Mallory paused in the doorway. “Surprise him. Call when we’re already on the way.”
“Strangely enough, I agree with you.”
She laughed. “Strangely enough? Like this is the first time?”
“Not the absolute first time.”
She rolled her eyes. “In all your excitement, don’t forget to pack before you leave for class.”
“I won’t. Thanks for this.”
“Of course.” She walked back in and hugged me. “This is going to be fun.”
“I’m sure it’s going to be quite the experience.”
***
We weren’t as excited as we sat in completely stop dead traffic on the interstate that evening. I stared at the time on my phone even though it would have been just as easy to look at the clock mounted to the dashboard of Colt’s Suburban.
“I’m sorry, Cara. I can’t believe how much traffic we’ve hit.” Colt turned over his shoulder to look at me.
“Why are you apologizing? You’re the one who was nice enough to drive me. I’m the one who should be apologizing, since the rest of you would rather be back on campus.”
“Not true.” Juliet patted my leg. “I’m excited to see Chase perform.”
“I don’t think we’ll be seeing anything tonight.” Jade glanced at her watch. “There’s no chance we’ll get there in time.”
“I guess this is why it’s good we didn’t tell Chase we were coming in advance.” I tried to hide my disappointment. My friends were being awesome by schlepping all the way up to Tennessee with me.
“You should probably give him a heads up we’ll be there eventually.” Mallory turned around. “We may miss the show, but the real reason we’re going has to do with what happens after.”
Colt stretched and rested his hand behind Mallory’s seat. He’s one of those sexy cowboy types that you’d think just exist in magazines. Mallory and Colt had grown up together, and sometimes I wished I’d had that happen to me. Maybe relationships would be simpler if you knew each other so well beforehand. Going down that line of thinking just made me think about Aaron’s ex back home. I pushed off the thoughts. “I’d call him. At least let him know you’ll be there tonight.”
I called, ignoring the disappointment when I got his voicemail. “Hey, I need to tell you something. Give me a call when you can.”
“Were you intentionally trying to make him think you’re dumping him?” Colt asked.
“What?” I pushed away my seatbelt slightly so I could look around at Colt. “That’s how it sounded?”
“If Mallory called me and told me she had to tell me something, I’d think either I messed up or she was pregnant. I guess he might assume the second one too.”
“Oh my god. I need to call back.”
“So you can make him sweat it more? If he sees two missed calls, he’s just going to worry more.”
I sighed. “Next time I’m having someone else leave the message.”
Colt laughed. “Or try just saying ‘Hey, it’s Cara. Call me.’ That’s all you needed to say.”
Thirty agonizing minutes later, we were still hours away, and my phone was still silent. I was about to try him back when my phone finally rang.
“Sorry, I was in sound checks. What’s going on? Are you okay?” He sounded just as worried as Colt predicted.
“Nothing, I just. Well, I was originally calling to see if you could set some tickets aside for me tonight, but it doesn’t look like you’ll have to now.”
“Tickets? Why would I do that? Are you in Tennessee? And why shouldn’t I do it anymore?” His voice was a mix of alarm and slight excitement.
“We’re stuck in traffic. We’re not going to make it.”
“Not going to make it to the show, but you’ll still be here in Nashville tonight?” Now his voice was all excitement.
“That’s the plan.”
“Wow, that’s awesome. I got so nervous when I heard the message.”
“Colt thought you’d think I was dumping you or telling you I was pregnant.”
“My mind actually went immediately to Aaron. I was afraid he did something to you.”
“Ugh. No. I’m safe and sound with my friends.” I hated even hearing his name.
I heard muffled talking before Chase continued. “Is Jade with you?”
“Why? Is Len asking?” I winked at Jade.
“Yes.”
“She’s here.”
“I’ve never seen Len this excited to see a girl he’s not going to sleep with, so that’s cool.”
I laughed. “Where should I meet you? We got rooms at the hotel you’re at.” It sounded stalkerish, but Chase usually kept me in the loop in case of an emergency. Really he was worried about Aaron. He’d also given me Len’s number for the same reason.
“I guess it depends on what time then. Call or text me as soon as you’re here.”
“I can’t wait to see you.”
“Me either. I miss you like crazy.”
“I miss you too.” I hung up.
“Awww, you guys are so cute it makes me sick.” Juliet made a face.
“I’m not going to argue. We are cute.”
She laughed. “Doing long distance last summer with Reed was hard. Spending the early stage of a relationship apart would be even harder.”
“Tell me about it.” I leaned back in my seat.
Colt turned on the radio as we continued to crawl. A few songs later, Chase’s familiar sexy voice filled the speakers. Sex on the Beach was flying up the charts.
At nine o’clock, the traffic finally opened up and we started to move. We stopped for food and restrooms about an hour from the city, and I discovered that I still had one problem.
Finally we reached Nashville and found the hotel. I’d been sending Chase text updates over the past hour, but I happily sent one last one as we pulled into the lot. We’re here. He’d assured me he was leaving right after the show to head back to the hotel.
Without waiting for a response, I got out and went around to the tail gate where Colt was pulling out our bags.
“You’re a sight for sore eyes.” Chase’s arms came around my waist and his face nuzzled in my neck. “I’m not dreaming, right? You are actually here?”
I turned in his arms. “Considering how many hours we’ve been in the car, no it’s real.” I kissed him lightly on the lips.
“Completely worth the wait.” The hunger in his eyes was intense, and my problem seemed even worse.
“You need to meet Colt. He put up with us nagging him for hours just to get me here.” I gestured to where Colt stood watching.
Chase turned, keeping an arm around me while he shook Colt’s hands. “Nice to meet you, man. I owe you.”
“Not a problem. Cara’s a cool girl and from what I understand, she’s been missing you.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve been missing her too.” He pulled me into his side. “You guys must be exhausted.”
“More like ready to do anything but sit in a car.” Juliet slung her duffel over her shoulder. “I’m still bummed we missed you guys perform.”
“Yeah, I understand. It sucks that you hit so much traffic. It’s going to sound like a lame offer, but if you guys come up to the suite, I can play some stuff for you. Would that help?”
“Yes, it definitely would.” Jade smiled. “I’ve been hearing all about your new material, but I’ve only heard the ones you played in Charleston.”
“All right, then. Let’s head in.”
Chase refused to let Colt pay for two rooms. He talked to the clerk at the desk, and we all headed into the elevator.
Chase hadn’t even inserted the key into the door when it swung open.
“Jade, my girl!” Len pulled a surprised Jade into a hug. “I’ve missed you.”
She put a hand on her hip. “I know. You called me at three a.m. the other night.”
“Yeah… sorry about that. I just wanted to talk to someone normal.”
“I’m going to pretend that doesn’t imp
ly that we’re not normal.” Jessa gave me a surprise of my own by hugging me. “Nice to see you again, Cara.”
“Yeah, same to you.”
We walked further into the suite. Set up with several couches and tables, it was far bigger than I expected. I glanced around at the doors located on each wall of the room. “Nice room.”
“It works for us.” Chase smiled and picked up his guitar. “Not to rush things, but if I’m performing anything, it’s gotta be right now. Afterwards, no one’s seeing me until tomorrow. Well, besides Cara, of course.” He winked and patted the space next to him on the couch.
“Thanks for that.”
“Anytime, babe.” He kissed me on the cheek.
If his bandmates were surprised by his impromptu performance, they didn’t show it. My friends took seats and eagerly watched.
He started with Sex on the Beach before breaking into a new one called Water Walks. It didn’t take long to realize that one was about me too. There was something so incredible about discovering you’ve influenced someone’s music. Still, I couldn’t get into the songs too much. I had no idea how he was going to react to my news.
After three songs, Chase put down his guitar. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to.”
Mallory laughed. “Yeah, I’m surprised you even made it this long.”
“Me too.” Chase took my arm and pulled me toward one set of doors. I took a deep breath as Chase closed and locked the doors behind us.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” He brushed my hair back from my face.
“I have something to tell you.”
“Huh? By your response to seeing me, I’m going to assume you aren’t interested in ending things…?”
“No, nothing that drastic. It’s just bad timing tonight.”
“Bad timing?” He wrinkled his brow until his whole face relaxed. “Oh. It’s that time of the month?”
“Yeah… it came a few days early.”
“Oh. That’s okay. Obviously, it’s a little disappointing, but you’re still here. We still have a night to hang out in person.” He took my hand and led me over to the bed. “And I still get to hold you all night.”
“Really? You’re that cool with it?” I sighed with relief. Sex during my period was not on my to-do list.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because we can’t have sex.”
“Yeah, but like I said, I still get to hold you.” He lay down and pulled me down next to him. “And that’s worth a lot to me.”
“You’re awesome.” I snuggled against him.
“You are too, so it all works out.” He played with a few strands of my hair. “Let’s play a game.”
“What?” I leaned up on one elbow.
“Usually when we’re together, we’re too busy doing other things.” He raised an eyebrow. “I figure this is the perfect time to learn even more about each other.”
“And we have to do that in a game?”
“Why not?” He shifted to look at me better. “I’ll go first. I’ll ask you a question. If you don’t answer you have to do a dare. Got it?”
I laughed. “Like truth or dare?”
“Maybe.” He smiled. “You ready?”
“Okay.” I tried not to get nervous. There weren’t any questions I was afraid to answer.
“What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?”
“My favorite ice cream flavor? That’s my truth?”
“You can tell a lot about someone by the ice cream they prefer. Besides, I need to know for future reference.”
“Chocolate chip cookie dough.”
“Oh, you’re one of those girls?” He poked my side.
“There’s a type of girl who likes chocolate cookie dough ice cream?”
“Sure. I mean it is the best kind after all.”
“Wait, it’s your favorite too?”
He laughed. “Wow, you’re actually excited. See, I knew this game would be fun.”
“Surprisingly so. My turn.”
He put his hands behind his head. “Let me have it.”
“Fly or drive?”
“Drive if I have the time and company.”
I felt the same way. “Because you get to see more of the country that way. It’s more real. You really understand how a location fits into the greater picture.”
“And now I know you can read minds.”
I laughed. “Not quite, but we seem to have a lot of random things in common.”
“We both also like each other. That’s convenient too.”
“Just a little.”
We spent the entire night talking. It felt so good to curl up in his arms and actually feel his body next to mine.
“I’m so glad you came.” He kissed me lightly as we watched the sun rise the next morning.
“Me too. Hopefully we can time things better next time.”
“I’d like that—but I also liked this. It doesn’t always have to be about the sex.”
“Sometimes I wonder if you’re real.”
“Oh? Do I seem fake?” He ran a hand down my bare stomach. Our shirts hadn’t lasted long the night before. In fact, we’d ended up in just underwear fairly quickly. Neither of us wanted anything more than necessary separating us.
“More like too good to be true.” I traced my hand down his chest.
“Just so you know, you fall into that category too.”
“Only a few more weeks until I see you again.”
“I know.” He pulled me on top of him. “This was a very nice treat to hold me over though.”
“I like being a treat for you.”
He laughed. “You always are, babe. You always are.”
Chapter Seventeen
By the time we got back from the Tennessee trip, it was already time to start preparing for the next radio show. Since this was our first official Sleeping with the Band segment, we wanted it to be perfect. I was excited to do another show, but I knew my friends were relying on me to get everything spot on. Hopefully, I could get the same relaxed, natural feel the second time around. Pearberry promised to be an interesting guest, and I wasn’t worried about dealing with the girls, but Jimmy—AKA eyeliner guy— was pretty creepy. I wasn’t looking forward to talking girls with him.
Jade and Kyle were already set up by the time I arrived at the studio. Kyle handed me a latte before I even sat down. Clearly he knew me.
“Is everything ready?” I assumed they knew I wouldn’t be much help with the technical side of things yet.
“Pretty much. Just a few things to discuss.” Jade got all business-like all of a sudden.
“The band heard Maddox’s show, so they know what to expect. They specifically asked if it would follow the same format.”
“Great.” I sipped my latte. I wasn’t sure if the guests being prepared was good or not. On one hand, I didn’t have to worry about offending them, but maybe the first one went well because I caught Maddox off guard. I refused to stress out. It would just make things worse.
“But, just to be prepared. AJ is into girls and is very open about it.”
“Oh, cool. A lesbian interview on Sleeping with the Band. Nice.” Kyle grinned.
“Is Ava straight?” I just wanted to make sure I didn’t do something stupid.
“Yes. As is Jimmy.”
I pushed aside my weird feelings over Jimmy. “I think it’s going to be fun—more variety that way.”
“That’s what I thought.” Jade opened and closed her hands repeatedly. She was trying to get pumped up. “I think we’ll get some interesting calls.”
“Let’s hope so.” I set aside my coffee long enough to let Kyle explain to me how the buttons worked again. He’d decided to take on the role of producer, and he wasn’t interested in being on air.
Pearberry showed up right on time, and minutes later, I was welcoming everyone to the show.
“Hey, everyone. It’s Cara and Jade here. Welcome to Sleeping with the Band, the only place where you�
��ll get live music and all the nitty gritty details on the love lives of your favorite local bands.”
Jade took over from there. “Tonight we have Pearberry with us. Ava, AJ, and their newest member Jimmy, are all live with us in the studio tonight.”
“Hey.” AJ said hello first, followed by the others.
I let Jade do all the musical questions again, although I was starting to feel more confident in that department. Then she gave me the nod, and I knew it was my turn.
“As you all know, this show is about more than just the music, so it’s time to get to know the more personal details about the Pearberrys.” I paused. “AJ, should we start with you?”
“Sure.” She smiled nervously. Maddox had eaten this up, but I knew not everyone would. I had to start slow.
“All right. Your perfect date. Casual coffee or fancy dinner?”
“Definitely casual. It’s so much easier to get know someone that way.”
“I agree. I definitely prefer the casual first date. So, here’s the big question. Anyone special in your life?”
She hesitated for a moment. “Not right now. I broke up with my girlfriend a few months back, so I’ve been going solo for a while.”
“That sucks. I know that feeling. You’ll meet the right girl though.”
“Let’s hope.”
“Any chance you’d tell our listeners what you’re looking for?”
“Sweet, great smile, and willing to put up with my crazy schedule.”
The light started blinking before she could answer. It turns out a lot of our listeners were into the Pearberry front girl with a thing for wearing pigtails.
Ava’s turn was equally as popular, and then it came time to talk to Jimmy.
“So, Jimmy. What’s it like working with two power house girls like your bandmates?”
“It’s fun. I’m glad I get to go along for the ride now.”
“Any girlfriend waiting for you back home at night?” Jade took the lead with him. I was glad she was feeling more comfortable with those questions. Maybe we could switch up for both sets of the questions.
“No. Unfortunately not.”
“Then you know the next question. What are you looking for?” I sipped my latte as I waited for his response.
“Blonde, nice chest, pretends to be outgoing but is actually kinda shy, maybe 5’5, likes to wear tight shirts and dark jeans.” His eyes stared straight into mine as he talked. Could we say creepy? Did he have to use the exact same height I was?
The Hazards of Sex on the Beach Page 15