"Great. Do you like sushi?"
"Yes, love it." I sat up, debating whether it was worth getting out of bed to turn on the light. I really wished I had a light near me, but the room was too crowded for bed stands. I always left my glasses next to my pillow.
"Perfect. I'm craving it, and Riley can't stand it. We should go to dinner tomorrow night."
"And you just thought of this at," I checked my phone, "one in the morning?"
"Sorry. I forget that not everyone's up all night. I just thought dinner could be a fun way to bond. We can do drinks after too."
"To bond?" Rachel seemed more bubbly than I remembered, but then again, when we'd met I'd been more concerned with Chase.
"Yeah. We're with brothers, bonding makes sense."
"Yeah … you're engaged to Riley. I've slept with Chase a few times." Even to my own ears, that felt off.
"Don't belittle what you have with Chase."
"It's still different. Now that being said, I'd love to hang out. I just want to make sure we do it for the right reasons." I sounded strangely coherent for the middle of the night.
"Okay, I'll start over. Hey, Cara. I think you're super cool. Let's get dinner."
I laughed.
"So seven tomorrow night then?"
"Sure. What place do you want to go to?"
"The one on Meeting Street, and I'll swing by and get you. You live at the Delta Mu house, right?"
I knew exactly which restaurant she was talking about. It was one of my favorites. "Yeah, do you know where the house is?"
"I'll find it. I'll see you tomorrow night. This is exciting."
"I'm excited too. I just don't sound that way in the middle of the night."
"That's fine, you'll get used to my evening chipperness eventually."
I laughed. She seemed to make me do that a lot. "All right, see you tomorrow." I set aside my phone.
Moments later, my phone rang again. This time I looked-just in time to watch Chase's name flash across the screen. "Hey."
"Hey, you sound awake."
"Rachel woke me up already."
"Riley's Rachel?" Chase sounded surprised.
"Yes, we're going out for sushi tomorrow night."
"Oh, nice. I can see you guys getting along."
I heard talking and laughing in the background. I shouldn't have been surprised that he wasn't alone, but somehow it took away from the phone call.
"She's really nice." I got out of bed and turned on the light. Talking to Chase in the dark now that I was disappointed just upset me more.
"She is, and I know she's kind of lonely in Charleston. She moved there for Riley."
"Oh. That would be tough." I made a mental note to ask her more about it.
"So I'm sure she's glad to have met you."
"It goes both ways." I sat in my desk chair and pulled my laptop out of sleep.
"Are you typing on your computer?"
"You heard that over the phone?" I turned away from my computer guiltily. Messing around on the computer while on the phone wasn't the most polite thing to do.
"Yeah … are you all right? You seem kind of distant." A note of concern entered his voice.
"It's one a.m."
"It's just so hard to know what you're thinking when I can't see you."
"And you're that concerned with what I'm thinking?" I wasn't used to someone worrying about that when it came to me.
"Yeah … so want to do a video chat? That would solve the problem."
"A video chat?"
"Yeah, I assume you've done one before."
"Yes, but not in my pajamas in the middle of the night."
"Hey, I've seen you in less than pajamas."
I felt my body heating.
"What do you say?" His voice was low and seductive. He knew exactly how to get what he wanted. That didn't mean he would.
"I can't." There was no way I was talking to him in my glasses and pajamas. I didn't care if he saw, but I wasn't all right with anyone else seeing.
"Because you have other plans … "
"You said it yourself. I need my beauty sleep."
"I was wrong. You're so beautiful you couldn't possibly need more."
I let out a deep breath. "Maybe another night."
"Hold on a sec." The background noise died down. "Something's bothering you."
"No, listen, let's just talk tomorrow."
"Come on, Cara. Long distance can't work if you won't talk to me."
"Long distance? I never agreed to a relationship or anything." Why did the situation have to be this way? I couldn't handle his life.
"Earlier tonight you agreed to be exclusive … what else would that mean?"
"That we wouldn't sleep with other people."
"And if you weren't in a relationship, why would it matter if you slept around?"
"I don't know what you want, Chase."
"I want you, but since I can't be with you tonight I'd at least like to see your face."
"Will you be alone?" I'd embarrassed myself enough. I might as well just lay it all out there.
"Who else would I be with?"
"Whoever you were with up until a minute ago."
"Oh. Is that what this is about?" A loud beep sounded followed by a whooshing noise. My best guess was he'd turned on an AC.
"I just … forget it."
"I was walking back to my hotel, babe. I put you on hold so I could dig out my key."
"Really? You weren't at a party or anything?"
"This jealousy thing is really sweet, but it's unnecessary."
"I'm not jealous." I stood up.
"Then why would you have cared if I was at a party?"
"Because I wanted this call to be something. Argh, I can't make sense this late." I sounded like a whiny, immature kid. I knew it, but somehow that didn't change the words pouring out of my mouth or the way I felt. How could two nights with a guy have made me so overwhelmed and confused?
"Do you have a tablet you use for video chats or do you use your computer, or your phone?"
"I use my tablet."
"Okay. Hold on."
I took a deep breath. This shouldn't have been so nerve wracking. I opened my tablet and settled down on my bed. Moments later, I got his notification and pressed accept. My chest tightened for a second before the pressure released when the image of Chase lying on his hotel bed in just his boxer briefs showed up. Then my heart rate picked up to replace the clenching. "Hi."
"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."