He's Giving Me a Reason, an Emblem3 Fan Fic (Sequel to Riptide)

Chapter 29

My phone vibrated in the cup holder. "Hey can you grab that?" I asked as I turned onto my street.

"It's Wes, he texted that they got Simon as their mentor." Jason read.

"That's awesome!" I grinned. Simon helped launch some of the biggest groups in X Factor history: One Direction, Little Mix... All works of the great British man himself. "How's the competition looking?" I asked, gesturing for Jason to text back.

"He said it's pretty fierce. There are a lot of groups that were just formed at boot camp." He read off the screen again.

"Wow, that sounds intimidating." I admitted, pulling into the driveway. And it kind of was. The new groups were obviously put together for a reason.

"So what are you doing tonight?" Jason asked taking Zuni out of the backseat. I grabbed the sack of cat food and lugged it over my shoulder.

"Nothing, why?"

"You feel like a party? Vince Carrington's having another huge weekend blow out tonight." He grinned at me wickedly.

"Ha! I don't know if you've heard, but I don't mix well with parties." I laughed.

"If you're referring to the fact that you woke up on Wesley's lap last summer-"

"NO, NO." I smacked him with five pounds of dry food.

"Oh, so it was falling into the pool at Dave's house last weekend, or having to climb over the fence to get into Bryan's backyard..." I silenced him with my eyes.

"We can agree that parties aren't my forte." I chuckled.

"Come onnnn. There'll be jello shots!" Jason nudged me with his elbow. I made a show of pondering this by stroking my chin dramatically.

"Hmmm... Fine." I smiled, grateful for the distraction.

"And I'm planning on dragging Adrianna too. You guys need to get out of the house." He said. I nodded.

"Thanks for the distraction Jase, I've had a lot on my mind lately." I sighed using my key to unlock the front door. "Hey Rick, I'm home!" I yelled into the foyer.

"Hey kiddo, what's up?" My dad shuffled down the stairs dressed like an 80s jogger. I cringed at the red sweatbands clasped around his wrists. The tacky fabric was somewhat hypnotizing.

"Hey! I need a favor." I said revealing Jase holding the cat carrier.

"Please tell me that's just an empty box needing storage." My dad waved his hands in the air dramatically. I smiled sheepishly.

"Actually, Keaton wanted to know if we could watch Zuni until they get back from Judges Houses." I went straight for the cute smile. It was way more effective than the puppy dog eyes in my opinion.

"Fine, just make sure he's not roaming around in my office. “My dad said before sticking his ear buds in. I hugged him gratefully.

"Thanks, Rick! You off to the gym?" I asked referring to his appearance.

"Nah, just out for a run. I should be back in about two hours." He said walking over to the door.

"One last thing!" I called after him. I crossed my fingers behind my back; I had already asked him for something today- hopefully I wasn't pushing my luck.

"What's up?"

"Jase and I were gonna go to a party tonight, is that okay?" I bit my lip in anticipation as I saw him pondering. "It's a weekend, and Tyler's probably going to come too." I said looking in Jason's direction. He glanced back at me and nodded in agreement.