“Thanks. I’ll be on the lookout for it.” I try to smile as genuinely as possible, but I doubt it’s more than a grimace. Cristiano has me at shows every night for the next week all over California. Every band he’s sent me to hasn’t been worth my time. All except Crimson Heat.
Once I’m in my office, I pull up my calendar and email and then call Walker. It rings and rings, and when I think he isn’t going to answer, I hear a jumble of noises and then his raspy voice.
“Hello?”
“Walker, this is Pen from Titan Records.”
“Oh, hi, can I call you back in… twenty minutes?” He quietly said, as if he didn’t want anyone to hear him.
“If you’re too busy,” I started because I didn’t have time for his games. Either he wanted to be a musician, or he didn’t.
“No, no. That’s not it. I’m in class. Taking a test,” he quickly added. “Can I call you back when I’m finished?”
Holy fucking hell. He was in college? Were the rest of them still in school as well? How young was he? Maybe he wasn’t serious.
“Fine,” I huffed. My irritation at the whole experience was rising. I’d been championing for them for the last two weeks, and now I wasn’t sure if this was important to them. For fucks sake, they were children.
“Thank you. It won’t be long.” He hung up, leaving me reeling. What the fuck was I doing? I was staking my career on this band while I had the hots for the lead singer only to find out he’s still in school. Walker definitely looked older than whatever age he was. Never once did it cross my mind that he, nor the rest of them could still be in school. I took them to be at least twenty-five which was still way too young for my ass.
Why couldn’t I stop thinking about his damn raspy voice or the way his dark eyes took me in when we were outside of the bar? Maybe it was because it had been a few months since my last hookup. That had to be it. I’d find some guy at one of the shows I had to go to this week and fuck Walker out of my system. Then I’d finally be able to think straight.
Cristiano’s email pinged in my inbox. I added it to my ever-growing calendar. I swear it was like he was on a mission to make sure I didn’t have a life outside of work. I barely got to spend any time with my best friend, and she needed me as she traversed the world as a newly single and scorned woman.
How was I supposed to watch Crimson Heat practice, go to all of these shows, and see Stella? Maybe I could convince her to come stay with me, and she could go to some of the shows with me. It had to be better than sitting at home, so she didn’t have to encounter anyone in our hometown. If I ever saw Brock again, I’d kick his ass for hurting my best friend. It was bad enough she put him through medical school, and once he got successful, he wanted to kick her to the curb, but to also get someone he was working with pregnant after trying for years with Stella was the icing on the shit cake.
My phone rang, and when I looked at it, it was Walker. I didn’t want to answer. I was in a shit mood now, but I needed to suck it up and do what needed to be done.
“Hello— “
“I’m so sorry, I couldn’t talk before,” he rushed out.
“If I knew you were in school, I would have considered the time. Is the rest of the band in school?”
“No, just me. They all either dropped out or graduated.”
Good to know. Walker was the biggest talent of the band. Without his voice, they’d be nothing, so if he didn’t want this, I wasn’t going to waste my time.
I needed answers, and I needed them now. “Are you going to want to put your music career on hold until you graduate?”
“Fuck no,” he laughed. It was low and rumbly and sent tingles down my spine. “I want this band more than anything. If you told me to drop out today if Crimson Heat had a chance, I would.”
Good to know.
“Well, I haven’t convinced my boss of your talents quite yet, but he’s given me the go-ahead to be at your practices and report back to him weekly. I have two months for him to see what I see in you. The only problem is he’s keeping me busy scouting other bands, and Willow Bay is a three-hour drive with traffic.”
“Fuck,” he growled. “We’ll rearrange our practices for you. You just tell us when.”
I liked his dedication.
“Do you have practice tonight?” I asked, hoping I didn’t regret eating up the one free night I had for the entire week.
“We were going to practice this afternoon, but we can change it to later. Whatever time works for you.”
I looked at my watch and saw it was just after two. If I left now, I could be there by five or a little after.
“How about five?”
“Done,” he answered back quickly. The excitement in his voice was palpable.
“Text me the address where you practice, and I’ll be there around five. Don’t make me regret this, Walker.”
“I won’t. I promise you,” he vowed, and for some reason, I believed him.
It was bordering on six o’clock by the time I rolled up to an old, beat-up house that was far away from civilization, which seemed to be a good thing since I could feel their music from inside my car.
My Chuck Taylor’s hit the uneven pavement and carried me toward the music. Even here, they sounded good. I knew I was right about pursuing them. I just had to prove it to everyone else.
I wasn’t sure if I should go to the front door since it was clear they were in the garage or if I should knock on the garage. My choice was made for me when the garage door slowly started to rise. I was met with four sets of eyes. Three of them were lit up like I was their favorite present, and the other darted away the second we made eye contact. I really hoped Greer wouldn’t become a problem. It wasn’t good that he seemed to already hate me.
“You made it,” Walker stepped out to greet me.
“Yeah, I’m sorry it took me longer than I expected. I kept getting stopped as I was trying to leave the office, and then the traffic was bad.” I gave them all an apologetic look.
“You could have called,” Greer muttered under his breath.
I ignored him and moved to sit on a ratty old couch, which I really hoped none of them had hooked up on. From the looks of it, it wouldn’t surprise me.
“I got all the music you sent me, and I have to say if you wanted to, you could make a career out of songwriting. They’re all good. Extraordinary even.”
Walker perked up, and a light shade of pink colored his cheeks. “Really?”
Leaning forward, I rested my arms along the tops of my legs. “One thing you’ll soon learn about me is I don’t lie. I’m always going to give it to you straight. There’s no point in sugar-coating anything in this business. If I do that, it cheapens our relationship. I want you to be able to trust me.”
“That’s what we want as well,” Cross spoke up from his stool across the garage.
“It was hard for me to pick my top three, but I did, and these are the ones I want you to focus on for me to bring back to Cristiano. He’s got me booked all over the state, so I won’t be able to come to any other practices for at least a week.”
Kenton tilted his head to the side, and his big brown eyes bored into mine. “Does he want you to fail?”