“In other words, I shouldn’t let you out of my sight the next few days or I won’t find you again.”
“Pretty much.”
Chase put me down and turned to my friends. “Nice to see you again, Jade.” He gave her a light hug. “And Kyle, man, I owe you.”
Kyle shook his hand. “No. I was just standing up for a friend.”
“I’m glad Cara has friends like you then.”
“Cara, Jade.” Len pulled us both into a hug together. “How are my two favorite sorority girls doing?”
“We’re doing great.”
“Nice to see you both again,” Zack said. “I’m supposed to apologize for calling your tits nice, Cara. But it’s still true, so I don’t see the point.”
I smiled, willing a blush away. “That’s okay then. Let’s forget you ever said it.”
Chase tightened his arm around me.
“Don’t look up,” Jade whispered.
Chase heard her. “Why are you telling her that?” He glanced around just as the Pearberry’s came into view.
Jimmy’s eyes lit up when he saw me, and I buried myself into the crook of Chase’s arm while trying to hold in a groan.
“Wait. That guy? You’re hiding from him?” Chase pulled me closer.
“Did you hear that song he sang?” Jade looked anywhere but at me.
“I did actually. It was pretty good.”
“Did you catch the title?” she continued.
“Yeah, it was Cara’s Song. It made me think of—wait. Why are you hiding from him? Was that song about you?”
I groaned louder.
Of course, that’s the moment Jimmy reached us. Ava and AJ had stopped to talk to other people a ways back.
“Hey, I was hoping you made it.” Jimmy ignored everyone and everything else—including the fact that my boyfriend had his arm around me.
“Yeah, Chase is playing…” I tried to give him a very strong hint to tread carefully.
“What did you think? The girls were cool about mixing it up and letting me write a few songs. I needed to share my madness, you know? That’s what music’s about, right? Opening up, and sharing it all out.”
“Yeah. True.” I really wanted him to walk away. So far Chase hadn’t said anything, and I wanted it to continue that way.
This seemed to encourage him. “You look great, by the way. I think green’s a really good color for you. It works better than the pink you always seem to wear.”
Chase broke his silence. “Dude, stop talking to my girlfriend that way. What she wears isn’t your business.”
Jimmy finally looked at Chase. “I’m just letting her know she looks nice. She should wear green more.” He rolled his eyes.
“Nice to see you, Jimmy.” I hoped he interpreted the statement for what it was—a goodbye.
“It’s always a pleasure to see you, Cara. Do you think I can get your number? I’d love to get together sometime.”
“Are you fucking serious?” Chase released me, and stepped in front of me. “Please tell me this is a joke.”
“What?” Jimmy looked up at him with a completely deadpan expression.
“What?” Chase stepped toward him. “You just asked for my girlfriend’s number in front of me.”
“Would you have preferred I’d have asked when you weren’t around? Considering I live in the same city as her, and you’re very rarely there, that could be arranged.”
“Do you want me to hit you? Is that it?”
I searched for Ava and AJ. They needed to get Jimmy before he got hurt or got their group blacklisted. Chase seemed to hold a lot of influence with this scene.
Jimmy shook his head. “No.”
“Don’t ask for her number anytime. It’s not available to you.”
I wasn’t used to Chase in the role of the boyfriend trying to keep other guys away. I liked it. He’d stood back, until Jimmy pushed things too far.
“What if she wants to give it to me?”
Chase looked at me. “Do you want to give him your number?”
“Nope. Sorry. As you are well aware, I have a boyfriend.”
Chase pulled me back into his arms. “I understand your fascination, but she’s not available.”