“You’re so weird,” I muttered, shaking my head at him as he grinned widely. I could always tell myself he was kidding, but I knew Cas. He was definitely not kidding.
“Head in the game,” Anson said, coming to stand next to us as we stood waiting for this YouTuber to come into the room. They had a couch for us to sit on, and one of the crew members led us over to it.
“Bishop, we need you here,” the man said, gesturing to the end of the couch. I sat where he indicated and looked at Anson, who watched with a tight-lipped expression. Klaus and Ryder were standing along the edge of the room, and more security was stationed outside.
The guy set my band up around me, with Cas sitting on the arm of the chair and Bane taking a stool and perched behind the couch.
Anson eyed the setup and nodded before he backed away as the YouTuber came into the room.
He was about my age, and he really looked the part of a rocker. I didn’t watch his channel, but Anson told us he was a big deal.
“Hey, guys,” he greeted us, sitting in the chair next to the couch. “I’m Feris. Sorry I was late. I was trying to scarf down some breakfast, and traffic was a bitch.”
“You bring any for us?” Cas asked.
The guy winced. “Sorry. I probably should have, man. My bad. Next time?”
“You better,” Cas said, grinning. “Rosalie gets hangry.”
I rolled my eyes at him, forcing out a small smile. I got along really well with my band, but today I was so preoccupied with worrying about everything that I couldn’t focus on the room. I caught Ryder on his phone before he went to Anson and whispered something into his ear. Anson nodded. He didn’tseem panicked, though, so I breathed out and ratcheted my smile tighter onto my face.
Evan stayed behind despite having planned to come with us. There were so many paparazzi outside the hotel that he decided Ellis needed him too. I loved that about him.
I assured him I’d be fine after the guys did, but I knew he was worried.
“You guys good?” The guy behind the camera called out.
Feris looked at us, and we gave him a quick nod. They counted down to recording, and that was it. We were off and running, discussing the tour, dates, our favorite venues, and what we had planned for the future of our music.
It was going well. Easy. Laid back. I relaxed further as we talked. I knew we were nearing the end of the segment because we’d been given a heads up to the number of questions he was going to ask us, and I’d been silently counting them down in my head because all I wanted to do was get back to Evan and Ellis. I had to prepare for my show tomorrow, too. For that, we always went to the venue and scouted around before going inside. Anson typically met with people there to discuss security and related matters. I just wanted to get this damn tour over with so I could relax for a few months with my family.
“So, Rosalie, on a more personal note, how are you?” Feris asked.
“Um, I’m OK,” I replied.
“I’m talking about after the blood incident. We all saw it happen, and I think all your fans out there, and I can safely say we were pissed and want justice.”
I glanced at Anson, who took a step forward. He was always vetting the questions interviewers had for us, and apparently, this one hadn’t been pre-approved.
“Well, I think like any job, you have your ups and downs,” I said, wanting to answer before Anson stormed the area. “I have agreat team, a great band, and we just see it as another Thursday night.”
“So no worries?”
“None.” I looked to my band.
“We’re not worried,” Bane said. “You get a crazy prick for every artist at least once a year. We’ve gotten ours out of the way for the year.”
Anson paused and gave a quick nod.
“Well, I want to thank you guys for hanging out with me. It’s been awesome, and I’m so excited to hear the new album and anything else you want to release for us. Rosalie, the duet with Riley Parker is fire, and the music video? Legit. One final thing.”
I breathed out, keeping the smile fixed on my face.
“Rumor has it you’re doing a music video with Fabian Henry and dropping a new single. How true is it?”
I looked to Anson. We were allowed to promo this. He gave me a quick nod, so it would seem he’d approved this question.
“That is true, mostly,” I said. “We’re actually releasing two new singles. As for Fabian, I was really excited to work with him on this. He’s a good friend and an amazing actor. I think everyone will love the single and the video. I can’t wait to debut it in Boston for our livestream.”
