “Are you guys at the reception right now?”

“Uh yeah, well it’s kind of like
an after party thing, just a few close friends of the bride and groom. Teddy
got invited so he brought us along.” I start up the jeep and turn
the defrost
on trying to warm up my hands by the cool air
that’s blasting out. The sound of a few women laughing comes over the speaker
loud enough to echo through the jeep. “
Chaaasssee
,” I
hear a high pitched voice whine, “
come
back here.”

“Uh who is that,” I ask as I
pull out of the parking lot. “No one important baby just one of the drunk
bridesmaids,” he says as the noise lessens. He must have moved farther away
from the party. “So we decided to come back a day early. Teddy got us a gig at
another bar across town.”

“That’s cool,” I absentmindedly
answer back as I try to push the images of drunken women throwing themselves at
my boyfriend. I trust Chase. He’s never given me a reason not to. It’s just
some of those women who don’t know what the word
no
means that worries me.

“That’s cool? Aren’t you excited
to see me Leah?” He sniffs through the phone like I hurt his feelings. “I miss
you so bad it hurts. The guys have been getting on me this whole trip saying
I’m no fun to be around anymore. All I can think about is you.”

My eyes tear up at his tender
words “Of course I’m excited. I’ve literally been counting down the minutes
till you get back. I’m pretty sure I’ve been driving Ally insane around the
apartment. She says I’m too depressing without you around.”

He lets out a husky laugh. “I’m
sure you even make being depressed look sexy Leah,” he takes a pause. “I really
didn’t want to say this over the phone but why wait, right? I love you so much
Leah.”

I grip the phone even tighter as
I turn onto Maple Street, just a few blocks from home. His words running
straight through and making me fall for him even harder if that’s possible. I
let out a shaky breath and whisper back to him, “I love you too Chase.”

“Good babe. I thought maybe you
would leave me hanging. I know you didn’t want to move too fast but I can’t
help myself with you.”

“I know
,
I feel the same way.”

“Kay well I should probably get
in there.
Gotta
make sure Teddy doesn’t get too out
of control and screw the brides little sister or something.” I laugh picturing
Teddy to be the kind of guy to do just that.

“
Bye
Chase I can’t wait till your home.”

“Bye baby.”

I hit the end button and toss my
phone onto the passenger’s seat as I pull up to a red light. My vision is
blurred by the unshed tears from Chase telling me he loved me. Those three words
made my heart swell with love for him even more since we had both now expressed
it to each other. At least he was coming home
sooner,
I don’t think I could spend another minute without him. I swipe the tears out
of my eyes and press down on the gas after the light turns green.

I make my way through the
intersection just barely before I hear a squeal of brakes and hear the crunch
of metal before I come to the realization that my door was being smashed into
as the jeep spins around in circles like one of those rides at the fair and I
scream just wanting it to stop but either no sound actually comes out or the crunching
is so loud that I can’t even hear myself. Time seems to go in slow motion from
there. Glass shards fly through the air pelting my whole body feeling like a
million beestings hitting my body all at once, my seat belt forcing my body
back as it tries to go the opposite direction and the air bag being deployed
with a loud pop.

I heard more cars hitting their
brakes and the sound of car doors slamming as a whir of voices came closer
towards me. All I could think about was getting to my phone I had to call
Chase ,
I needed Chase. He needs to take care of Caleb for
me, I can’t leave him alone. I stretch my fingers towards the other seat but
can’t find my phone. What is that warm wetness?  I look down and see blood
oozing down my arms from the glass that’s embedded itself through my coat. Oh
my head. It feels like there’s an elephant trampling through my brain over and
over again. “Chase…..” I was able to croak out before the world went black.

Chase

I shove my phone back in the
pocket of my black dress pants before heading back to the small party at the
club down the road from the reception hall. So I said it.
Finally.
And she actually said it back. I really wasn’t expecting that one. I’m pretty
sure I’ve been in love with Leah since the first time I’ve seen her but getting
it out there feels so much better.

I’m instantly assaulted by the
smoke and the scent of alcohol lingering through the air as soon I come back
through the doors of the VIP section we’re in. “Chase dude were you on the
phone.
Again?”
Teddy asks as I slide back into my seat
next to him. He has a different girl in his lap from before and I’m sure
there’ll be a few more before the nights over, the way these girls are chasing
down the liquor, shot after shot. “So how’s Leah?” Mark shouts in my ear over
the blaring music. “She’s good, better than good. She’s awesome.” Teddy smirks
over at me with a knowing look on his face. “Finally told her you love her
right dude?”

How does he know that kind of
shit? For someone who’s never been in a serious relationship once in his life,
he seems to know pretty much everything about them. “Dude if you weren’t
gonna
tell
her soon, I was going
to be stealing her from you. That girl needs to be with Teddy. I can show her
so many things with that hot little body of hers.” And there we go, good old
Teddy. “Fuck off Teddy. You don’t look at Leah.
Ever.
And if I ever see you lay one of your disease infested hands on her, I will
beat the living shit out of you.”

“Whoa, whoa buddy. Relax.
Just messing with you.”
He slurs out before taking another
shot that one of the many girls whose been throwing themselves at him all
night. I shake my head at a certain leggy brunette who’s been following me
around all night. I think her names Sarah, Sharon, Suzy.
Something
with an S.
Not like I care.

“Oh come on Chase. Live a
little. She’ll never know,” she purrs into my ear wrapping an arm around my
neck and trying to straddle my lap. “Thanks but no thanks.” I stand up and lift
her off my lap, setting her onto Teddy. I’m sure he’ll appreciate her. “I’m
outta
here. I’m
gonna
head back
to the hotel,” I shout over the music. Mark stands up and follows me out. “
Me
too bud. These kinds of things are just lame without your
girl, huh?”

Finally some
peace and quiet.
We step out of the club and walk down the empty road
into the stillness of the late night. Luckily this town is small enough that we
can walk pretty much everywhere and we head in the direction of the small bed
and breakfast the bride’s parents set us up at. “Speaking of my girl,” Mark
says as he reaches into his pocket, a big grin breaking out across his face as
he pulls out his ringing phone. Jeez we were both in love with our girls. Never
thought I’d see the day Mark would be smiling about a girls phone call like
that. He’s always been such a hard ass.

“Hey baby! Whoa
Rem
what’s the matter? Slow down, it’s okay angel.
Just calm down.”
I stop our walk towards the B&B so he
can concentrate on the phone call from Remy. Obviously something’s wrong. I
haven’t been around Remy much but I know she’s not a drama queen like some
girls. Leah wouldn’t be friends with a girl like that. “Here,” Mark says as he
shoves his phone into my hands and I look back at him with a questioning look.
He pats my back with one hand and motions towards the phone again. “She needs
to talk to you.” Me? Oh shit. A million thoughts run through my head and the
only one that comes to the surface is Leah. Something’s happened to Leah. “Hey
Rem
,” I say with a trembling voice, bracing myself for
whatever she has to say but knowing I’ll never be prepared if something’s
happened to Leah.
My Leah.
“Chase,” she says between
sobs and takes a big breath. “You need to get here now.
NOW.”

Yup this doesn’t sound good at
all. “Remy what’s going on? Is it Leah, tell me what happened? Please?”

I hear a few more sniffles come
through the phone and thankfully she’s seemed to pull herself together a little
bit. “There was an accident Chase. She was driving home after our shift, some
asshole creamed her. I left a little after her, if I would of just made her
stay with me maybe told her I needed help finishing up, this wouldn’t have
happened. The jeep is a mess. I just don’t…..you need to get here Chase. I’m in
the ambulance with her right
now,
we’re on our way to
the hospital.”

“Oh shit okay Rem. Can she hear
you, how bad is she? I need to….I’ll be there soon. Okay tell her I love her
and I’ll be there soon.” I hang up the phone without waiting for an answer from
Remy and push my fingertips into my eyelids. This can’t be happening. What
about Caleb? Shit I didn’t even think about him. “I need to get back right now
Mark.” He shakes his head at me and starts running back towards the club. Luckily
we haven’t made it very far. “I’ll be right back with the car dude, just
relax.” He shouts over his shoulder as I stand frozen to the pavement. “We’ll
get there in no time, she’ll be okay.”