One of the Guys (34 page)

Throwing myself on my bed, the
conversation with Stu came to the forefront of my mind.

“
Deal with this later.”

“
I know what
you
think
you’re seeing up there…”

It didn’t make sense. It was if he
knew something I didn’t. I was going to find out
exactly
what he
knew.

After showering, I drove to Lex’s
house. Some of the guys were already there. Heading out to the back
of the house, I saw Lex and Adam talking.

“
Logan! I’m glad you came, dude.”
He said.

It looked as though he wasn’t
expecting me to come after all.

“
Yeah. I needed to get out and take
my mind off… things.”

Lex nodded. Knowing what I was
talking about, and not letting Adam know.

“
So, is Chase coming?” Adam asked,
and Lex slowly closed his eyes and then dropped his head. As if he
were saying ‘Oh shit’.

“
Why? Why would you ask that?” I
asked, my blood beginning to reach a high simmer.

“
Whoa, Logan. He’s just making a
comment.” Lex raised his hands in front, obviously wanting me to
calm down.

“
Still mad at you?” Adam
asked.

Of course, he would’ve found out. A
lot of the kids at school thought Chase and I were together and had
broken up.

“
I told him what happened, sorry.”
Said Lex. “He wanted to know what was up with you.”

“
Fucking fantastic!” I said. “So
you’ve all been having a great time laughing behind my
back?”

“
No, it’s not like that.” Adam
said. “I was concerned. Your head wasn’t in the game, during
practice. I didn’t say anything to anybody else.”

“
It doesn’t matter anymore.” I
said, turning away. I walked out into the garden, grabbing a beer
from the cooler on my way.

I’d sat for a little while, when
Pike joined me, passing me another beer. We sat in silence; Pike
showing his support by not leaving me on my own.

Downing the beer, I saw Stu coming
out with Carl. Closely behind, I saw that fucking asshole who’d
taken her away from me.

Liam fucking Walters.

I wanted to kill him right
there.

Stu said something to him and then
came over to me.

“
Hey, guys.” He said
happily.

“
What the fuck
Stu?!” I whisper shouted. “What happened to being on
my
side?”

Stu looked around before gesturing
for me to move away from prying ears.

“
I
am
on your side.” He
said, keeping his voice low.

“
Yeah, so coming
in with Liam, after he was at the game with Chase is
considered
my
side?”

“
It’s not what you think, Logan.”
He said, looking nervous.

“
Really?” I
asked sarcastically. “So what
do
I think, Sherlock?”

“
Logan, he’s not with
Chase.”

“
Yeah, he sure looked like it.
Sitting there, smiling at her and making her laugh. No, that didn’t
look cosy as fuck.” I snarled, the beer buzz giving me loose
lips.

“
He’s not. Look,
he went with her, but he’s not
with
her.”

“
How can you be
so sure, Stu? In fact, you seem to know a
lot
more than usual
today. So come on… tell me!”

“
Because he’s… with me.”

“
Huh?” I asked, frozen to the
spot.

“
Liam’s with me. We’re… together.
Chase hooked us up. That’s why he was there with her; for
me.”

“
Ohhh.” I said as it dawned on me
what Stu was saying.

A grin spread across my face, and
before I knew it I was wrapping my arms around Stu and hugging
him.

“
Um… Logan?” Stu
asked, pushing me back. “You
do
realize what I’ve just told
you?"

“
Yeah. You’re point is…?” I asked,
still grinning like an idiot.

“
Liam and I…”

“
I get it, Stu. Liam’s your date.
Good for you. Hey, I’m glad you told me. Do the others
know?”

“
No.” He replied, looking visibly
relaxed. “Just you and Chase.”

“
Cool. If they give you shit, let
me know.” I said.

“
Thanks Logan.” He smiled. “So…
what are you going to do now?”

“
I’m going to drink lots of
alcohol.” I said.

I had a new plan, and this time… It
wasn’t going to fail.

*****

Chase

A couple of the girls were going to
Lex’s party, but I wasn’t going. Neither was Sian. She was out on a
date with Kate, not caring that she wasn’t showing up to her
‘boyfriends’ party. Poppy wasn’t going because of Carl.

I
didn’t
want to be there because of Logan.

I’d seen the look on his face when
he’d seen me sitting on the bleachers next to Liam.

He was furious.

After approaching Liam, telling him
what I’d seen, I’d convinced him to call Stu.

He did, saying I’d told him to
call, and voila… they agreed to go on a date.

I was happy for them.

If only it’d been that simple for
me all that time ago.

I had to stop thinking about what
could have been and think about how to forget. Of course, it was
easier said and done when the constant reminder walked around
school. Still looking as gorgeous as ever.

I couldn’t help but still feel
drawn to him.

Even when he tried to intimidate me
with his closeness and touching.

I never admitted it to the girls,
but his touching made me weak in the knees. That’s why I wanted him
to stop. I didn’t want to feel those things for him, but every time
I felt him, I was right back there with him. Just us.

It was torture.

After spending a couple of hours
with Bren, and her trying not to talk about Logan, I’d gone home to
watch TV. It was pretty late when my movie ended, so when I got up
to turn off my TV, I was surprised when my phone rang.

I didn’t recognize the number, and
because it was so late, I wondered who it could be. I declined the
call, but then it rang immediately afterwards.

What if it was Liam?
No, I had his number saved.

I declined again, but then it rang
straight away.

Whomever it was,
really
wanted to speak
to me.

My curiosity getting the better of
me, I answered.

“
Chase, don’t hang up.”

“
What? Who is this?” I asked,
annoyed.

“
It’s Carl. Don’t hang
up.”

The one number I didn’t have so I
could block it.

“
What do you want?”

“
It’s Logan…” I heard the slight
panic in his voice.

“
What about him?”

“
Chase, he’s completely out of it.
He’s drunk and keeps talking about driving over to see you. I
managed to get his keys, but the guys had to hold him back so I
could take them from him. He’s saying something about boosting a
car. Chase, you need to come get him.”

My stomach rolled.

Logan was prepared to drive drunk
so he could see me. Just the thought of what could happen if they
hadn’t taken his keys gave me chills.

“
Can’t any of you take him home?” I
asked, not wanting to see him in that state.

“
No. We’ve been drinking too. We
all got cabs here.”

Fuck!

I didn’t want them to put him in a
cab on his own. If he showed up here, in that state, my Dad would
go ballistic.

“
Fine. I’m on my way.”

I heard Carl blow out a relieved
breath.

“
Thanks Chase.”

Ending the call, I grabbed my
phone, and keys, and headed over to Lex’s house.

Arriving there, I saw that the
house was full. Making my way through the bodies, people stopped to
greet to me; happy to see me there.

The last time I was at Lex’s nobody
paid attention, and the few that did only said hi.

Now, though, they paid me the
attention I’d never gotten before.

Offering a quick ‘hi’ in reply, I
made my way through the sea of people, stopping for a second when I
spotted Carly, Charlotte, and Gretchen talking to a few of the
football team.

Before I could speak to them, Carl
ran towards me.

“
Chase.
Thank
God
you’re here.” He said, like he was out of breath. “He’s out
of control. He’ll only speak to you.”

I narrowed my eyes at him,
wondering if he were up to something. Something like he was fucking
around, and Logan was fine, only for Carl to laugh at
me.

“
Look.” He continued. “I’m sorry
about everything. I was a royal dick, and I took my jealousy out on
you.”

“
Jealousy?”

“
You and Logan were close. I wanted
that with… someone… and I had the stupid thought that she was
staying away because of you.”

“
What? Why?”

“
Because you were hanging with us
and she’d feel left out or different.”

Now, it made so much sense. It
had
nothing
to do
with curbing what they said or did. He was so full of
shit.

“
That’s why you were nice to Sian.”
I said, and Carl looked guilty. “If you were nice to her, then
Poppy would want in.”

Carl looked surprised that I
knew.

“
I’m not blind, Carl. Besides, the
reason Poppy never came over was because you were being an ass to
me.”

“
Huh?” He asked, looking
confused.

“
Yeah. Ironic, huh?”

I walked past Carl, leaving him
with his thoughts, and found my way to the back of the
house.

Through the rear doors, I saw Logan
sitting down; Lex, Pike Stu, and even Liam, guarding him so he
couldn’t go anywhere.

“
Logan, you need to calm down.” Lex
said. “You’re not helping yourself by getting shit
faced.”

“
Let me go, Lex!” Logan slurred. “I
want to see Chase!”

“
Not in that state, dude. You’re
not going anywhere.” Said Pike, moving as Logan tried to stand.
“You need to lie down.”

“
Guys, I’m here.” I said, looking
at Logan.

He turned to me, with his glassy
eyes, a smile breaking out on his face.

The guys moved so he could
stand.

“
Chase!” He said, standing and
throwing his arms around me, holding me tight. “I miss you so
much.” He said, burying his face into my neck and taking a deep
breath in as if he were smelling me.

I couldn’t let his hard, warm body
affect me, fighting the goosebumps that broke out over my skin as
he held me in his arms.

“
Keys.” I said. Holding out my
hand.

Carl appeared and put Logan’s keys
in my hand. I wasn’t going to drive Logans’ car, but I wasn’t going
to risk leaving his keys in case they went walkabout.

“
Let’s get you home.” I said,
gently, pushing him back so the guys could take hold of
him.

“
No. You’re going to leave me
again.” He slurred, upset.

“
You need to go home. I’m driving
you. Let’s go.”

With one of his arms around my
shoulders, Lex held his other side and we guided him through the
house, with Pike following.

“
Chase! Are you ok? What’s going
on?” Charlotte asked when she spotted me.

“
It’s ok, Charlie. I got this. I’ll
see you tomorrow.” I said as I continued to guide Logan out the
door.

Getting Logan to my car, Lex and
Pike got him into the passenger seat and I fastened his
belt.

“
Thanks for coming, Chase.” They
said together.

“
No worries.” I replied, before
pulling away from the curb.

*****

“
Why aren’t you
my friend, Chase?” Logan asked, his voice tight.

“
Logan, now’s not the time.” I
replied.

I didn’t want to have that
conversation when he wasn’t all there.

“
I didn’t mean
anything Chase, I swear.” He said, leaning back in his seat. “I
never forgot you, not once.” He slurred. “How could I
forget
my
Chase?”