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Gemma lifted a brow. “A hundred thousand dollars for a few months’ work doesn’t sound stupid to me.”
“It’s not about the money. And the initial commitment is only for a few months. There’s an option clause that they can invoke.” One that could last up to five years if the tour and marketing went well.
Because there was no mistaking the fact that this was going to be a manufactured band. With a lot of record label dollars pumped in behind it.
“I’ve only just moved here,” she told Gemma. “I’m not going back to New York.”
“Is this about Presley?” Gemma asked her.
Cassie let out a long breath. She was dreading telling him about this, even though she was planning on turning it down. Mostly because he was already so over the record label thing. The same guy who’d offered her a contract was the one who’d been completely dismissive of him being a father.
She just wanted things to be like they were before they went to New York.
“He’d understand,” Gemma told her.
“No he wouldn’t. He and Jade were on the verge of breaking up when she died because she wanted to start touring again.” There, she’d said it out loud. The thing that was making her stomach feel all twisted up. “He’d do the same thing to me. I’m not even the mother of his child.”
“If he broke up with you because you’re following your dreams then he’s not the man I think he is.”
Cassie sighed. “I just… I don’t like it. Any of it. It was one thing going with the whole band. That was fun. This just feels…”
“Real?” Gemma asked.
“Yeah, I guess.” She shook her head. “It feels off. And I don’t like it.”
“Maybe you need to talk to Presley,” Gemma suggested.
Gemma was right, she knew that. Her friend was right about a lot of things. Which was why she had her life sorted out. A husband, two gorgeous kids. A successful business…
“Remember when we were younger?” Gemma asked her. “You were always the ambitious one. You wanted to be on stage. Wanted to be a star.”
Cassie swallowed. “But maybe I’ve changed.”
“Maybe you have.” Gemma’s voice was soft. “But maybe you pushed it all away because it hurt too much when your dancing career was cut short. What if you don’t take this opportunity and you regret it later?”
Hearing those words made Cassie’s chest feel tight. Gemma had been her friend since they were kids. They knew each others’ hopes and fears.
“What if I want what you have?” Cassie whispered. “A family. Love. Somewhere I belong?”
“The two aren’t incompatible,” Gemma pointed out.
“They were for you.” Gemma had given it all up, after all. “This band, it was just supposed to be fun. A way to meet people.”
Gemma’s eyes met hers. “And Pres, wasn’t he supposed to be a bit of fun, too?”
“Yes. But everything changed.”
“A good man would never hold you back from achieving your dreams,” Gemma told her. “You thought you’d lost them. But maybe you haven’t. They’re just offering themselves to you in a whole different way.”
In a way she didn’t want. And she wasn’t sure how to navigate. That was the problem. She’d finally found her happy and now it felt like it was all being threatened.
Gemma took her hand, squeezing it. “What is it you want?” she asked. “Isn’t that the most important question?”
“I want it all,” Cassie murmured.
“Sometimes that’s not possible. Sometimes we have to choose. The way I did when Riley and I moved here.”
“Do you regret it?” Cassie asked her.
