“It was well worth it, but I’m going to go collapse.”
“Nice seeing you again.” I smiled.
“Same to you. Chase picked well with you.”
“Thanks.” I gathered up my coffee cup and purse.
Maddox waved again before disappearing through the door.
“You’re the best.” Jade surprised me with a hug.
“Oh, it was just some quick thinking.”
“It was awesome. I can’t believe you thought of that on the spot.” Kyle joined us. He’d sat in the back of the booth mostly.
“I don’t know enough about music to ask relevant questions, so I just changed to a topic I like better.”
Kyle laughed. “I’ve got an interesting idea, but you can both feel free to veto it.”
“Let us hear it.” I shifted my bag to the more comfortable shoulder.
Kyle stretched his arm to his back. “Want to use my time slot? We can all work together.”
We? Did that still include me? “Wait. Do you mean I’m doing this going forward?”
He smiled. “Yeah. And it’s an eight p.m. show so you can’t even complain about getting up early.”
“We got participation at this hour. Can you imagine our reach at night?” Jade was giddy.
“Oh yeah, we can call it Sleeping with the Band.” I laughed. “Just kidding.”
“That’s perfect!” Jade hugged me. “Sexy, innuendo, different. It’s going to work.”
I turned to Kyle. “Are you really okay turning your hour into a Sleeping with the Band segment?”
“It was my idea, and why not? It doesn’t have to be every week, and we play music all day. People want something different once in a while. They want something personal. What’s better than having sexy sorority girls questioning their favorite local musicians?”
“We can even take requests for guests,” Jade added excitedly.
I felt a surge of excitement of my own. “Chase is going to laugh so hard when he hears this idea.”
“Then call him.”
“It’s not even seven a.m.”
“So? I thought you told me he wakes you up to talk in the middle of the night all the time. This is exciting for you.” Jade leaned against the table.
“All right. I’ll give in to peer pressure.” I dialed him.
Chase’s sleepy voice answered. “Cara?”
“Sorry to wake you up, but I just did a really cool radio show with Jade. I interviewed Maddox and got him to talk about the girl he’s looking for and we’re going to make it a thing. We’re calling it Sleeping with the Band.”
“Wow.” He laughed. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you so worked up about something.”
“I know, right? Kyle is here and he wants in, so he’s going to let us use his eight p.m. time slot instead. It’s going to work so much better. Obviously, you’ll have to come on sometime.”
“Well, your listeners are hopefully already aware of who I’m sleeping with.”
“Yeah… Jade made sure of that.”
He laughed again. “I like this for you. You sound happy, and that makes me happy.”
“All right, you can go back to sleep.”
“Wish you were here,” he added sleepily.
“Same here. Only a few more weeks.”
“I’ll be there before you know it.”
“I know.”
“I’ll call you when I get up.”
“Okay, bye.” I hung up and slipped my phone back into my bag.
“You guys are too cute.” Jade headed to the door.
The next show’s hosts had already arrived. After a brief introduction, we made our way outside.
“Anyone want to do breakfast at Hominy Grill?” Kyle asked.
“Yes, that sounds perfect.” My stomach was already growling.
“Good, I’ll drive.” Kyle dug his keys out of his pocket and we headed over to his car.
Breakfast with my new co-hosts sounded perfect.
Chapter Sixteen
“Get packed.” Mallory pulled a small duffel down from my closet and tossed it onto the floor in front of me.
“Why?” I set aside the history book I was reading.
“Because we’re going on a road trip.” She grinned, and I knew she was up to something.