Love Me | Series Book #1

SEVEN

I rushed into the nights air and caught a hold on him before he reached his vehicle.

"Chase I-"

"Forget it. It was my fault."

"How'd you even know where-"

"Aly told me. Said she saw you going up the stairs. Shit." He cursed again, pulling his keys out of his pocket. "I at least could have knocked."

He pulled the door to his truck open, and I gasped to see Leah sitting in the front seat. I watched as she took in my current state.

"Hey," I spoke softly to her, trying to catch my breath. "I thought you left."

She gave me a small smile.

"Yeah, we got halfway down the road before Chase realized that he left his extra house key with you. Misplaced his own," she chuckled.

"Oh," I nodded "But, I thought he was taking you home."

"We were gonna take a quick detour," he answered for her, still keeping his eyes off me. I looked away.

"But you should probably get back to your boyfriend. I can imagine he's throwing a fit for you leaving," he continued with a bit of edge in his voice. I shook my head, forcing all thoughts of him away, and climbed into the backseat.

"He'll be okay. We were done anyway." I lied, peering through the glass at the window directly above us. "I figure he'll wanna stay afterwards with the guys. You can just drop me off."

But, Chase didn't let it go that quickly.

"And what about your friends? I could've sworn Aly and Rachel climbed out with you earlier.."

How could I have forgotten?

I sighed.

"I'll grab them real quick. And if they complain, they're gonna have to get over it," I muttered, pulling open the handle to the door.

I re-entered the party, keeping my thoughts trained on my goal. There was no time to survey the area on a look out for him. I just prayed we wouldn't cross paths in the midst of all these people as I searched frantically for a five-six blond and a satin shirt stained with vomit. Fortunately, the latter came into view as she progressed towards me from the kitchen.

"Rache!" I practically threw myself into her. Her eyes widened.

"Um, yeah?" She questioned with wide eyes.

"We're leaving, where's Aly?" I asked craning my neck.

"Hm..." Rachel squinted. "Last I saw her, she was headed to the basement with Seth. Want me to find her?"

"Yes! That would be great. And when you do, meet me outside. Chase is parked by the road."

Her eyes momentarily lit up as I said his name. She nodded and without a moment's hesitation scurried away. My joy was short-lived as my eyes trained on Mason swiftly descending the stairs. I ducked out of sight, squeezing between more than several people as I bee-lined straight for the door. There was no time to look back to see if he'd spotted me or not, as I shot out of the room and back into the night. Chase's truck's headlights beamed on the pavement as I ran out to the side of the door. His eyes followed me with a neutral expression.

I pulled open the door and situated myself back into the seat.

"They coming?" He asked.

"Should be out in a minute."

That is, if Aly cooperated.

He continued tapping his fingers across the steering wheel while I studied the house. And shortly enough, the screen door jolted after five minutes of waiting. My breath caught in my throat to see Mason propping it for Aly and Rachel to step out. He made no movement to follow them, but his eyes remained fixated solely in my direction.