Collaring Chaz (Dante's Infernal #2) - Joel Abernathy Page 0,47

to say, but way too generous. I was just toying with the idea of posting that one on Youtube or something.”

I’d decided against it, too. Easily. Whatever had gotten into me, my creative streak was gone, along with the smidge of confidence branching out a little had given me.

“Well, it’s a good thing you didn’t. That would be a violation of the non-compete clause in your contract with Dante’s Infernal.”

I looked up sharply. “It would?”

“I wrote it myself,” she said, leaning back with her arms folded. “Of course, there are ways around it. Which brings me to why I wanted to meet in person. There’s no need to create a paper trail for Drake to sniff out if you’re not sure.”

“Sure about what?” I felt like my mind was processing things at a crawl and the world around me was happening at twice normal speed.

“I’m getting ahead of myself. Type-A brain,” she sighed, pressing her fingers into her right temple. “I know the tour just started, but I shared your songs with one of the higher-ups here, and he’s very interested.”

I gulped. “He is?”

Shit. How was I supposed to do damage control on this?

She nodded, still seeming to think she was delivering terrific news. I was too freaked about the prospect of the song being leaked to even focus on how bizarre it was that she actually liked the songs, let alone anyone else. “I was listening to it before I sent it to you, and Sterling just happened to be walking by my office. He came in and wanted to know who it was by, and he freaked when I told him it was you.” She gave a mischievous smile. “Trust me, Sterling Crane doesn’t just ask about anyone.”

“I really don’t get it,” I protested. “Maybe you got the files mixed up with someone else’s?”

“See for yourself,” she said, tapping the spacebar on her laptop. When the simple chord progression from the beginning of Pieces of You started coming through the speakers, my whole body turned to lead. The sound of my voice made me want to crawl under her minimalist desk, and I probably would have, if it wasn’t made of glass.

“Okay, I believe you,” I said, motioning for her to turn it off. “But it’s nothing. It’s just whiny acoustic garbage.”

“It’s pure and authentic,” she corrected. “You have the kind of sweet, innocent voice that’s totally in fashion right now, and the ‘gangly awkward boy who writes poetry to his secret love’ aesthetic you’ve got going on is perfect.”

I grimaced. “Thanks…?”

She gave me a knowing look. “This industry shifts with the wind, honey, and when the market wants something, you’d better give it to them fast. If we release Pieces of You as a single and put the EP up as a streaming exclusive, we could capitalize on the trend and establish a brand at the same time. A few months in the studio and we could have a solid album by the end of the year.”

“An album?” I croaked. “Wh--what are you talking about? I was just messing around. I’m not a solo artist. I’m not even that good of a singer. They autotune the shit out of my background vocals.”

“That’s because Drake is a pompous hack and he has been for the last five years,” she snorted. “Why do you think I left?”

My head was spinning, but I was finally beginning to accept that this was really happening. I wasn’t dreaming, I was wide awake, and that filled me with even more dread.

“I can’t. I’m with Dante’s Infernal,” I protested. There were a million other reasons why this was absurd, but that was the simplest one and the one she would accept the easiest.

“For now. I just assumed you were putting out feelers because you wanted to move on,” she said, watching me closely. “I mean, you don’t want to stay a bassist forever, do you? Not with talent like that.”

Talent. The thought was enough to make me laugh. I had sudden empathy for the first guy who splashed a bunch of paint on a canvas and realized some rich idiots were willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars for it. I felt like every bit as much of a fraud.

“I’m happy with the band,” I insisted. My words must have come off as shaky as they felt, because she raised her eyebrow. “Right. I’m sure working under a capricious diva and his even more capricious father is loads of fun. Are they even