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Easy for him to say.He was the one with his face on thousands of billboards across America. No one would ever mistake him for some no-name “other guy.”
Rolling my shoulders, I tried to ease my scowl into remission. Evan was right—I was overreacting. And it wasn’t his fault the whole thing had put me in a shitty mood.
“What are you doing here?” I asked. “I thought you were visiting your folks.”
“I was”—he flagged down a server and put in an order—“but the studio execs wanted me to make an appearance.” Looking around, he leaned forward, a sign he was going to tell me something he shouldn’t. “The ink isn’t dry on the contract yet, but Wind Shine Records has agreed to give a contract to this season’s winner.”
Evan was the host ofSing Battle, a supremely popular singing competition show. He’d gotten the gig right after Misdirection split, and it suited him more than being part of a boy band ever had. He never would have gotten the job without the band’s notoriety, though.
“I thought the show had a deal with Killjoy.” I took a sip of beer and gazed around the room. Wind Shine was a new player in the music industry and didn’t have established big-name artists like Killjoy did. That probably explained why I didn’t recognize many people there.
“We did, but they couldn’t come to terms or something. I’m not sure. It’s above my pay grade.”
Evan was being modest. Though he was technically only the host of the show, he did a lot more than he got credit for. The show wouldn’t have been such a success without him pulling strings in the background. Honestly, he should have demanded producer credit. But Evan didn’t care about things like that, and Lord knew he didn’t need the money. We could have lived off our Misdirection royalties for the rest of our lives.
“Damn,” I said, “nothing like waiting until the last minute. Doesn’t filming start in a few days?”
Evan groaned. “Yeah. My sister picked a bad time to have a baby. I leave for a few days, and everything goes to shit. I’m the glue that holds that show together.”So much for being modest.
“How’s Gracie doing?” I’d forgotten that his family visit was because he’d become an uncle for the first time. I still remembered Gracie as a gap-toothed little kid. I couldn’t believe she was married with a family.
“She’s a natural mother. Already talking about having another one, if you can believe it.” The sentimental look in his eyes morphed into a scheming one, and I groaned internally. “So anyway, I’m glad I ran into you. The show still has a lot of moving pieces, and I was—”
“The answer is no.”
Evan had recently talked all the Misdirection members into coming together for a reunion tour. I’d only agreed because I thought there was no way in hell he’d get Liam Oliver, who hadn’t spoken to anyone in the group since the split, to agree. I never should have underestimated Evan.
And now, he was about to try to talk me into something else.
“You didn’t even hear what I had to say!”
“The last time I heard you out, I ended up doing choreographed ass-shaking all across America.” Though I was giving him a hard time, I had enjoyed the Misdirection tour. Not that I wanted to do it again soon. But it had been nice to relive the glory days. Misdirection had been a worldwide phenomenon, and while I was a successful artist by most standards, I wasn’t nearly at the level of fame that the group had achieved.
“And you looked good doing it,” Evan said without missing a beat. At my bland expression, he continued, “We need a male singer. Someone dropped out at the last minute.”
“No,” I repeated firmly.
“I’d consider it a personal favor.”
“I think you’re all out of favors,” I said dryly.
“There’s no such thing,” Evan replied easily. “And now that I think about it, I’ve got it all wrong. I’m the one doing you the favor.”
I laughed. “How do you figure? You’re the one who needs something, not me.”
He leaned onto his forearms. “Think of the exposure. Millions watch the show every week.”
“TV is your thing, not mine.”
“It’s not TV,” he argued. “It’s music.”
“On TV.”
“Well, yeah. But it’s not like you have to act. You just have to be yourself.”
I laughed. “That’s kind of a problem, don’t you think?” Unlike a lot of celebrities, I hated personal attention, specifically interviews. For me, it had always been about the music. At best, the media called me private. At worst... well, I didn’t read my own press. Though lately, it had been impossible to avoid. I didn’t know if those stupid memes qualified as press, but they sure as hell were everywhere.
My aversion to publicity was why I hadn’t thought twice when Lindsey wanted to keep things quiet. I thought we’d been on the same page, but really, I wasn’t famous enough for her.
