Chasing Red (Chasing Red 1)

We hooted in laughter as Justin turned red, before a drunk, goofy smile appeared on his face. “She loves me,” he declared, watching the girl walk away.

Amos threw a piece of food at him—pizza maybe. “Sure she does, buddy,” he hollered.

Justin shrugged. “She’s clingy anyway.”

I stared at the beer bottle in my hand, my vision getting hazy. I was drunk. I really couldn’t remember how many bottles I’d had so far.

“Hey, Caleb.”

I looked up when I heard my name and saw…Red?

What the hell was she doing here?

She was just a blur in front of me. I blinked twice to focus.

“I was wondering if you want to take a drive with me. It’s nice out.”

The voice was wrong… Red’s voice wasn’t that high. I blinked again, shook my head. It was Claire, batting her eyelashes at me. I must be solid drunk to mistake her for Red.

“He’s in no shape to take care of you, babe. I’ll do it for him if you like,” I heard Justin offer.

“Kiss my ass, Justin.”

“Hit me, baby, one more time,” he sang. He must like getting slapped by different girls. He didn’t get his wish since Claire huffed and left.

Okay, bye-byes, I thought. I wasn’t interested in any girl except for one. But I silently praised Claire in my head for rejecting Justin. Last I heard, his girlfriend had broken up with him when she caught him on top of Lydia with his pants down.

Justin could be a real douche when it came to girls. If he couldn’t make one girl happy, how did he expect to handle two or three at the same time? Moron.

Beside me, Cameron was slumped in his seat, his head resting on the back of the couch. He must be drunk too.

“What’s the deal with you and Kara?” I asked, not expecting him to answer, so it surprised me when he did.

“She kills me. Just one blow.” His hand fisted as if he were holding a knife and stabbed it in his chest. “And I’m dead. Fucking dead.”

Amos shook his head. “What’d you do, bro?”

“Tried to save her.”

“If I’ve learned one thing from living with my girl, it’s that sometimes girls don’t want to be saved,” Amos said. “They want to do the saving.”

Cameron chugged an entire beer. He leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees and rubbing his hands on his face. He looked tired but remained quiet.

Hours had passed in a blur. I knew it was past midnight, and I had to go home. I didn’t know if Red was waiting up for me, but I’d told her I would come home tonight. I’d given her my word, and I would not break it.

Driving was impossible. I needed to phone a cab, but I couldn’t remember the number. In fact, I could barely hold my phone.

“I’ll drive Caleb home.” Was that Claire again? I wasn’t sure, but the voice was squeaky…kind of reminded me of a mouse.

Wait, she was going to drive me home? No. Not her.

“Leave him alone,” someone said.

Thank God.

The next thing I knew, Cameron and I were in the back of my car with Justin behind the wheel. He dropped off Cameron at home, and then headed to my place. Thinking about walking into the building and riding the elevator exhausted me. I could barely keep my eyes open, but I felt happy.

Justin helped me inside, and we sang in the elevator, my arm around his shoulders as he tried to keep me from falling on my face. He could be a moron most of the time, but he had his good moments.