“Hi. You look cute in glasses.”
I self-consciously pushed them up on my face. “I slept in my contacts the other night—I wasn’t expecting to need these.”
“You should expect to need them the next time I see you.” His eyes looked straight through the screen into mine.
“How was the show?”
“Good. Sex on the Beach went over well.”
I tried to fight off the blush I knew was coming. “I can’t believe you actually sing that.”
“Why? It’s a good song.”
“Because it’s about sex on the beach.”
“Which I now know about first hand. It’s always easier to write what you know.” There was a twinkle in his eye.
“That’s true.”
He shifted, bringing the camera slightly closer to him. “You write, don’t you?”
“I write plays and short stories mostly, but I don’t share them. They’re just for me.”
“Maybe you’d show me one sometime?” He turned his head to the side slightly, and it reminded me of a puppy. The thought made me laugh. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“Nuh uh. Tell me.”
“I was just thinking that you reminded me of a puppy.”
He stretched. “I hope you like dogs.”
“Love them. I’d have one if I could keep it in the house.”
“I’d have one if I stayed in one place long enough to keep one.”
“What’s it like? Being on the road?”
“It’s fun mostly. I’ve got great company, but sometimes it gets old.”
“But you meet so many people.”
“True. I met you on the road. I played a show at a festival that afternoon.”
“Oh. I wondered why you were there.” Knowing Chase’s true identity, it had seemed strange he’d been at a random house party in Myrtle Beach. “Who do you share your room with?” I figured it would be Len, but then again, Len probably liked to bring girls back.
“Oh. I wasn’t going to tell you about the three girls I have hiding in the closet.”
“Chase.”
“My brother, but he doesn’t always come back.”
“Yeah, I assumed that.”
He smiled. “Do you have a bra on under that top?”
“No. I hate sleeping in a bra.”
“Interesting.”
“Why is it interesting?”
“I just like learning this stuff about you.”
“That’s a pretty unimportant thing to learn.”
“Nope. It’s incredibly important and essential.”
“Essential? To your perverse dreams?”
“Perverse? I know you’re doing the same thing right now.”
“Doing what?” I pushed my knees up, using them as a stand for the tablet.
“Watching me to help create a better mental image.”
“I have a good memory. I have plenty of details from last night.”
A slow smile spread across his lips. “Last night… I’m ready to have that happen again.”
“Same here.”
“I’ll be in Savannah the second week in March.”
“That’s about six weeks.”
“I guess sorority girls can do basic math.”
“Chase.”
“Cara? I love how you say my name when I annoy you. It lets me know you care.”
I mustered up some nerve. “Why are you doing this?”
“Doing what?”
“Spending so much time talking to me. There have to be better things for you to be doing.” Sleeping with me was one thing, I understood how guys worked, but sitting around talking to me when he could be out with his band? That didn’t gel with the image I had of most guys—especially not musicians.
“All right, I’d say I was only going to say this one more time, but I’m going to say it as many times as it takes to get you to accept it. The only thing I’d rather be doing right now is lying in bed with you. Since I can’t have that, I’m taking what’s second best.”
“For six weeks?”
“I can’t promise we’ll video chat every night, but I do plan to call every night. Maybe more than once.”
“What if we run out of things to talk about?”