The crowd cheered and chanted, and I grabbed Jade’s hand, ready to bolt.
“Play Lake House!” The crowd screamed.
He shook his head. “Not tonight, guys.” He glanced at me. Was he really in that much of a rush?
He was about to walk off the stage when he looked right at me again. “Don’t run off on me again.” He pointed at me.
Everyone nearby in the audience stared and my stomach dropped. This wasn’t happening.
“So… I’m guessing he remembered you.” Jade laughed.
“Oh yeah, because this is hilarious.” I wasn’t sure how I felt. A part of me was flattered, but the rest of me was embarrassed and freaked out. What was I going to say to him when we came face to face?
“It is.” Jade straightened out her long brown hair with her fingers. “Only you would sleep with a guy like Chase and have no idea who he was.”
“Only me?”
“Okay. Maybe that’s a little bit of an extreme, but there are hundreds of girls in this room that would pay for that opportunity—and you didn’t even realize you’d had it.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Are you one of those girls?”
“No. I’d probably pick his brother.” She gave only a tiny smile.
“Oh, you’re into drummers.” Push it off me and onto her. That was usually a good way to handle a situation like the one I was in. The problem was the situation was about to get worse. The crowd opened up to allow Chase to reach us. My stomach churned.
“Cara…wow. I never expected to see you here.” Chase stopped inches from me before stepping closer and pulling me into an awkward hug.
“Don’t you mean you never expected to see me?” I’m not sure where the iciness in my voice came from. I stepped out of his embrace even though there was some comfort there I didn’t want to admit to.
“Hey, I’m not the one who refused to give you my number.” He stayed closer than he needed to.
I shrugged. “I’m surprised to see you too.”
“Did you know who I was?” A note of suspicion entered his voice. What nerve.
“No. She had no clue.” Jade jumped in. “You should have seen her face when she saw you up there. I thought she was going to pass out.”
Chase laughed. Why was his laugh so sexy? I was supposed to be angry at the insinuation that I was a groupie or something. “Oh yeah?” He held out a hand to Jade. “Chase Denton.”
“Jade Cambridge. I’m a big fan.”
“I’m guessing Cara isn’t.”
“I enjoyed the show.” I wasn’t going to just stand there and let them talk like I wasn’t there.
Chase’s eyes moved down to my chest and then back to my face. “I’m guessing you’re not just a Greek aficionado?”
“Oh. Yeah.” I remembered the tank top I was wearing. “My sorority.”
“Sorority, huh?” He seemed to ponder my words for a second. “I didn’t realize you were in college—let alone a sorority.”
“Well, I didn’t know you were in a band.”
Jade laughed. “Funny how much you can learn about someone after you’ve had sex.”
I glared at her, but Chase laughed. “Wait a second. Cara told you?”
I fought the urge to bury my face in my hands. This wasn’t the time to let embarrassment get the best of me.
He smiled. “Does that mean you cared enough about what happened to share the story with your friends?”
I was about to correct him since I’d only told Jade when I saw him, but I had told my roommates. “Maybe.”
“If it makes you feel better, I told my friends too.” Chase had this awkward cuteness about him that drew me in again.
“Well, nice to see you again.” I turned to leave, hoping Jade would get the hint.
“Wait.” The determined tone to Chase’s voice had me turning around. “You two should hang out with us.”
“We’d love that!” Jade answered for both of us before I’d even comprehended the thought of spending more time with him.
Chase looked between us. I’m sure I looked like I was going to kill my friend. “Awesome. I just need to find my bandmates and get a few things. Why don’t you wait—” Then he looked at me. “On second thought, why don’t you just come with me?”
“Don’t trust me?” I stared him head on.
“It’s more that I’m glad to have run into you again.” He held out a hand and then dropped it. I guess the situation was weird for both of us. He started moving toward the stage.
“How fast did you run away from him that night?” Jade hissed as we followed him backstage.
“I kissed him goodbye before he was dressed.”
“Cara!”
Jade’s response had Chase turning back to look at us.
I waited until he was a few feet ahead of us to respond. “What? I’ve never just hooked up with someone before. How was I supposed to know the proper protocol?” I smiled imagining an actual list of protocol on one night stands.
“Well, clearly you made an impression. He’s bringing us backstage.” Jade bounced up on her toes. I reminded myself that I was doing this for Jade. She’d be disappointed if she didn’t get a chance to meet the drummer. We walked around the backstage area until we reached the door to what I assumed was a VIP room. The rest of the band, as well as a handful of other people, were all crammed into the small space.
All eyes turned toward us when Chase pushed open the door. Hopefully Chase wasn’t serious about having told his bandmates about me. The song was bad enough.
“Already found some new friends?” the drummer asked without getting up from the couch.
Chase stepped back and put an arm around me. “Guys, this is Cara.”
“Wait, the Cara? Miss Fuck and Run?” The one female member of the band’s jaw dropped. I wanted to fall through the floor. Fuck and run?
Jade laughed nervously behind me. I didn’t say a word. This was all Chase. Maybe he was purposely trying to embarrass me.
“Wow, you do exist.” The drummer got up and walked over then held out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Cara.”
I returned the hand shake and went through the motions of a greeting even though I wanted to be saying goodbye. “Same to you.”
“And who’s this?” He turned his attention to Jade.
I nodded at her. “This is Jade.”
“Lovely to meet you.” He kissed her hand. I wanted to gag. Who were these guys? “I’m Len.”
“I know who you are.” Jade’s voice sounded more like the one I knew. She was nervous around this guy.
“Oh yeah?” He smiled at her in a way that I think was meant to be disarming, but it seemed to have the opposite effect on her.
A look of panic crossed her face before she took a deep breath and returned her expression to normal. I needed to remember that trick.
“Cara and I have some catching up to do, so they’re going to hang out with us.” Chase gave all his bandmates a look, including the one who hadn’t spoken.
“She does have nice tits.” The previously quiet bassist looked at me, and all I could do was step away from Chase and cross my arms over my chest.
Chase gave me an apologetic look before shaking his head at the guy. “Uh, thanks for that, Zach.”
“Is that a sorority shirt?” the girl asked. “You hooked up with a sorority girl, Chase? This is too awesome.”
Jade stepped around me. “Hey, I’m a sorority girl too. Quit with the stereotypes.” Jade seemed a lot like me. It was easier to stand up for your friends than for yourself sometimes.
Len looked between us. “I don’t have any problem with sororities. Attractive girls aren’t a bad thing.”
“I don’t have a problem with them either.” The girl smiled. “But would you have ever expected Chase to sleep with one?”
At least she’d switched out fuck with sleep with. I definitely preferred that.
Chase put his arm around me again. “Don’t listen to Jessa. She doesn’t think before
she talks.”
Jessa crossed her arms, causing a bunch of bangle bracelets to clang together. “It was more a statement about you than her.”
“Okay. If this is going to be an issue, I can just go.” I tried to pull away, but Chase tightened his hold.
“There is no issue here.”
“Chase here seemed to think you had no clue who he was. If that’s true, then how’d you end up at this show?” Len asked with a smile. He was enjoying the situation more than anyone else.
“Jade dragged me.”
The whole band laughed.
Len leaned toward me slightly. “Then this is either a giant coincidence or fate.”
“Fate?” Jessa groaned. “Please.”
“Come on. Chase gets it on with a girl who flees like freaking Cinderella at midnight. She pulls him from his writing funk, but that wears off after a few songs. Now he found her again. This is perfect.”
“I’m not using her to help me with my music.” Chase looked me straight in the eye. “Don’t listen to him.”
“That song was obviously about her.” Jade looked between us. “Is that what you mean about pulling him out of his funk?”
“Yeah. He stayed up all night writing after she ran off.”
“That’s pretty cool, Cara. You have to admit that.” Jade eyed me. She must have realized I was completely ready to bolt. With everything going on with Aaron, I wasn’t sure how much more drama I could take.
“It would be if I actually thought I had anything to do with it. It was the hook up that did it, not me.” My ability to handle embarrassment had officially hit its limit, and I slipped out of Chase’s arm. I headed back the way we came.
“Cara, come on, wait.” Jade followed me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her hold up her hand to tell Chase to wait. I didn’t stop until we were well out of earshot right near the stairs.
“Listen, I don’t want to ditch you, but I’m not putting up with that embarrassment. That girl said I did a fuck and run. You know it’s been a rough few weeks for me already.”
“I know, which is why you can’t just run away from Chase again. Why not hang out with him and see what happens?”
Chase stood a few feet away watching us. I assumed he was deciding whether to intervene.
“Why not? He’s just in town for this show, right? What good is going to come from putting myself through it?” I wrapped my arms around myself.
“Putting yourself through it?” She looked up at Chase and then back at me. “You really like him. You regretted running off. That’s why this is hard for you. You think you’re going to get hurt. That changes things.”
I sighed. “Why does it change anything?”
“It’s even more important you don’t leave.” She turned around. “Hey, Chase. Cara’s fine. She just wanted to make sure I was really okay with hanging out tonight.”
I groaned. Did Jade really think he was going to believe a word she said?
“Nice.” He jumped down. “How would you like to get something to eat?”
“Just us?” I asked. Looking at Jade out of the corner of my eye.
“Jade is welcome to join us. I just thought I’d spare you from dealing with my bandmates right now.”
I noticed Jade eyeing the stage. As frustrating as she was being, she was trying to help me. I might as well help her.
“Why don’t you ask Len to come?”
Chase eyed me skeptically, like he was trying to figure out whether I was into his brother, until he noticed Jade’s face light up. “Oh. Gotcha. Be right back.” He headed back to the stage. He turned around at the last second. “You’ll still be here in a minute when I get back?”
Jade waved him off. “I promise she’ll be here.” She waited until he disappeared to turn to me. “Thanks.”
“Not a problem. At least one of us should have fun tonight.”
“You’ll have fun tonight.” She nudged me. “If you liked him enough to sleep with him, in theory you should enjoy an actual date with him.”
“This isn’t a date.”
“The guy asked you to go and get food. You’ve already had sex. It’s a date.”
Chapter Four
“All right, ready to hang out with my favorite sorority girls.” Len put an arm around each of us. That lasted all of two seconds before Chase took my hand and tugged me away. I couldn’t deny the feeling of warmth that came over me when Chase held my hand.
We walked away from the steps into the mostly empty main venue. A few groups of fans still stood around. I got the feeling they were hoping for a glimpse of the band.
“So, where to?” I tried to bite back the smile that wanted to come out as a group of girls stared at us with mouths agape.
“Do you guys need to get a car or anything?” Chase asked.
“No, we cabbed it.” I was grateful not to have to worry about moving my car. I was nervous enough as is.
“All right. Let’s walk down to King Street then.”
“Are you from here?” I asked Chase. I didn’t expect the guys to know Charleston at all.
Chase adjusted our hands. “No, but our older brother lives here. That’s why we planned to spend the night in town before heading on to Charlotte. Sometimes it’s nice to schedule in a decent night’s sleep every once in a while.”
“You guys have another brother? How did I not know that?” Jade was animated now. At least she had her confidence back.
Len looked at her. “Riley tends to stay away from us, unless of course we’re in town. Then he puts us up at his place because he has no choice.”
“Are you in town often?” As soon as I asked the words, I regretted them. I probably sounded like I wanted him to be, which would be bad. I was supposed to be the one who didn’t even want to see him again.
“Every few months we come through,” Chase answered. “Maybe more if I want to be though.”
“Oh. Cool.” More if he wanted to be? What did that mean?
I slid into a booth at one of the better diners downtown, and Chase slid in next to me. He didn’t bother trying to leave the socially acceptable amount of space. He was close enough that his thigh touched mine. I had no room to scoot, so I tried to relax.
He put an arm around me after handing me a menu. “Do you know what you’re getting?”
I set aside the menu. “Just a cup of coffee.”
“Really? Coffee at eleven o’clock?”
“I can drink caffeine anytime. It never keeps me up.”
“Interesting. I’m the same way.” He ran his hands through my hair absently.
“What are you getting?”
“Pancakes.” He dropped my hair and picked up the menu.
“Just pancakes?”
“What do you mean? That’s better than coffee.”
“I mean what kind?”
“Oh. Is there a type you’d like me to order? Maybe so you can steal a bite or two?”
I glanced across the table, but Jade seemed completely fixated on what Len was saying. I was glad neither of us had anything to drink earlier. At least we didn’t need to worry about making drunken decisions—been there, done that.
I leaned into him slightly. “If you get chocolate chip, I might take a bite.”
“Chocolate? You have a sweet tooth then. I guess I’m ordering chocolate chip pancakes.”
“I never said you had to.”
He brushed his lips against my ear sending a thrill through me. “I want to make you happy tonight, Cara. If making you happy involves ordering chocolate chip pancakes, I’m doing it.”
“What if I wanted to make you happy?” Where was this flirtatious side coming from? It was like I couldn’t resist him.
He set aside the menu again. “You already made me happy by agreeing to come out after the show. The fact that your hand is on my leg also makes me happy.”
I glanced down. I hadn’t realized I was doing that. “Oh, sorry.” I went to pull my hand away but he stopped me.
�
��I just told you it made me happy and you’re going to stop?”
“Sorry. Impulse response. I assumed it was sarcasm or something.”
“Listen, I don’t know who you’ve dated before, but if I tell you I like something, I like it. And just to make it even easier, I like when you touch me. So, you really can’t go wrong as long as your hands, or other body parts, are on me.”
“Other body parts?” I raised an eyebrow.
Just then, a waitress came over. Chase ordered right away. “We’ll have two coffees and chocolate chip pancakes.”
“Do you want a second plate then?” The waitress looked at me.
“Nope. We’re great sharing from the same plate.” He squeezed my hand.
Jade and Len both ordered dessert. She grinned at me from across the table.
I turned back to Chase, leaving my hand on his leg. “I told you I was going to take a few bites, not share it.”
“I’ve never ordered for you. I thought I’d try it out.”
“And how was it?”
“Pretty good.” He settled his hand on my leg right where my skirt ended. “How did it feel to have me order?”
“Why do I sense some insinuation in those words?” I shifted, allowing his hand to slip under my skirt slightly. I closed my eyes. I wasn’t allowed to enjoy the feeling so much.
“Because it’s there. I’ve been thinking about you constantly since that night. I got kind of obsessive even. I found myself searching social media sites for girls named Cara.”
I laughed. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. If you’d worn that shirt that night, it would have been a much easier process.” His hand brushed against my chest with his exaggerated motion. Then his face got serious. “Have you thought about me?”
“Yes. A lot.” If he was being honest, so could I. I mean, he was going to be leaving soon anyway.
The Hazards of Sex on the Beach Page 4