Chapter Eight
Surprises
I barely remembered driving back to the dorm and walking up to my room as thoughts of Drake and everything that happened in the last twenty four hours swirled around inside my head. I had come so close to being raped it wasn’t funny. If he hadn’t followed us outside, my night and my life would have changed drastically. I would be forever thankful to him for what he had done, and I promised myself to never drink by myself with someone I didn’t know again.
A chill went down my spine as I thought of what Nick had done to me and I felt vomit rise in my throat. I suppressed a shudder and vowed to never let Amber, Rachel, and especially Logan, know what had happened. Drake had promised to keep it between us and I believed him. All I had to do was push it to the back of my head and pretend it was just a nightmare.
I straightened my back and plastered a smile on my face as I opened the door. As soon as I walked through Rachel jumped from her bed and tackled me.
“Oh thank heavens! Where the hell have you been and why didn’t you answer your phone?”
I managed to push her off and smiled apologetically, “Sorry, my phone died and I didn’t have a charger. I went to Starbucks and ended up stopping at the bar Drake was playing at. I got completely trashed and Drake lives like a block away from the bar, so he took me to his place to crash.”
Her eyes popped at the mention of me staying with Drake all night, “Drake? As in the Drake of Breaking the Hunger?”
I nodded.
“You spent the night with Mr. Hot and Badass himself?” she squealed a bit before continuing, “What happened? Did you bump uglies with him? Please, for the love of all things holy, tell me you did.”
I walked over to my bed and flopped down before laughing at her, “Sorry, no bumping uglies with him. He was a perfect gentleman. Besides, we are just friends.”
She sighed dramatically, “After all the worrying you could have at least brought home a juicy story.”
My mind instantly flipped to Nick and my stomach dropped.
“Sorry nothing even remotely juicy.”
I pulled my phone out of my bag and plugged it into my charger before powering it on. I had several voicemails and over twenty texts. I clicked on the texts and saw most of them were from Logan.
Rachel peeked over my shoulder, “Oh yeah, you might want to call Logan and Amber. They are freaking out as well.”
I glared at her, “You called Logan? You knew he would freak out!”
“Can you blame me? I come home and you’re gone. You leave a note about going to Starbucks, which is like twenty minutes round trip, but you never come home. I called him and Amber to see if you were with them. Now call him before he starts busting heads around campus, you and I both know he’ll do it.”
I quickly dialed Logan’s number and he answered on the first ring.
“Chloe? Are you ok? Where are you?”
“I’m fine Logan, calm down. My phone went dead, but I’m home now. I was with Drake last night.”
Silence followed for several moments before Logan finally responded, “With Drake?” His voice was deathly quiet.
“Yeah, I drank too much and he helped me out.”
I could almost hear the wheels turning in Logan’s head. He stayed silent for a moment again before speaking, “I’ll be at your place in ten.”
Before I could respond, he had already hung up on me.
“Awesome. Just awesome,” I fell back onto my bed and looked at Rachel, “He’s coming over in a few minutes. This should be pleasant.”
Rachel had the decency to at least look guilty, “Sorry chick. I’m going to head out so you two can talk. I see lots of yelling in your future, so I’m out.”
She grabbed her keys and shot out the door faster than I had ever seen her move.
“Traitor,” I mumbled under my breath.
Just a few minutes after Rachel made her escape a loud knock sounded on my door. I knew it had to be Logan, so I yelled from the bed for him to come in. As soon as he entered the room I knew I was in trouble. He slammed the door behind him and stomped over to my bed.
“What the f*ck were you thinking Chloe? Out drinking by yourself with some guy you barely know? And then staying the night with him?” he yelled loud enough to make me jump.
Instantly, I got angry too.
“First off, I am a big girl Logan! I can damn well take care of myself, I have been for years. You have absolutely no right to tell me what to do. We talked about you being overprotective before and you promised to try to control it! If I want to go get drunk and prance around naked with half the men on campus, you would have no say in it!”
Obviously this was the wrong thing to say, because his face turned bright red and his eyes grew cold.
“So that’s what you were doing with him? Prancing around naked as you put it?” His voice was deathly quiet and I had never seen him so mad at me.
I decided being nice might help my case a bit.
“Listen Logan, I know you were worried, but you have got to get over this whole overprotective thing. I definitely did not get naked with him, he is my friend, just like you are.”
I felt bad about lying to him, but if he knew I was secretly crushing on Drake it would only make things worse.
Logan’s face twisted like he was in pain, but he remained silent.
I stood up from the bed and reached over to hug him, “I’m sorry I made you worry ok? I love you more than life itself Logan, and I don’t want to fight with you. Please don’t be mad at me.” I looked up at him and gave him my best innocent face.
His lips twitched and his eyes softened, “Don’t use that face on me Chloe Marie, you know I can’t handle it.”
I grinned and leaned up to kiss him on the cheek, “That was the plan big man. Now come on, let’s go get some lunch. Besides, I need to call Amber and let her know I’m still alive.”
He frowned down at me as he followed me out the door, “Not even remotely funny.”
After a quick call to Amber letting her know I was ok, and promising lots of details when Logan wasn’t around, we went to a local Mexican place for lunch. Logan seemed to be back to his normal self as lunch went on and I was glad. Logan and I rarely fought, and I hated it when we did. Without him, my life would have been ten times worse.
We finished up our lunch and went back to his room to work on a few assignments for class. Logan sat down on his bed and I took the desk next to it as I opened my book. Every time I glanced up at Logan, he would be watching me with a strange look on his face.
“What’s that look for?” I asked after I caught him doing it the third time.
He shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts and smiled at me, “Nothing, just thinking how glad I am you’re ok.”
I smiled back at him and went back to reading the Chapter that had been assigned. Instead of seeing the words on the page, Drake’s face flashed in front of my eyes. Kissing him had been an experience in itself. He had told me he wanted me, but if he was telling me the truth, he could have had his way with me last night. Instead, he had pushed me away. I had never been the girl to chase a guy, not that I had noticed any that sparked my interest before him to begin with, and I wasn’t about to start now. I just had to accept the fact that we would always just be friends, even if that really sucked in my opinion.
I pushed Drake from my mind and went back to my reading. I only made it a few pages before my eyes grew heavy, and I decided to lay my head down for just a minute to rest. The next thing I knew, I felt myself being lifted from my chair. I peeked through my eyelids and saw Logan carrying me.
“What are you doing?” I mumbled, still half asleep.
“Shhhh. I’m going to lay you down for a little bit so you can rest.”
He sat down in the bed with me curled up into him. I snuggled closer and enjoyed his warmth, and his strong Logan scent. No one in this world could make me feel as safe as Logan did, although Drake was a close second. The last thing I remember before drifting off was Logan kissing my forehead and pulling me tighter against him.
I woke up groggy and disoriented. I felt someone pressed up against me and my heart started beating faster. I glanced over and saw Logan sleeping peacefully beside me. At the sight of him, my heart slowed down and my body relaxed. I watched him sleeping for a few minutes and smiled to myself, enjoying seeing Logan relaxed and peaceful. He was always wound so tight when he was awake, it was nice to see a different side to him.
I glanced at the clock on his night table and groaned. It was after midnight and I was in a male student’s bed. If his roommate came home or anyone else caught us, we’d both be in some serious trouble. Even if this was a co-ed dorm, they had stressed to all of us that there was to be no fraternizing with the opposite sex. I tried to slide out from under him, but our legs had become tangled as we slept.
I was afraid to wake him, but I knew I had to leave, so I slowly slid his arm off me and sat up. Moving his legs were a lot harder and he groaned in his sleep before throwing his arm around my waist and pulling me back down. I sighed and pushed him back off me. Thankfully he rolled to his side, and I was free.
I stood slowly and started throwing my books into my bag as quietly as I could. Once I had all my stuff gathered up, I made my way back over to him and kissed his forehead.
He moaned in his sleep and then smiled, “Love you my Chloe. So much.”
I frowned at his words now that I understood the true meaning behind them as I made my way out of his room and back to my own.
I groaned and rolled over as my phone rang from the table beside me. I grabbed it and saw Amber was calling me.
“This had better be good, it’s not even noon yet on a Sunday and I’m awake.”
Amber laughed in my ear at my grouchiness, “Well aren’t you a ball of sunshine this morning? Get dressed and meet me at that little coffee shop we saw just off campus, I want to tell you all about my date! And I want to hear everything you’ve been avoiding telling me about Drake. Twenty minutes bitch!”
She hung before I could tell her she was insane. A Drake interrogation was not something I wanted to wake up to, especially when it was coming from Amber. My phone rang again as I stood up and I answered it without checking the Caller I.D.
“For the love of God Amber, I’m up!”
I heard male chuckling on the line.
“Wow, you’re in a good mood, but just so you know, I’m not Amber.”
I sighed, “Apparently I’m popular today, what’s up?”
“Can you meet me at my house today around one o’clock? I want to take you somewhere, and before you ask, no I’m not telling you where we’re going. It’s a surprise.”
His question caught me off guard. Drake didn’t seem like the type to throw surprises out there and I was a bit leery of where he might be taking me.
“One question, you aren’t going to take me out to the woods and murder me right?”
He laughed, “No, not part of my plans. We won’t be going into any secluded woods so that I can murder you, or have my way with you.”
“Alright I’ll bite. But if you are messing with me, I will cut off that part of your anatomy you seem to be so fond of.”
“Deal, I’ll see you later. Don’t be late.”
My mind was creating all kinds of different scenarios as to where he could possibly be taking me, but I came up with nothing. Since I was going to be seeing him later, I took a little extra time doing my make-up and even straightened my hair. By the time I arrived at the coffee shop to meet Amber, she had called me twice telling me to hurry up.
I stepped into the cute little mom and pop type shop and saw Amber sitting in a booth away from most of the other customers with two coffee cups sitting on the table. I grabbed a cup and starting sipping from it as I sat down across from her.
“Finally, you took forever,” She looked me over and grinned, “What’s up with you? You look all girly.”
I rolled my eyes, “I’m allowed to look girly occasionally, but I’m meeting Drake after this so maybe I put a little extra effort into my appearance today.”
“That explains it, so tell me all about him and start from the beginning. We haven’t had any time alone to talk!”
I started when I first saw him and told her everything, only leaving out the part about Nick. As I spoke her eyes grew wide and she squealed like a ten year old when I told her about dancing with him and my blundering kiss.
“Oh Chloe! This is so great, I thought he was into you from how he acted around you, but hearing all of this I know for sure. He really likes you!”
I shook my head, “If he liked me, he wouldn’t have pushed me away when I kissed him.”
“You were drunk, if he had done anything else you would have been pissed off as soon as you sobered up. The fact that he didn’t just makes him that much better. Plus you know he’s not just trying to get in your pants.”
“I don’t know Amber, what about all the girls? I mean, the man had a drawer in his bedroom full of other girl’s underwear for God’s sake!”
“Well, I didn’t say he was perfect, he obviously likes women, but maybe if you two got together he would stay away from them. You need to sit down and talk to him, tell him how you feel.”
“No way am I putting myself out there like that. If he rejected me, it would be completely awkward.”
She sighed, “Chloe if you never put yourself out there, how is he supposed to know how you feel?”
She had a point, look at how long Logan had kept his feelings from me and I had no clue. I bit my lip and stared at my almost empty coffee cup. “There’s something else I haven’t told you and I know you’re going to be as shocked as I am.”
Her eyebrows disappeared into her bangs, “What on Earth could shock me after telling me all of that?”
“You remember the other night when Logan was drunk?”
She nodded, “Yeah what about it?”
“Drake helped me get him to his room and then left us alone. I helped Logan get into bed and when I started to leave he kissed me. I talked to him about it the next day and he admitted to having feelings for me, but he wasn’t going to pressure me into anything. I’ve tried to ignore the whole thing, but it’s eating at me. It’s Logan, how could he have those kinds of feelings for me?”
Amber avoided my gaze as she played with a napkin in her hands.
“Amber? What is it?”
“I knew.”
“What do you mean you knew? How could you know something like that and not tell me? What happened to the whole ‘I’ll give you my favorite pair of Chucks to you if Chloe and Logan ever get together’ speech you made to Drake the other day?”
She looked up at me and I saw anger in her eyes, “I’ve known for a while. I fell for Logan as soon as he started going to school with us. I hid them for a while, right before Chad and I started hanging out actually. I was drinking at a party one night when you were gone with your mom that summer and he gave me a ride home. I tried to kiss him, but he pushed me away and told me he wanted you. He made me promise to keep it to myself, not that I had ever planned on telling you after what happened that night.”
I stared at her in disbelief, “I had no idea how you felt about him. Do you… Do you still have feelings for him?”
She shook her head, “No, I moved on, Logan is just my friend now. But that’s beside the point. How do you feel about him?”
To be honest, I had no idea how I felt about him. It was all too new and my mind was having a hard time viewing him as anything else but my best friend.
“I don’t know, this is all so damn confusing. I know he wants more, even if he isn’t pushing, but I’m not sure I can give it to him. Look at me, I am completely f*cked up and he deserves better than that.”
She shook her head, “You are not f*cked up Chloe, you’ve just had way more shit thrown at you than people twice our age. It made you grow up fast, and yes you are a bit jaded, but in no way are you f*cked up. You really need to think about this thing with Logan and with Drake. Both of them want you, there’s no question about it in my mind, so you need to decide who you want and go for it.”
There was no doubt about who I wanted. Drake. But if I started something with him, knowing what I did about how Logan felt, I knew Logan would take it as a personal insult.
“Maybe I should take your advice from before and just become a nun.”
She laughed, “Yeah, you get right on that.”
We sat in silence, both of us lost in our own thoughts. Finally she looked up at me and grinned, “Enough about you, I want to talk about my date with Alex.”
I felt relief about the subject change and threw myself into the conversation as a distraction from my thoughts.
“Tell me all about it! Where did he take you?”
“It was so romantic! He took me took this quaint little Italian restaurant just across the state line. We sat there for a couple hours and just talked, and then he took me to the movies. He even watched a chick flick with me!”
“That’s great Amber, I’m really happy that you found someone who isn’t an ass. Do you think there will be a second date?”
“I hope so, he told me he would call sometime next week. He’s so different from Chad already. Chad was always good to me, but there were times that I wondered if he even wanted to be with me. When I was with Alex, he paid attention to everything I said, and we have so much in common. He even knows some of the small time bands we both listen to.”
“Well that settles it for me, you need to marry him.”
She laughed, “I figured you would say that. Speaking of bands, I really want to hear Drake play again sometime. I did a little asking around and everyone seems to love Breaking the Hunger. Why don’t we go listen to him next weekend?”
I forced a smile on my face. She had no idea what had happened at the bar with Nick and if I refused to go, she would know something was up with me.
“Yeah, that sounds fun. I’ll let him know I’m bringing you. Maybe Logan will want to go with us too.”
“Great, I’ll ask Alex if he wants to go with us, then we can make a double date out of it.” I frowned at her words and she sighed, “Or we’ll call it a date for Alex and me. And you can call it hanging out with my best friends.”
“That sounds better. I don’t want to put that label on it or it’ll give Logan the wrong idea. I need time to figure this out before I start anything with either of them.”
We each ordered another coffee and spent the next hour catching up about our classes. It felt nice to just have some uncomplicated girl time with Amber, and I soaked it up for as long as I could. Finally, she glanced at her watch before motioning me toward the door.
“You had better go if you don’t want to be late. I’m sure Drake wouldn’t appreciate being stood up.”
I nodded and I stood and tossed my empty cup into the trash. “I still have no idea where we are going. If I’m not back by tomorrow afternoon, call the police. Oh, and you can have all my CDs.”
She laughed, “Drake is a lot of things, but I don’t think a serial killer is one of them.”
“You never know, that boy is full of surprises.”
I waved to her as I left the shop and walked to my car. Once I was inside, I just sat there debating whether or not to just go home and leave Drake hanging. I knew I was being a coward but I couldn’t help it. He was under my skin, and whenever I was around him my judgment always clouded over.