turns to me. “I know this is, umm, probably crossing a line and everything, but, uh, I’ve been wanting to ask, and uh, we leave tomorrow after filming, so I’ll never get this chance again—”
“Ask it.” That’s a risk. This could be anything. From asking who my fiancée cheated with—I know better than to rat out another famous person, so I would never answer in fear of starting a Twitter war—to why I ran away from Hollywood. I’ll have no problem answering that one.
“What went wrong with your solo album? It had some great songs.”
Ouch. Okay, that stings a little, but it’s fair.
Denver eyes me across the table, and it’s as if I can read his mind. I can get you out of this. Just say the word.
I take a sip of my water and give everyone at the table a valuable lesson. “When Eleven split, I was determined to have my own sound. I got a whole new team. A new manager, producers, assistants, songwriters. I told them, ‘This is what I want,’ and they happily complied. That’s where I messed up.”
Each and every face contorts into confusion.
Cece asks, “Having supportive people is bad?”
“Not at all. But there’s a difference between telling people what to do and collaborating with your team. You need an amazing support system to survive in this industry, but when you only have yes people, that’s where the problem lies. I had no one to pull me aside and say, ‘Hey, I think this song is great, but it’s not right for this project.’ I didn’t have enough mainstream pop to carry the album. I was so focused on sounding completely different to Eleven that I overshot it, and none of the fans carried over. Music is a great creative outlet, but you need to find the right balance between what you want to put out there and what will sell. If you’re only in it for the music, you might be disappointed when sales are lackluster and your label drops you. You need to go into everything viewing it as a business. For every personal song, you need five mainstream ones.”
“That’s really good advice,” Reggie says. “Thank you.”
“Though, keep in mind, it’s annoying and frustrating when your team can’t see the vision you have, and there will be disagreements, but that’s a good thing sometimes.” I turn to Denver. “Remember how many fights we used to get into with Harley and Ryder over what they’d written for us to sing?”
Denver chuckles. “Epic yelling matches.”
“I’d choose fighting with Harley Valentine over being placated and finding out later from the masses that I suck any day of the week.”
Everyone laughs, but I realize something. I actually miss fighting with Harley Valentine.
I talk more with Denver’s contestants and then excuse myself after dinner. As I get to the sliding door, I look over my shoulder at Denver—a clear invitation for him to come to my room later—but he subtly shakes his head that he won’t be joining me again.
I want to make the argument that I have no doubt his contestants still want him, but he’s a big boy, and I’m sure he can handle them.
Just like last night, though, I can’t get comfortable because all I can think about is what’s happening inside that house and why I don’t like it so much. I try to get my thoughts together, but they’re all a jumbled mess.
And now, as he surprises me by sliding open the door and falling into bed next to me, my cock again hardens. He’s practically plastered himself against my side. I’m on my back, but my right arm is covered in his body heat.
“I thought you weren’t coming tonight,” I say.
“Changed my mind.”
I want to ask what changed it, but maybe I don’t want to know. I don’t want to hear him say someone made a pass at him. And how ridiculous is that?
When I should have been a jealous person with my fiancée, I wasn’t. Now, when I have no right to be …
“For what it’s worth,” Denver says, “regarding your solo album, if I had been on your new team, I would’ve been helpless too. I loved every single song.”
I turn my head. “You were one of the thirty thousand people who bought it?”
“Of course I bought it. I was practically in love with you.”
Wait, what? “Really? Love?” My voice cracks on the word. Two years ago, that word would’ve scared me, but I’ve had a lot of time to