Torn (Torn Series) (4 page)

He smiled back at me,
“Yeah, no problem. Goodnight.”

I quickly grabbed my shoes and got out of the car, watching for any pebbles or glass that I might step on as I closed the door. I started to walk away when he rolled the window down.

“Hey Chloe?”

I turned back to the car and leaned down to the windo
w, “Yeah?”

He had the oddest look on his face, but stayed silent. Finally after what felt like an eternity, he smiled at me. “Watch
out for cracks from now on ok?”                                                                                                                                                                        

How I made it up my room without breaking my neck, I’ll never know. I even managed to sneak in without waking Rachel up, who was out cold with her book across her chest. All I could think about was Drake with his flirtatious nature and charming smile. That smile could make me forget my first name, so it was understandable that one minute I was walking away from his car and the next I was sitting on my bed in a daze.

I admitted to myself that I was attracted to him from the moment I saw him, but now that I had actually talked to him, it was ten times stronger. He seemed like a nice guy if my first interaction with him was any indication of his personality. He could have embarrassed me endlessly from what he had seen, but he played it off like nothing to help put me at ease, and I truly appreciated that from him.

I fell back into my pillow and groaned. Men had no spot in my college
plans, they had never had a spot anywhere truthfully. Although I wasn’t planning on becoming a nun anytime soon, Amber had been right about me not ever being into any guy. Sure, there had been dates, I wasn’t even a virgin, I had lost that to my Cousin Danny’s best friend Jordan when I tagged along with my mother one summer, but no one had ever caught my eye since.

Thoughts of my mother brought a sigh to my lips. To say my mother was flighty would be an understatement. She h
ad become pregnant with me at seventeen. She had been a hardcore partier, and I was a result of a drug and alcohol fueled night with some man she didn’t even remember. She had managed to contain her drug use while she was pregnant with me, but she had continued to smoke and drink, which had resulted in me being born almost a month early.

Soon after
I was born, she had gone back to using drugs and partying, leaving me with whoever would watch me. More often than not, it was with someone who was a complete stranger to me since my grandparents had disowned her when she informed them of her pregnancy and her only sister lived hours away.

When I was
around seven or eight years old, she started bringing me to the parties with her and would leave me alone for hours. As I got older, she would let me stay home by myself, leaving me home for days at a time, sometimes weeks. By that time, I had become good friends with Amber, and often stayed with her when my mother took off.

When I was a freshman, her trips had become multiple
month events, and Amber’s parents Dave and Emma had transformed their guest room into my own bedroom. They had bought me school clothes every year, Emma took me prom dress shopping, they had even ordered my graduation cap and gown. While they became parents to me, my mother’s visits back to me became less and less, until I saw her only a couple times a year.

I was thankful when she was gone. My mother had always held a grudge against me over my birth, and when she drank at home with just the two of us, she often became violent toward me. I spent most of my childhood trying to cover the bruises she left all over my body. The physical wounds had healed long ago, but they left me bruised and battered inside. That and the venom she often spewed at me left me feeling that I could never truly trust anyone and that I really was as worthless as she said. Logan and Amber had broken down my barriers slowly and I thanked every deity out there for putting them in my life.

One summer in high school, I had decided to tag along with her for whatever reason. We lived in West Virginia, but she took me from state to state, as far away as Colorado, mostly by bus or cramped into the back of one of her friend’s cars. We ended up at my Aunt Jennifer’s home in Ocean City, Maryland and I quickly formed a close friendship with my cousin Danny.

He and I had only met a couple times, but my mother and I stayed with them for over a month, so I started tagging along with him and his best friend Jordan. I became close friends with Jordan as well, and one night we were with a group of kids on the beach partying. Danny had left with some random girl, so Jordan and I decided to take a walk down
the beach together.

We found ourselves
hidden by some rocks, only a few feet from the ocean, having drunk sex. Being the sweet guy he was though, he made it romantic and gentle and I loved him for it. Even though I rarely spoke to either of them, Jordan would always hold a special place in my heart.

Thoughts of my mother
and my past sobered my excitement over Drake. It had been over a year since I had seen her, and sometimes I missed her. I knew she loved me in her own crazy way, but she hadn’t even been able to pull herself away from her life for one night to attend my graduation. I sighed again and rolled over on my bed just as my phone started playing Logan’s ring tone. I had forgotten to call him.

I grabbed my phone and answered it before the noise woke up Rachel. “Hey Logan, I’m home.”

“Thanks for calling me.”

“I just walked in a couple minutes ago. Amber met some guy and stayed though, so go call and yell at her.”              

He stayed silent for a moment and I thought he really was going to call her, but his next words surprised me.

“You mean you walked back by yourself this late at night?”

His voice was lined with anger and I bit my lip. Telling him Drake had brought me back would probably make him angrier than the thought of me walking
home by myself. I decided to be honest, in case I slipped up later.

“Actually I g
ot a ride with someone,” I waited silently on the blow up that my words would surely bring.

“And who was this someone?”

“You remember that guy who was sitting beside me this morning in class?”

He groaned into the phone,
“You got a ride from some guy you don’t even know? Why didn’t you just call me Chloe?”

I felt slightly guilty at the concern in his voice. I had debated on calling him, but the need to be alone with Drake had won out.

“It’s not like that. I was walking home, but my heel broke on my shoe and he was there, so he offered me a ride. It was fine Logan, honest. He just drove me back here and dropped me off. He didn’t try anything with me.”

I heard him muttering curses under his breath. “Well it could have ended a lot worse. Next time you need a ride, you call me, understand?”

Sensing the anger fading to worry in his voice, I smiled, “Of course I will.”

“You better Chloe, I don’t know what I’d do if someone hurt you. You’re important to me, you know that right?”

My heart swelled at his words. “Yes, I know. And you’re important to me too. You’re like the brother I never had.”

Expecting some kind of remark about me being an annoying little sister, I was surprised by the silence on the other end of the line.

“Logan, are you still there?”

“Yeah, I’m here, but I’ve got to go.
I’ll talk to you tomorrow, ok?”

“Um, yeah I’ll see you tomorrow.
Night.”

I plugged my phone in to charge, wondering what on Ear
th went on inside Logan’s head sometimes.

Chapter Three

I’ve Got Your Number

I somehow managed to wake up on time the following morning. It might have had something to do with the fact I was hoping to see Drake somewhere on campus during the day. With that in mind, I took extra care getting dressed and even applied a small amount of make-up. I grabbed my bag and stepped outside my door just as Logan came out of the stairwell.

He took one look at me and grabbed his chest. “Oh my God, it’s a miracle! She’s on time! I think I’m having a heart attack from the shock of it all!”

I made my way past him and into the stairwell.

“Don’t get used to
it, you’re still my alarm clock. Today was just a fluke.”

He laughed
as we stepped out of the stairwell and threw his arm over my shoulders. “Oh Chloe, don’t worry. I know this won’t happen again anytime soon. Besides, if it did, my heart couldn’t take it.”

I tried to elbow him, but he moved out of reach. “Shut up asshole and walk me to class.”

He laughed again and wrapped his arm back around me., “Bossy little thing this morning aren’t we?”

I ignored his comment as we made our way to my building. His class was a few buildings down from mine, so he had decided to take it upon himself to make sure I made it to class. When we stopped outside of my class to say goodbye, he surprised me by kissing me on the cheek.

“What was that for?” I asked as he pulled away.

He glanced over my shoulder into the class
and then back to me, “Just didn’t want any guys getting any ideas about you while we’re apart.”                            

I smiled
at his overprotectiveness., “Gee, thanks. Now if you’ll excuse me Mr. Overprotective, I need to head inside. I’ll meet up with you later this evening, ok?”

He smiled down at me and nodded,
“My last class lets out at six o’clock, so I’ll drop by your room after that and we can grab something to eat.”

I
waved as I made my way into the classroom. Scanning around for a seat, I noticed Drake sitting in the back corner grinning at me. My heart stopped as he pointed to the chair next to him. With my heart hammering in my ears, I made my way over to him and took the seat.

“Morning.”

He gave me that wicked grin of hi
s as he spoke, “Good morning Chloe. I see you managed to make it from your dorm to here without any cracks getting in the way.”

My face instantly turned
red and he busted out laughing, “You’re never going to let me live that down are you?”

His gaze traveled down my body and back up to my eyes before answering. “Nope, but with you wearing jeans, it wouldn’t be nearly as fun to watch today as it was last night.”
             

I smacked his arm and felt electricity shoot from my fingers up my arm at the brief contact. “Shut up or I’ll move to a different spot. I don’t have to take your torment for the next two hours.”

“Oh, she threatens. I’m scared now.”

I stuck my tongue out at him as I turned back toward the front of the class
, pulling my book out of my bag, “You should be.”

He was silent for a moment, so I glanced up at him and my breath caught at the look in his eyes. They looked as if he w
anted to devour me on the spot and I gulped.

“What?”

He leaned toward me slightly as he spoke, “Stick that tongue out at me again and see what happens.”

My mouth dropped open at his words, and I quickly looked away as the professor entered the front
of the room. Once class started I tried to ignore him, but it was impossible. I kept glancing at him, and every time, he would be staring at me with those lust filled eyes. I wiggled uncomfortably in my seat at his scrutiny and he grinned. The professor called a break half way through and I stood, stretching my arms above my head to get the kinks out of my back. My shirt pulled up, revealing my belly button ring and I caught him staring at it.

“What are you looking at?”

He pulled his eyes up to my face and grinned, “Got anything else pierced?”

I gave him the sexiest smile I could muster as I replied,
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

He grinned at me as
he stood, “I’m going outside to smoke, want to come with me?”

“Sure
, why not. Maybe I’ll get some second hand smoke, that’ll really make my day.”

We made our way outside to a group of other students smoking. Drake lit up and glanced at me as I stood awkwardly next to him.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing, just trying not to breath.”

He started laughing
loudly and some of the other students glanced our way at his outburst. “You just say whatever comes to mind don’t you?”

I gave him a sheepish grin,
“Logan tells me I have no filter. It drives him nuts most of the time I think.”

“I like it, it’s refreshing. Most people n
ever really say what they think. They worry about what everyone else will think, but you just put it right out there.”

“Thanks, I think.”
                                                       

“So is Logan the one who wa
s with you in class yesterday?”                           

“Yeah, that’s Logan. He my unofficial alarm clock and self-appointed body guard.”