AllFreeNovel
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“What’s up?” I asked calmly.
Inside, I was a frustrated mess.
“Be nice to Zoe,” Van warned. “We want her to stay longer than a month.”
“I’m always fucking nice.”
Van cocked his head. “I could tell you were arguing with her. You looked pissed, and so did she. What the fuck did you say to her?”
“Nothing that concerns you,” I snarled.
My heart was pounding furiously. Then I looked up, and I saw the hurt in his eyes.
He pulled his hand away.
“I clarified a few things, that’s all,” I mumbled. “You know I hate it when PR people try to put me on a leash.”
“I’ll remind her that you’re not housetrained yet,” Van replied, this time with a smile. “Let’s round up the others and head in to grab our seats.”
“Are you sitting with us?”
“No, I’m with Zoe in the corporate seats.”
“Are you coming to the afterparty?” I asked.
“I’ll make an appearance.”
I ran a hand over my hair. “Can we talk then?”
“Sure, anything urgent?”
“No, it can wait.”
But we never got around to having that conversation.
Wayward Lane won two awards that night. Me and the guys were tossed around from journalist to journalist until finally, hoarse and tired from smiling for photo ops, we hit the afterparty.
By the time we’d arrived, Van was gone.
I took it as a sign. It wasn’t the right time to face what I was feeling.
VAN
I watched from the highest row in the theater as Brodie and the guys accepted their music awards.
I was so goddamn proud. I took pictures and yelled as loud as every fan in the audience around me.
This wasn’t just their achievement. It felt like mine, too. I’d worked with lots of musicians, but working with Wayward Lane, working with Brodie, was something special.
Brodie leaned into the mic. I braced myself for what was about to come out of his mouth.
“We want to thank our amazing fans for their support and also our manager, Ivan Cross. Van is the reason we’re standing here today accepting this award, and I’m sharing this with him. And thanks to everyone else at Bandit Music. Well, except for Greg Haddley, he’s a fucking prick. Thank you!”
Zoe burst out laughing. “He’s a handful.”
I ran a hand over my face and sighed.
“You don’t know the half of it. Just wait.”
