Limitless (Journey Series) Page 5

  “Or maybe I won’t.” I dipped my head to take her hardened nipple into my mouth and sucked lightly. I loved the effect I had on her.

  “No way, you are most definitely not having your way with me again.” She pushed back on my head, her lips tightly pursed together, and pointed at the door. “Now, go fix me my dinner.”

  “Alright, alright. Sorry I can’t keep my mouth to myself,” I backed up with a smirk, pausing at the threshold to watch as her beautiful body slid off the counter and she dipped her toes into the waiting water. “Love you, baby.”

  “Love you too,” she responded, her gray eyes already drooping half shut. I knew I was probably going to have to lift her out of the bath too, but I didn’t mind. Maybe she would be ready again by then.

  Chapter 8

  Leah

  “Ugh, Leah, I feel like we haven’t had any time together since school started back up. I think you’re too busy with that husband of yours now. God knows I would be too.” Ally grabbed a fry off my tray and popped it into her mouth before reaching for another. My mouth dropped open and all I could do was stare. “What in the hell is the matter with you? Do I have something in my teeth?”

  “No, just wondering when you started eating normal people food again? I guess we really haven’t been spending much time together if I haven’t noticed this new development.”

  She shrugged her shoulders and this time snatched up the half of the burger that I hadn’t finished. Okay, now this was getting really weird. “You only live once, right? Besides, that was more of Skylar’s thing, I just sort of followed along. Plus, I really missed meat. I mean really missed it. I have no clue how people give that up forever.”

  I smirked as I watched her devour the hamburger. I guess her and Skylar’s breakup had brought some good. It was weird. The breakup really hadn’t ever seemed to bother Ally. I thought her and Skylar would be one of those relationships to go the distance, but Ally basically shrugged it off and moved on. “So speaking of Skylar, any new guys lately?”

  “Well, there is this one guy I’ve gotten to know at the Major Hoosiers concerts. We’ve actually been out on a couple of dates now. I think I really like him. He’s a nice guy. Pays attention to me, does all of those gentleman-y things you should expect. Doesn’t check out other girls right in front of you,” she added on with a grumble. Hmm, I wonder who did that?

  “Really? So no more Teddy?” I crossed my fingers under the table, hoping she was done with him once and for all. Teddy was an okay guy when it came to him being one of Chase’s best friends, but he certainly wasn’t worthy of my best friend. Not by a long shot.

  “Oh, I don’t know, L.” She tugged on her high blonde ponytail that had stayed its natural color for some time now. “He just doesn’t want to settle down, like at all. Yeah, I have a ton of fun with him, if you know what I mean.” She wiggled her eyebrows and giggled at me when she saw my eye roll.

  “But that’s basically all I am to him, a good time. I know I’m young, but really I don’t want to be with a guy who can barely keep it in his pants before I’m out the door, moving on with the next skank that throws herself at him. So time to move on and I think Tyler is a pretty good guy to do that with.”

  “Wait, hold up. Tyler? As in Tyler, the new guy in the band? Do you think that’s really a good idea? How does Teddy feel about that?”

  “Teddy couldn’t care less and I’m a grown woman, I can see whoever I want. Besides, have you seen Tyler? I mean, holy batman, he is smokin’. And he doesn’t slut around, which automatically scores him points in my book.”

  I pictured Tyler in my head, I had only met him a few times and he was no Chase, but he was a nice looking guy with short spikey blond hair and a tall lanky body. He did have a sweet sort of vibe coming off him when he played the guitar, but Ally was right, he didn’t seem like Teddy at all.

  In fact, he seemed like the complete opposite; quiet, reserved, and a little shy. Also, the complete opposite of my bubbly best friend. I had a feeling this whole thing was started up mainly to make Teddy jealous and see what he was missing, but for now I was keeping my lips sealed.

  “Well, that’s good. Maybe we could do a double date one night or something. Chase has been feeling like an old man lately, always working, and never getting out. Mary’s offered to take Caleb for a sleepover whenever we need a date night, so we should set something up.”

  Truly, I wanted to see how Ally and Tyler interacted. Maybe then, I would have a conversation with her about stringing Tyler along for the wrong reasons, if that was in fact what she was doing.

  “Okay, sounds good. I’ll give you a call, but now I need to head to class.” We both stood up, scooting out the chairs in the cafeteria, and grabbing our bags. “Me too.”

  We waved to each other as we headed opposite directions on campus but I stopped to grab my phone out when I heard it ringing. I hadn’t let my phone out of sight in the past week and I was hoping that this was finally it.

  “Mrs. O’Neil.”

  “Yes, this is she.”

  “This is Sherry from Diagnostic Labs, we are calling with the results for the DNA testing we performed on Caleb Rossi and Roy Barnum. We can confirm that Mr. Barnum is not excluded as the biological father of Caleb Rossi.

  “This in turn means that Mr. Barnum is the father because the analysis shows that their genetic profiles are compatible with a paternity result. These results have also been reported to Mr. Barnum. Do you have any other questions?”

  “Nope,” I answered back quietly. “I think you pretty much summed everything up, thank you.” I sat down in the grass and took a deep breath to try to clear my mind. My suspicions had been confirmed, now Caleb’s whole life was probably going to change and I really wasn’t sure what to do. One man could change everything for good. Well, I better just get this over with.

  I scrolled through the contacts on my phone and hit the call button, now or never. The phone rang twice before being answered. “Hi Roy, I’m assuming you have already been contacted…”

  Chapter 9

  Chase

  “I don’t like the guy. At all.” I leaned down to whisper in Leah’s ear and she nudged me sharply in the side with her elbow. “Shush, you just met him. Give him a chance, I don’t like this about as much as you, but it looks like he’s getting along with Caleb pretty well. For now, try to push your judgements aside.”

  I glanced over at Caleb who was busy showing Roy all of his favorite games at the arcade I usually took him to. Yesterday, that had been me he had been following around. I had pretty much made his year when we finally took him to pick out a dog.

  Caleb had taken an instant liking to a chocolate lab mix and we had taken him home. He even got to pick out the name, Tootsie, which he explained to us was because he looked like a Tootsie Roll. The one thing Leah was happy about was that Tootsie was house broken, which meant less work for her.

  I continued to watch Caleb and Roy and laughed when Caleb attempted to play skee-ball. It was pretty obvious to just about everyone that the two of them were father and son. Of course Caleb took an instant liking to Roy, that little guy got along with just about everyone. We still hadn’t explained who Roy actually was to him and I wasn’t sure when Leah was planning to.

  Caleb tugged Roy along by the hand back to the booth when he saw the waitress deliver our pizza. “So Roy, tell us exactly how you met Leah’s mom. I know what her type was and you certainly don’t look like it. Are you some motorcycle dude who just dresses up in business suits or what? Because I don’t want to be playing any games here.”

  “Chase!” Leah’s hand stopped midair where she was sliding a piece of pizza onto Caleb’s plate, narrowing her eyes and thumping me in the chest. Did she actually think that would hurt or something? “I don’t think that is a very appropriate thing to say.”

  “No, it’s all right, Leah.” Roy shook his head and gave me a small smile. “I’m sure Chase has questions since this is the first time we’re meeting and I
completely understand. I was on a business trip when I passed through and stopped at the bar Marie worked at. Honestly, the place looked seedy and most definitely wasn’t the kind of place I frequented. A long- term relationship that I had been in just ended and I was down in the dumps.

  “Trust me, I’m not one to typically drink but that day sort of called for it. Somehow, I ended up going home with Marie, and well, one thing led to another. I can’t say it was a mistake since this little guy is here now, but it was totally out of behavior for me.”

  “Alright, I guess I can accept that. I just want to know what your intentions are. Leah has done an awesome job raising Caleb on her own and now the three of us are a family.”

  “I understand that, but I would like to get to know Caleb. I’m not trying to steal him away.” I nodded my head, mulling his words over as we all dug into the pizza. Caleb kept up a constant chatter in between bites, telling Roy all about his school and friends.

  By the time we were ready to leave, I knew he would crash as soon as he was buckled into his booster seat. I was sure all of that talking had worn him out.

  Leah stayed to talk with Roy a few minutes longer while I buckled Caleb in. “All set, baby?” Leah boosted herself up into the truck and quietly shut the door behind her. Sure enough, Caleb was out.

  “Yup, I just wanted to talk to Roy about a few things, but not in front of Caleb. He wanted to set up some time where Caleb could come visit him at his house.”

  “Do you really think that’s a good idea?” I gripped the steering wheel tight as I pulled out of the parking lot and headed for home. I couldn’t imagine sending Caleb off to this guy’s house, he lived an almost an hour away. As far as I was concerned, he was still a stranger in my book. Wasn’t this a little too soon?

  “I don’t know, I told him I would think about it. Before that happens, I think I need to actually explain to Caleb who Roy is and I think we should have a few more meet ups like this one with all four of us. What did you think of him?”

  “He seemed nice enough, but I agree. Before he goes taking Caleb to his house, we need to get together a few more times and we need to check out his place to make sure it’s kid friendly. You know how Caleb gets into everything, especially at new places.”

  “Sounds like we have exactly the same idea.” She slid across the seat, resting her hand on my thigh, and laid her head on my shoulder where it seemed to fit perfectly. “I think we already have this whole marriage thing figured out pretty well.”

  Chapter 10

  Leah

  A couple of months had passed since Roy had come into our lives. He not only was trying to get to know Caleb, but also Chase and I. The first meeting had been a little rough between him and Chase, but after that Chase warmed up to the idea of getting to know him better, he quickly took a liking to him.

  I had finally explained to Caleb that Roy was his dad. He was a little confused at first since he thought Chase was his dad, even though he had actually never called him that, but just like any typical four year old, he quickly took to the idea. I think Chase occasionally got jealous at the natural bond that Roy and Caleb had, but he still got his bonding time with Caleb and he still followed Chase around constantly.

  I had been busy between finishing school, work, and spending time with my new husband and Caleb. The weekend had finally came where Caleb would be staying overnight at Roy’s house and I was nervous as hell. I trusted Roy, but I just wasn’t sure how I would handle Caleb being away so far.

  The doorbell rang, pulling me out of my thoughts of the upcoming weekend, and I ran to get it so Caleb wouldn’t wake up from his nap. Those were a rare commodity lately and he had been so high strung this morning, I had needed the break.

  Luckily, our new family member, Tootsie, hadn’t seemed to hear it either. It had taken me a little while to warm up to him when Chase and Caleb had first brought him home. I had never had any kind of pet growing up since I had to worry about taking care of myself and Caleb when he came along. Chase had always had some kind of pet in house, so he helped out a lot when it came to learning how to live with a dog.

  It was cute at how protective Tootsie was of Caleb. The two of them were best friends, and pretty much anywhere Caleb went, Tootsie went. Which was why the two of them were currently curled up in Caleb’s bed, snoozing away.

  “Hey honey.” Ally wrapped me in a quick hug when I opened the front door and stepped into the living room, dropping her bag on the couch. “Where’s the little man? I figured he would be attacking me by now. You know I actually come over here for him and not you, right?”

  “Gee, thanks, best friend. I love you too. Caleb is napping. I’m sure he’ll be up soon enough.”

  “Oh, okay. Well I wanted to talk to you about something anyway.”

  “Alright.” We both slid out bar stools at the island and I turned towards Ally who looked happier than usual for my perky best friend. I swear she took some kind of happy pill. Something was definitely up. Or she had taken an extra dosage. “Spill it woman.”

  “Okay, well… I guess I’ll just put it right out there. I’m going on tour with the band! Tyler asked me if I wanted to come along and I agreed. Honestly, I was a little surprised since we haven’t been too serious, but I jumped at the chance. Doesn’t that sound awesome? I get to be like one of their roadies; traveling all over the country and I know Remy’s going too, so I’ll have someone to hang out with backstage. Ah, I’m so excited!”

  I raised an eyebrow at her and her smile lessened just a bit. She was right when she had said her and Tyler weren’t very serious. I think what was holding her back, or should I say who, was Teddy. I think she was still hoping he would realize he wanted an actual relationship with her. Judging by the stream of girls I had seen him with lately, that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.

  “Are you sure you want to do that, Al? What about school?”

  “Well, the tour dates don’t start up until after the semester is over.” I had already known that, it was one of the reasons Mark had been able to talk Remy into going along. She would already have her nursing degree and she figured she could take a little bit of a break before starting to look for a job. “And I think I’m just going to put next semester off for a little while, have a little fun. I thought you would be happy for me. I’m doing this for Tyler, and maybe it will take our relationship to the next level.”

  “Okay, Al, I’m happy for you then. I just want to make sure you are doing this for the right reasons. Teddy doesn’t have anything to do with your decision of going, does he?”

  “Absolutely not. I’ve barely looked at that asshole since Tyler and I started dating. He has a different skank every night; I don’t want any part of it.” Her bitter tone led me to believe otherwise, but I was trying not to judge. For some reason, it seemed like Ally and Teddy had this pull between them, like two magnets. I know how that felt, it had been the same way for Chase and me, but I was hoping that somehow that magnetic pull would be broken between the two of them.

  “Okay, well good then, I guess. I’m sure you’ll have a ton of fun, but you know you’ll have to call me like every day. I’ll miss you so much.”

  “Of course. Who do you think I’m going to fill in about all of the scandalous stories out on the road?”

  “Good, I’m glad we have that all cleared up then. You want something to drink?”

  “Sure, I’m going to run to the bathroom real quick.”

  I wasn’t sure what to think about Ally going on tour. We had gone out on a couple of double dates with her and Tyler since they had started dating. Chase and Tyler seemed to get along really well, it almost felt like they were on more of a date, than him and Ally. Ally just seemed to be bored with him and stayed with him, just so she wasn’t alone.

  Tyler seemed like a nice guy and you could tell how infatuated he was with Ally. Who wouldn’t be? But she didn’t look at anyone like that except for Teddy. I guess she would figure everything out on her own. At least
I hoped.

  “Hey, look who I found wandering the halls. I swear he looks like a little zombie when he wakes up.” I set our glasses on the counter and smiled when I turned around to see Caleb perched on Ally’s hip and still half- asleep, with his head resting on Ally’s shoulder. Of course, Tootsie was following closely behind and stopped to sit at Ally’s feet, keeping his eyes trained on Caleb. “By the way, do you have any feminine supplies stashed anywhere? Looks like you’re all out in the bathroom.”

  “Um…” I tapped my chin, wondering exactly when the last time I actually had to run to the store for tampons. Now that I thought about it, it had been awhile, like a long while.

  “Okay, so I take that as a negatory?” Ally scrunched up her nose and narrowed her eyes at me when I had yet to respond. Truthfully, I didn’t know what to say. My head was beginning to spin a little at the question.

  “Wait, Leah, when was the last time you had your period?”

  “I’m not really sure,” I responded slowly, trying to picture a calendar in my head. “I guess right after the wedding. Chase was bummed that I got it since it put our honeymoon celebrating on hold for a little while. I haven’t really thought about it because I’ve been a little stressed out about the whole situation with Caleb.”

  “’Kay, I guess that’s understandable, but we aren’t going to sit here and question the what- ifs.” “Here.” She shoved Caleb at me and somehow I numbly took him into my arms. “I’m going to run to the drugstore real quick, I’ll be back in ten minutes tops. And Leah?”

  “Yeah?” I answered back with my eyes squeezed shut. I could feel a major headache coming on.

  “Don’t freak out yet. Please.”

  Easy for her to say.

  I kept myself busy with getting Caleb’s snack fixed and set him down on one of the barstools when I was finished. He kept up a constant chatter while eating, which helped to keep my mind off things for the most part, until I heard the front door slam shut, bringing me back to reality.