He made it over to me first, lifting me up by the waist and twirling me around. "Finally."
I grinned. "I know! My phone's getting lousy service."
"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."
"But she will be eventually."
"What makes you say that?" Chase's words surprised me. Was he trying to say he thought we had a serious chance of staying together long term?
"Jimmy, you should go." I was all about taking care of myself now.
"If you want, but I'm serious about the green thing. If it's okay, I might buy you some more green clothing. You don't seem to have much in your wardrobe."
"How would you know?" Jade eyed him skeptically. "You've only seen her twice before this."
He shrugged. "I've seen you other times." Then he ran off before anyone could say anything.
"Did that guy just admit to stalking you?" Kyle asked.
"Why? You going to push him for her too?" Jade laughed.
"I think Cara can take care of herself with him, but man he's a weirdo." Chase rubbed my back gently. "How am I ever going to sleep again?" He buried his face in my neck. "Are you a magnet for this stuff?"
"I attracted you, and you're normal. Well, at least you're weird sexy."
He turned me around in his arms. "Well, this weird sexy guy of yours needs you." He brushed his lips over mine. "I've missed you so much it hurts."
"I feel the same way."
"Get a room, guys." Jessa finally walked over. "Preferably after the show. I don't feel like explaining to the crowd why the lead singer in the headlining band disappeared."
Chase groaned. "Just a few more hours."
"Did you tell her where she's sleeping yet?" Len grinned. "There's still time to find a room somewhere, so out of concern of my brother not getting any, I thought I'd make sure she knew."
"Uh, what's he talking about?" I tugged on the corner of Chase's shirt.
"I thought we'd do something fun." He ran his hands through my hair.
"Fun?"
"We're camping out tonight. Not near everyone else, don't worry. There's a quieter area I know about."
"Camping out? As in sleeping in a tent?"
"Uh huh."
"And you expect me to do anything with you outdoors?" I released his shirt.
"See, man, I told you." Len seemed very proud of himself.
Chase eyed me a little bit nervously. "You really don't want to?"
Then I laughed. I had to. "I've been camping before. Thanks for the vote of confidence, Len."
"Really? You've been camping?" Len eyed me skeptically.
"Uh huh. My dad's into it, and since I'm an only child, we did lots of those father-daughter bonding camp out things."
Jessa smiled. "See, I told you she wasn't prissy, Chase."
"Oh yeah? Is that why you wouldn't bet with me on it?"
Chase turned to Len. "Wait what? You were betting on whether she'd sleep in a tent?"
"Looks like I won." The drummer smiled. "Nice tits and she can handle the outdoors. Nice choice, Chase." Then he looked at me. "And that cancelled out the apology."
"It's fine. I'm just going to take it as a compliment."
There was something so normal about hanging out at the festival. I didn't feel out of place. I actually felt just as comfortable as I would have if I'd been at a frat event. I guess the old saying is true: it's the people you're with, not where you are that makes the difference. If someone had told me I'd have enjoyed standing around in an open field with thousands of people, I would have told them they were crazy, but I had a smile on my face the whole time.
We listened to more acts, and Chase took us over to the VIP tent to introduce us to some of the other bands. We were going to have enough Sleeping with the Band segments to span into the next semester. I had a drink and enjoyed every minute of watching Chase in his element. The fact that he was one of the bigger names was immediately obvious, but he didn't seem to notice. He was more concerned with making sure my friends and I were part of the conversation.
Finally, it was time for Chance of a Lifetime to go on, so I hung back with my friends to watch. Chase came to life on stage. I hadn't seen him perform live since the night I discovered who he was. But this venue was bigger-the crowd more excited, and the few months had helped launch the group further into the lime light.
As they took the stage, the crowd erupted with cheers. Girls screamed Chase's name-telling them they loved him. It was like he was a rock star, and I guess in some ways he was. That thought sobered me. Maybe I was enough now-but the bigger he got, the less he was going to want me.
Even over the loud music, Jade seemed to sense the shift in my mood. "You okay?"
"He's going to be famous."
"He's already pretty famous," Kyle supplied.
"Thanks. Needed that," I shouted over the music.
"What are you worried about? That he's going to move on or something?" Jade asked, leaning in close.