“Brendan said sales are going well.”
I nod, popping a few cashews into my mouth. “They are. My fan base is relatively small, but they’re active.”
“That’s the way to do it,” he says, as though he knows anything about building a small, loyal fan base and growing a career the way I’m doing it. But I bite back my laughter. He’s being supportive. And he’s offered me a spot opening for him on his next round of touring.
“Have you thought about my offer?” he asks, as though reading my mind.
I don’t hold back my laughter this time, and he gives me a quizzical look, not understanding.
Shaking my head, I wave him off. “Not yet. I’m still thinking about it and weighing my options.”
It’s his turn to snort with amusement. “Oh yeah? You have other big acts offering you spots on their tours?”
I roll my eyes. Because that’s such a Jonathan thing to say. “No, dick, I don’t.” I cut my eyes to him and then back to Alexis. “But that’s not the only consideration.”
He nods in understanding. “Yeah. It’s hard to be away. I get it.”
“Besides,” I shoot back. “Do you really want to tour with me again so soon? I thought you’d be glad to get rid of me.”
He reaches over and shoves my shoulder. “I figured you might not be so insufferable if you were performing and not managing my schedule.”
I shove him back, and we both laugh. I sip my champagne as our laughter settles and look directly at my oldest brother. “Seriously, though, I do appreciate the offer.” It’s a big opportunity. I know it as well as he does. But Alexis won’t be able to go with me, because she’s in the middle of recording her next album and planning her own tour.
I’m hoping to get a slot with her, if I’m honest. And she’s already said she’s working on making that happen. The marketing team still hasn’t decided if they’re going to release our duet as a lead single. If they do, then having me along for the tour would make a lot of sense. If not …
Well, I might just go with her and schedule my own shows along the same route. I’ll make it work, one way or another.
But if I go with Jonathan …
I’d be able to grow my audience exponentially. He’s hinted at reviving some Brash songs and we’d just use a different drummer since Brendan doesn’t want to perform anymore. It’d be fun, but …
But I’d miss Alexis too much.
And that’s enough to have me leaning toward no, even if I’m not ready to give Jonathan a definitive answer.
“My agent’s been telling me to give you her card,” he surprises me by saying. “I told her you were pretty committed to the indie thing, but she seems to think she can sway you to seeing her side of things.”
My eyebrows jump up my forehead, and I look at my brother again. He reaches into the inside pocket of his jacket and slides a card to me across the table. I pick up the heavy weight, luxury card stock emblazoned with his agent’s name and logo and slide it into my pocket.
He’s right that I’ve mostly ignored the smaller labels that have reached out with offers. I’m not sure they could offer me much I don’t already have. Brendan’s basically said he’ll produce anything I want to put out and says he’ll start taking a cut when I start grossing five grand a month. Honestly, part of me is toying with the idea of pitching a record label to my brothers at some point in the future. Brendan producing and Jonathan and I recruiting and marketing, respectively.
But that’s a distant dream, right now. I’m still working on my own marketing. And I’m happy with the way things are, even if I do have a few decisions to make. I’ll add this one on the pile.
“Just give her a call,” he says as though he has no real opinion either way on what I decide to do. “If for no other reason than to let her know I passed on her info.”
I chuckle. “She’s been bugging you about it for a while, huh?”
He nods, then claps me on the shoulder and stands. “This was great, Colt. I’m glad you did the whole wedding thing for all of us, even if it wasn’t strictly necessary. I enjoyed being your groomsman this time.”
Grinning, I stand too. “I’m glad you could be here, too.”
We walk in the same direction, each of us going for our wives. Alexis notices us before Gabby does, and peels herself away, coming to me and wrapping her arms around my neck. After a brief kiss, I sweep her onto the dance floor, where the DJ is starting a slow song.
She sighs contentedly, a smile tipping her lips. “This has been exhausting, but a lot of fun. I’m glad we did it.”
“Me too.” Promising to have a vow renewal and invite our families went a long way toward soothing the ruffled feathers on both sides. Alexis’s dad was particularly grumpy about missing our first wedding, and when I finally met him face to face, he made a few comments about me “stealing” his daughter until Alexis gave him a cool look and loudly declared that she wasn’t anyone’s property, so how could she be stolen?
He’d spluttered and protested and backpedaled, but that had effectively ended his irritation with me and the way our relationship began.
Alexis’s mom, on the other hand, was much more welcoming. And since Alexis had told her all the gory details from beginning to end, she harbored no hard feelings about missing the fake wedding and simply looked me in the eye and stated that she’d be on my team as long as I was on Alexis’s team.
And really, that’s how a mom should be, right?
My mom on the other hand …
I glance around the room and see her dancing with my dad. She’s here. She’s not actively sabotaging anyone. And based on what I’ve witnessed with my brothers, that’s about the best I can hope for.
Alexis’s hand cups my cheek and pulls my face to hers. I kiss her back, keeping it PG given that we’re surrounded by people. But I’m looking forward to getting out of here and having her all to myself. I’m surprising her with a trip to Europe for two weeks. She mentioned a couple months ago that she’s always wanted to go and never managed to make it there, and maybe one day she’d get to do a European tour.
But we both know that touring doesn’t allow for sightseeing. So I started planning my surprise trip for her that day.
“What are you thinking about?” she asks when she ends the kiss.
“You,” I answer honestly. “How much fun we’re going to have tonight. And how excited I am for you to see where we’re going the day after tomorrow.”
I deliberately scheduled tomorrow as a day to relax. We’ve both been working almost nonstop the last few months. We need some downtime. So tomorrow is for lazing around and finishing up packing. And then we get two weeks of vacation before getting back to work.
“You’ll have to tell me soon if I’m going to pack appropriately,” she tells me.
I give her a sly smile. “I’ll be sure you have everything you need.”
She makes a sound of exasperation, but it’s belied by the wide smile taking over her face.
I bend and kiss her again, my heart swelling with joy. “I’m so happy I found you.”
“Me too,” she whispers against my lips. “Me too.”