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“We go back to working together. And in return”—Max pointed his chin at Adrian—“you can use my name in connection to this place. Claim that I come here to find inspiration in the mountains and history, whatever you want. We can arrange for some pictures, too.”
Eric frowned, rocking back on his heels. “As in, you get the songs for free?”
“Jesus,no.” Max looked almost offended. “You get your usual royalties, same as always. But you make working with me a priority over other requests.”
Wow, okay. Eric blinked. “That’s a bad deal for you.”
Max snorted. “It’s really not.”
“I mean … yeah. Of course, yes, that sounds great.” Eric sent Max a searching look. “If you’re sure?”
“Not like I’ve got anything better to do than a promo gig on the side.” Max followed the words up with a little smirk, then held out his hand. “Fresh start?”
“Fresh start,” Eric agreed, shaking Max’s hand. “For what it’s worth, I’ve missed writing with you—all you had to do was ask.”
“I did.”
“You didn’t have to throw in the weight of your name to sweeten the deal.”
Max laughed as he folded up the paper and handed it back. “Learn how to accept a good thing when it’s freely offered, Eric. Also, send me a photo of those lyrics so I can build on what you’ve already got.”
“I will.” Eric hesitated. “Hey. You, uh. You kind of helped me launch my career—I don’t think I ever thanked you for that. Like, you were the first big artist I worked with, and you took me seriously even though I didn’t come with a lot of clout.”
It had been a lucky coincidence, really. One of Eric’s professors had forwarded his work to a friend in the music industry, and the friend had liked it. She’d also been in a fairly senior position at Max’s record label. That was how the song had found its way to Max—and the rest was history.
“Maybe not,” Max said. “But you were good even then, and you’ve only become better.”
Eric swallowed. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Max grinned. “Let’s collect our boys, yeah? Lucas and I have a flight to catch, and from what I understand, you kind of sprang us on Adrian. Think you’ve got some explaining to do.”
Right.
“Sure you don’t want to stay longer?” Eric asked, a tad desperate, and Max snorted.
“Nah, mate. Open communication and conflict management are very important in a relationship. Have fun.” With that, Max led the way back to Adrian and Lucas, while Eric followed half a step behind. The thing was, Max was right—Eric would need to explain himself.
And he’d better find the right words.
Contrary to popular belief,Adrian didn’t mind silence. He ran a mountain hotel, after all.
But the silence that trailed in the wake of Max and Lucas’s departure rang like a gong, blindingly loud in his ears. Once the van disappeared around the first narrow bend of the road, Adrian turned to head back inside, out of the cold. Eric fell into step with him.
The hotel’s warmth embraced them. Adrian let the door fall shut and nodded at his dad, reading a book behind the reception desk with check-in set to start soon. “Kannst du dich die nächste Stunde noch um Gäste kümmern?” Adrian asked him.
For all that Dad looked curious about the events of the last couple of hours, he merely nodded, raising his book. “Kein Problem.”
“Merci.” Adrian sent him a smile, then grabbed Eric’s elbow to pull him towards the stairs, fingers digging in.
“‘Stunde’ is hour, right?” Eric asked. “And ‘Gäste’ is guests?”
So he’d started to pick up a few German words. Big fuckingdealwhen he couldn’t even tell Adrian he had friends in high places. Or exes.
“Yeah.” Adrian let go of Eric’s elbow. “I asked Dad to deal with guests for the next hour or so.”
“Okay.” Eric fell quiet after that, clearly aware that it wasn’t the time for small talk. Good.
They made their way through the dining room, past the staff rooms, and up the stairs to their—toAdrian’sflat. Not Eric’s. Hardly Eric’s when Adrian wasn’t even sure he knew the first thing about him.
