Chasing Red: Steamy New Adult Romance

The idiot was heavy.

He definitely owed me one after this. That asshole Cameron owed me too. I didn’t give shit for free.

What am I, a fucking food bank?

One of the perks of hanging out with Caleb was that I could get into circles that normally wouldn’t welcome me. I hated kissing ass with spoiled rich sons of bitches who thought they shit gold and rainbows, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

It helped to have connections, especially now that our family business wasn’t doing well.

The shit I gotta do, I thought darkly, grunting from Caleb’s deadweight. He was singing in the elevator, the stupid shit.

“Sing with me, bro. It’s Bon Jovi.”

I glared at him. “I fucking hate Bon Jovi.”

“What? Bon Jovi’s a master. Fine, Aerosmith then.”

He was such a loser.

He paused for a second, hiccupped, and continued singing. When he stopped, he said, “I miss her. I miss my Red.”

He’d been talking about this Red the whole ride. Who was she? Or what was she? A dog, maybe? Was he hallucinating? As far as I knew, Caleb didn’t have a girlfriend.

He had flings. Everyone seemed to love the guy. Everything seemed to be so easy for him, everything just fell into his lap without him asking for it. Girls, friends, money…the basketball captainship.

What the hell was I? A statue?

Sure, I wasn’t as pretty as he was but I looked fucking hot. I went to the gym almost every day to get the mouthwatering body I had now. In fact, I had my own share of girls chasing after me. I even showed them who was boss.

Me. I was the boss.

No girl was going to pussy whip me.

The best girls were the girls who wanted Caleb. They always went running after him, and when he didn’t want them anymore, they’d come to me.

But I was tired of getting his leftovers.

At last, we were at his front door. Stupid shit couldn’t even think properly.

Probably should’ve asked the concierge to let us in, I realized.

Caleb had a sweet place here, the rich bastard. There were only him and another rich fucker living on this floor. The hallway was carpeted, with dark-green walls displaying abstract paintings that screamed money. There were these big-ass crystal light fixtures on the ceiling… What did you call those again? Chandeliers. Yeah, that was it. Show-offs.

I heard Caleb’s grandfather had left a huge chunk of cash to Caleb when he died. That was probably how he could afford this huge place. Wish I had a rich, dead old gramps too who’d leave me everything.

It was fucking unfair.

“What’s your code, dude?”

He mumbled again, but I couldn’t understand a word he was saying.

I stared at him, debating whether to push him off me. Maybe he’d hit his head against the wall and break his neck. Maybe he’d die. I could always tell the police he was so drunk that—

The door was pulled open, and a hot girl stood on the other side, looking shocked.

“Caleb!” she exclaimed.

“What the fuck?” I asked.

I grunted when Caleb’s full weight fell on me. The fucker had passed out. She looked at him with concern. I knew this girl.

“You’re the girl from the club that night.” I eyed her from the top of her hair to her cheap hoodie and yoga pants. She looked very uncomfortable but really hot. The kind of ass I preferred, unlike those boring blonds that Caleb seemed to like. Which brought me to What the fuck was she doing here?

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I demanded.

Caleb never let a girl stay at his place. From what I knew, he usually booted them out after sex.

“Why don’t you mind your own fucking business?” She glared at me and then grabbed Caleb’s other arm as we muscled him inside and to his bedroom.

She seemed to know the way to his bedroom. Who the hell was she?

Red. Caleb was talking about Red. It was probably a girl, if not a dog, but this chick didn’t have red hair.

“I’m going to call the police if you don’t tell me what the hell you’re doing in Caleb’s apartment,” I threatened.

“Go ahead. You’ll only look like an idiot.”

We dumped Caleb on the bed. He moaned and turned on his side. “Red,” he mumbled.

I turned to her and narrowed my eyes. “Will I?” I stepped closer than was normally polite.

She backed away, panic on her face. I saw her eyes dart around the room and fix on the lamp. I smirked. Was she going to hit me with it?

What a hellcat. She’d be really great in bed, I bet. Once Caleb was done with her, I’d come to the rescue. I would enjoy this one more than the others.

“Get away from me, asshole,” she spat out, her dark eyes filling with fire.

Feisty. I liked them aggressive.

I smirked. “He’s never had girls stay over at his place before.” I leaned back against the bedpost, crossed my arms over my chest so she’d notice my big arms—if she hadn’t already—and took a good long look at his crib.

It was fucking amazing, with a king-size bed covered in white sheets and gray pillows. In front of his bed was a giant window that showed the entire city. Prime view. Only the best for dear Caleb.

He even had a small living room in here with a sleek flat-screen TV and the latest Xbox model. I thought about my beat-up Xbox 360 and my tiny TV that wasn’t even a flat screen, and it made me so fucking angry that Caleb had all these sleek new toys he probably didn’t even have time to use, while I had to work my ass off for everything I got.

There was a door that I knew led to a big-ass bathroom and another door that led to his walk-in closet, where I really wanted to go.

I’d been in his apartment once before when Caleb invited us for drinks, and I’d snuck in his room out of curiosity. I’d even nicked a Piaget watch from his closet as a souvenir. He never noticed it went missing. He had a box full of expensive watches, and I really wanted to borrow that sweet Rolex I’d seen last time. Too bad this bitch was around now.

“You’re not one of his stalkers, are you?” I asked. “Did you sneak in here while he was away?”

“I’m going to call security if you don’t leave.”

Not a stalker, then. Maybe Caleb had hooked up with her since the night at the club, and now they were together.

Quite a feat for you, Caleb, I thought.

“You’re not his usual type.”

I eyed her again. Despite the hoodie and yoga pants, her body was clearly rocking in all the right places. She shuddered, disgust on her face.

Gritting my teeth, I pushed away from the bedpost. This girl made me angry for some reason. The way she looked at me made me feel like a bug she wanted to squash with her foot.

What, did she think I wasn’t good enough for her? She was just one of Caleb’s lays. Who the hell did she think she was? She wasn’t special.

He’d throw her out on her pretty ass soon, and then she’d come crawling to me. I’d give this bitch a good time and wipe that snobby look off her face.

“I know my way out, so don’t bother. I guess I’ll see you around.” I paused by the door, turned, and looked at her. “Red, isn’t it?”

She paled but didn’t say anything.

“I heard he was dating some brunette at school. Or was it another blond? Didn’t know it was you. Or maybe you’re just one of them.” I paused, waited for her reaction. Nothing. “I guess I’ll see you at school then, sweetheart.” I winked and left Caleb’s bedroom.

I didn’t leave the apartment yet, though. Caleb had a lot of expensive things I wanted. One day…I swore I’d get those too. One of the reasons I’d brought him home was to drive his sweet-ass ride. He wouldn’t let me drive it if he wasn’t drunk out of his mind.

I was still hung up about that Rolex. That gem probably cost twenty grand easy. It wasn’t stealing if you were filching it from someone who didn’t need it, as far as I was concerned.

All good. I knew he left some of his stuff in the guest bedroom. I’d just slip in there and take a look around while the bitch was busy taking care of him.

What the fuck? I thought as I quietly opened the door to the guest bedroom. There were girl things everywhere. The room even smelled like a girl, like freaking strawberries.

Was she living here with him?

What the hell?

Looked like Caleb Lockhart had let someone in…for the first time. This girl must be really great in bed if Caleb was keeping her.

This was very interesting. I knew several of Caleb’s exes who were still hung up on him and would totally enjoy having some good ole fun with this girl. Those girls could cause a lot of trouble for little Red, particularly one blond I knew. The faster Red left Caleb, the faster she’d be in my bed.

When I left her room, I almost cried out in glee when I spotted gold cuff links carelessly thrown on a table in the hallway. They were almost hidden by a porcelain vase. Before someone could see me, I pocketed them.

I passed Caleb’s room again and stopped when I heard her talking. “Caleb, what were you thinking?”

“I miss you, Red.”

Whoa. This guy sure knew how to make girls fall in love with him, even when he was drunk.

I was going to leave when I heard her say, “I miss you too.”

Sounded like she was already in love with him. Typical.

“Lie down with me, Red?”

Seemed like she meant something to Caleb too. He sure sounded pussy whipped. Good. It would hurt more than his pride to see her with me. Even better.

Damn. This was going to be fun.