The Hazards of Sex on the Beach (Hazards #3)(23)
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy

“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?”

“We won’t. And if so, we can just start having phone sex.”

“Chase!”

“There you go again. And wow, look at that blush.”

“That was a joke, right?”

“The phone sex? Yes. I mean we’d at least have to do it over video.”

“On that note, good night.”

“Hey, just saying.”

“We’re not having phone or video sex.”

“We’ll see what you’re saying in a few weeks.” He smirked.

“I’ll be saying the same thing.” When you lived in a house full of girls and thin walls, phone sex wasn’t in the cards.

“Okay, one more thing before you go.”

“Yes?” I prepared myself for some personal question.

“If you could go on vacation anywhere in the world, where would it be?”

“I don’t know,” I answered automatically.

“What do you mean?”

“It means I don’t know.”

“All right. We’ll figure it out together.” He moistened his lips. “Good night, Cara.”

“Good night.” I clicked end and set aside my tablet. How in the world was I ever going to fall back to sleep?

Chapter Nine

I was starting to get used to how often Juliet and Mallory did things without me. That probably sounds bad, but what I mean is that it didn’t bother me as much. They’d walked on egg shells the first week back, but then they seemed to understand that when they treated me that way, it only made things worse. Still, I knew they felt guilty going out if I was sitting at home, so it was nice to have my own plans to tell them about.

“You’re going out with his sister-in law?” Juliet asked as she slipped into a black dress. Reed was taking her out somewhere.

“She’s not officially his sister-in-law, but she will be soon.” I zipped up the back of the dress for her.

“Well, that’s cool I guess. It’s always nice to meet new people.”

I sat down on the edge of my bed. “It’s not weird, is it? I mean Chase and I barely know each other.”

“I think if it were a guy, it might be weird, but it’s a girl. Plus, didn’t you say she’s a Delta Mu? That gives you something else in common. Maybe you guys will click so well that you’ll stay friends no matter what happens.”

“One can hope.”

“Well, I’ll check in with you later. Have fun and get a Hurricane roll in my honor.”

“I’d get one anyway.”

“Then get two.” Juliet blew me a kiss before walking out the door.

I finished up the last of my weekend school work while I waited for seven o’clock to roll around. Usually I spent my Sunday nights frantically trying to get everything ready for my Monday classes. It looked like that wasn’t going to be a problem anymore.

I packed up a purse and headed outside to wait on the front porch. I ran into a few of my sisters on the way out, but everyone who was still home was getting ready to go out.

I took a seat on the porch swing and started to swing it slowly as I waited for Rachel. Right on time, she pulled her Jeep up in front of the Delta Mu house.

I opened the door. “Nice wheels.”

“I wanted one of these so bad in high school, but I got a hand me down Camry instead.”

“I got a hand me down CRV, but I love it.”

“That’s not a bad hand me down to have.”

“Not at all. No complaints.” The price was right—i.e. free—and I liked the space.

“Sorry if I woke you up last night. I really didn’t even bother to check the time. Riley works late nights a lot, so it plays into my habit.”

“He stays up until one a.m. working a lot?”

“Yeah. He’s at that stage where he either makes partner or doesn’t. He’s serious about work.”

“Gotcha. That must be stressful.”

“It is.” She pulled away from the curb. “For both of us.”

The ride over to the restaurant was a quick one, and before I knew it, we were settling into a booth. Rachel ordered a glass of red wine, and I went for unsweetened iced tea. No matter how many times I used my fake ID, it made me nervous, so I generally opted for non-alcoholic when I could.

“I’m sorry. That was dumb. I shouldn’t have ordered wine.”

“Oh, don’t apologize,” I quickly reassured her. “I’ll be doing the same thing in a few more years.”

She smiled. “Now that’s a positive way to look at things.”

As we waited for our food to arrive, I decided to ask some of the basics. “How’d you meet Riley?”

“A friend introduced us almost two years ago now. At first, I wasn’t sure. Lawyers aren’t really my cup of tea, but those baby blue eyes of his had me.”

I smiled. Chase’s eyes were brown, so the blue trait didn’t run through the whole family. “Sweet. So, it was kind of love at first sight?”

“I wouldn’t say that exactly… more lust at first sight…. Love at first morning after.”