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I was pretty sure I just looked like a fish, gaping mouth and everything as he offered to make connections for me. He laughed, so he definitely noticed my surprise.
“Why would you do that for him? You don’t even know how you two would work together.” Jonah asked, the more straightforward and suspicious of the two of us.
We’d made it to the railing and Cameron sighed as he laid a gloved hand on the cold metal. “You’re right, I don’t know you. You could be an asshole with a chip on his shoulder, like so many of the creators and musicians I’ve met. And believe me, there are a lot of them. A fucking lot. For every good person you meet in this business you’ll meet a hundred sour skeeves. They’ll also take advantage of you if you give them the opportunity.” He stopped, and I guessed he was waiting for some kind of acknowledgment.
“Yeah, in the music industry it’s the same. As far as I can tell. I’m small-time though so I haven’t had a ton of run-ins with people in the industry,” I said as I tugged my own hat lower on my head. Had to keep that heat in.
“I watched all of your videos, which honestly weren’t that many, especially for the following you’ve amassed. And I researched the hell out of your band…I also saw the videos when you were passed out over your car.”
Of anything we could be talking about, I’d really hoped he hadn’t watched those, or if he had, wouldn’t bring them up. “Yeah,” I coughed, suddenly too hot in my winter clothes. “That was unfortunate.” Then I went on, because fuck, he was doing me a favor collaborating with me, I felt like I had to explain myself. “I had a brief rough patch with my girlfriend. We’re all good now. And I can say one hundred percent, I’d never act out like that again no matter how many ways she could shatter my heart.”
A wry smile touched Cameron’s mouth. “You’re an attractive man who sings love songs. You think she’d be the one to break your heart?”
Jonah and I exchanged glances. Then we bent over laughing, and Jonah gripped my shoulder.
“Man,” Jonah wheezed. “You don’t know Beck, because he’s gone for this girl. Absolutely gone. She could shred his heart, stomp on it, and bake it into a cake, and he’d still only want her.”
I grinned. Okay, that was probably taking it a little too far. Astrid also wouldn’t do that, which was one of the reasons I loved her so much.
“I hope she wouldn’t…” Cameron replied, sticking his hands in his pockets. They were most likely cold even through the thin gloves he wore.
“She wouldn’t. She’s my biggest supporter. She records my TikToks, takes photos of me during my shows, and is just there for me.” Like a proud boyfriend, I couldn’t miss an opportunity to brag about her. I retrieved my phone from my jacket pocket and showed him some of the shots she’d taken at the Iron Horse.
Cameron whistled. “She is good.”
“Photography is her thing. It’s what she wants to pursue.” I conveniently leave out she was still in high school. It just seemed weird to share that, even with her graduating in a few months and already being eighteen.
“Where is she now?” He glanced back toward the parking lot like she would roll up any minute.
Jonah coughed and then choked on another laugh. I scowled at him. He just made it obvious there was something to tell. Bastard.
I punched his arm and faced Cameron. He watched us curiously and I didn’t get any bad vibes from him. The opposite really. From everything we’d talked about over messenger and meeting him now in person, he seemed like a genuinely cool guy. I could lie, say she was with friends, but I meant what I’d told Astrid and Rhys. I wasn’t hiding our relationship. I was proud of her.
And them—in a weird brother husband sort of way. They didn’t deserve to be kept in the dark like a dirty secret.
“She’s with her other two boyfriends. They’re checking out a college in another state. That was planned before you told me the date you would be in Denver,” I shrugged. No big deal.
Jonah stopped laughing and gaped at me. Cameron wore a similarly shocked look.
“I didn’t expect that, but cool. Different strokes, different folks.” He raised one shoulder like he really didn’t care. “Anyway, I looked into you. You’re super talented, seem like a great guy, and have already experienced the uglier side of obsessed fans. I wanted to help you out. Give you a handout, and maybe if you make it big, and Beck, I have no doubt you will, even if it’s only on TikTok, you can pay it forward someday.”
Speechless didn’t begin to cover how I felt.
Amazed. Overwhelmed.Hopeful. All of the above.
Cameron Masters was offering me a generous opportunity because he was a nice guy. Things like this didn’t happen to me. Or us.
But maybe… our hope was paying off. Maybe good things were finally coming our way.
We’d pulled the curtains the night before so the sun wouldn’t wake us up. Instead, it was the loud ringing of the phone next to the bed.
Groaning, I shoved my head under the pillow to attempt to drown out the shrill tones of the phone. With no luck, I also tried to ignore the sweltering inferno that was the middle of the bed. Thatcher and Rhys were like hyperactive heaters that just didn’t quit.
I mean, why would they? They were alive and breathing, therefore they put off tons of heat which trapped happily under the covers and caused sweat to trickle down my back.
Through the night, I kept trying to push the covers down but one of those bastards kept covering me back up.
Next to me, Thatcher picked up the receiver and dropped it back down. It was only a wake-up alarm anyway. If I’d known how much work this weekend would have been, I might have opted to stay home. Thatcher’s mumbled cursing said he probably felt the same way.
