The bass of you

Chapter 22

Opening the bathroom door, I scurry to my leather jacket on the floor and slip it on to cover any visibility of the shape of my nipples. It makes me uncomfortable to know that I didn't have it on when I woke up and I dread that Chase or any of the others may have seen something I didn't want them to in this top. Chase is sitting on the bed, now with a white tank top on, and looking down at his combat boots. Instead of tying the laces, he's tucking them inside the boots.

Nervously, I stand in front of him and fold my arms over my chest. "So...um, what did you see? And be honest..." I say suspiciously. "You must have seen something."

Chase looks up at me innocently, shrugs his shoulders, and brushes his fingers through his hair. "Nothing, I didn't see anything."

Scoffing, I put my hands on my hips and doubt his claim of not seeing anything at all. "I don't believe you."

"Your friend has been told about going backstage, so everyone's probably ready to go now."

Chase stands up in front of me and I'm standing so close to him that I have to step back when he does. He towers over me, his smoky dark-blue eyes narrowed and looking me up and down. There's something about the way he looks at me like that that makes me feel all nervous and tingly and just bothered in some way. His hair is messy like usual, he hasn't brushed it or done anything to tidy it, but it suits him so much.

We stand for a moment, right in front of each other's faces, in silence and staring at each other. The urge to kiss him is unreal, he's just so good-looking that it actually hurts to be this close to him. His pouty lips are curling up into a smirk as he looks into my eyes, and I swear my heart just did a backflip.

"We should probably go now," he says nice and low. I swear the way he said that had more of an impact on me that anything else anyone has ever said to me.

Chase is the first to move, turning around, and picking his cowboy hat up from the bed and putting it on his head, then nodding at me. He walks to the chair in the corner and picks up his leather jacket. I'm still standing in the exact same place as I watch him slip his leather jacket on. My hair is damp by now, not too wet, my curls are drying naturally. He places his guitar carefully in its case, zips it up, picks it up, and starts walking towards the bedroom door. But I'm not satisfied by not knowing if he really did see anything or not, because although he said he didn't - I don't believe him.

"You really saw nothing?" I ask innocently, still standing where I am.

Chase stops and turns around. "Nothing," he says.

I'm about to accept the answer when he winks and grins. The shock of that makes me cock my head to the side and frown at him as he continues his way out the bedroom. I'm still standing completely still, now in even more shock at his cheeky winking. He's already left the bedroom by the time I process it and decide to run after him to demand an answer to why he did that - even though it's pretty obvious why he did what he did. When I get outside the bedroom, I turn the corner in a rush to catch up to him when I bump harshly into Layla, nearly knocking her over. She grabs my shoulder to stop herself from falling backwards and with this, I almost lose my balance and fall frontwards, but I manage to steady myself and Layla just in time.

Layla bursts out laughing at what just happened, but that's short-lived when she instantly remembers why she has come to me in the first place and starts to squeal. "Mon, whatever the hell you're doing to get us in with Black Dagger, keep doing it mun! Thank you so much for just being crazy little you!" She throws an arm around my neck and pulls me into her for a fast hug before pushing me away again and grinning. "Jace and Wolf say that you're fun and cool, so what the hell were you doing last night?" she asks with a frozen grin, waiting for a reply.

The truth is, I don't really remember what the hell I did, especially for them to say that I'm fun and cool. What the hell was I doing for them to describe miserable me in such a way? The power of alcohol really doesn't get as much appreciation as it should. The bloody stuff has given me memory loss and I'm not sure if that's for the better or worse

Scratching my head and sighing, I reply, "to be honest, Lay, I really don't know. I was so drunk that I can't remember what I was doing." But I start to smile spitefully at Layla when I remember something that made me laugh. "But I know who you were doing,"

Layla punches my shoulder playfully and rolls her eyes as she giggles proudly. We follow the band members into the elevator, where they're all holding their stuff, and Bill is in here with us too. He's talking to them all but I'm not listening, I'm trying to process everything that's happened in the space of two days. These turn of events have been things I'd never thought would happen, but yet have, and have happened so fast - all because of me. I don't even know what I'm doing right, but I'm clearly doing something right for all this to be happening.

Outside, there's a limo - a bloody limo - waiting for us. Jackson is ushering Layla inside while I stand there in complete disbelief at all of this. All of the band members get in, along with Bill, and a hand is felt on my back. Turning around I see Chase, he smiles at me then holds out his other hand for me to get inside before him. Still not completely with reality, I get in the limo anyway, and Chase joins in after. There's a guy with a camera sitting opposite us, moving the camera to capture all of our faces - even mine and Layla's. I shyly turn away from the camera.