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“Snorting your royalties up your nose like you used to?” He lifts a brow, the look on his face almost defiant. As if he wants to challenge me. Fluster me.
I remain as cool as a cucumber, remembering my past hotheaded ways. There’s no need for me to blow up at him. “Haven’t done that in a long time either. Besides, I don’t have any royalties to spend anymore.”
The checks went from measly to nonexistent pretty damn quick.
Roger appears pleased at my answer. “You’ve cleaned up your act.”
“Like I mentioned, I’ve been sober for the last three years. I’ve been working out. Working on myself.” I clamp my lips shut, not wanting to lay it on thick, though I could. And I wouldn’t be lying either.
Nothing like a huge scandal accompanied by your entire world imploding to make you do some hard self-reflection.
“And now you’re with someone on top of all that.” Roger nods, rubbing his chin. “You sound good, Ramsey. You look good. No, I take that back—you lookhealthy. Much better than the drunk seventeen-year-old you once were. Doesn’t hurt that you’re in a committed relationship.”
Simon scoffs.
A committed... “You think I’m in a relationship?”
“Don’t play dumb, Tate,” Simon says, finally cutting into my surreal conversation with Roger. “I know you’re trying to keep your relationship with Scarlett under wraps since it’s still so new.”
Myrelationshipwith Scarlett?
“You are with Scarlett Lancaster, right? I saw the photos. The videos. Pretty heavy kissing going on, yet it somehow looked romantic. Even... sweet.” Roger smiles. “Which makes all the girls her age swoon, am I right? Like their every dream come true. The pretty girl getting with the boy she had a crush on when she was a kid. The publicity team thinks this would be a great angle for us to play off. The redeemed boy band singer who fucked up his life by doing too many drugs, saved by the beautiful heiress who used to have his posters on her wall when she was younger. She did have your poster on her wall, right?”
I have no clue. Did she?
“I wonder if she has any photos from when she was younger with a poster of Five Car Pileup on her bedroom wall, where she dreamed of you at night,” Roger continues, clearly on a roll. “Oh man, that would be a great post, and that isn’t even my expertise, if you know what I mean. Maybe she could share it on her Instagram. And speaking of Instagram, why aren’t you two posting each other on there? I didn’t see the kiss photo on either of your profiles, and trust me, I checked. The publicity team thinks that would be a good idea, if you started sharing photos of each other. Together.”
The look of pure disappointment on Roger’s face is almost comical, the poor guy.
“We’ve been keeping our relationship private,” I say hesitantly, deciding to play along. More like I need to do this to make this scenario convincing. “I still can’t believe that one photographer caught us kissing. We were in a pretty secluded corner.”
“Divine intervention, Tate. You two were meant to be splashed across the internet. Two attractive people fucking. It’s like a PR dream come true. I’m repeating myself; don’t call me out on it. Just let me say this—we can’t pay for this type of coverage you two are currently delivering. It’s all-natural. Organic. Whatever the word is. Your relationship has gone viral, and we want to take advantage of it.”
I’m still grimacing over him saying Scarlett and I are fucking. She was pretty uptight when I kissed her. Yeah, she kind of got into it, but she’s young. Probably hasn’t even been fucked yet, and that’s the type of woman I’d rather steer clear of.
“What exactly are you talking about, Roger?” Simon asks on my behalf. As my business manager, it is up to him to find out what Roger wants from me.
“We want to make an offer to Tate, and I wanted to do it in person. We’d like to sign him on for an album.” Roger sits up straight, rubbing his hands together. “Thought we’d get right in here first thing so we can be ahead of everyone else. I’m guessing they’re all knocking on your door, demanding a meeting with Tate?”
Simon nods, his expression impassive. “We’ve had some interest.”
Other record companies have reached out to Simon? That surprises me.
“I don’t doubt it. He’s a hot commodity right now. I mean, look at him.” Roger waves a hand in my general direction. “That messy hair girls wanna tug on while he’s going down on them. The arrogant grin. The smooth voice and the gorgeous girlfriend. It’s a sell, Simon. You’re easy to sell right now, kid. Come back to the fold. Come back to Irresistible Records, and we’ll put you on the map.”
“Easy there with the sales pitch, Rog,” Simon says with a gentle chuckle. “We need a little time to discuss the terms first. You didn’t even come with a contract in hand.”
“Oh, but I did.” Roger picks up the suitcase I didn’t notice sitting beside his chair and opens it in his lap, pulling out a thick pile of papers stapled together. He tosses it onto Simon’s desk, where it lands dead center with a heavy thud. “I emailed you a contract as well. I’m sure you’ll have some changes you’d like to make, and that’s fine, we’re agreeable, but don’t dawdle like you normally do, Simon. We need to get on it. I want to get Tate out to Los Angeles so he can start recording.”
“Los Angeles?” Five Car Pileup recorded in Los Angeles, and I swear to fucking God that city was the root of my downfall. All the women, drink, and drugs I could ever want are in that city. It’s where dreams go to flourish and then wither away and die.
For me, at least.
Roger’s nod is firm, his expression unreadable, though his eyes seem to dance with excitement. “We already have the studio picked out. The musicians. I heard the way you put your own twist on those Five Car Pileup songs. And there was a song you sang I didn’t even recognize. It was damn good. Very... indie pop. Ghost pop? Something like that.”
Again, I have no idea what he’s talking about. “You liked how I changed up the beat?”
“I liked everything about your performance, and so did half the women between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five in the United States. Stop being a cocktease and just say you’re willing to sign with us, Tate. We’ve made magic together before. I believe we can do it again.”
