doing my own paddling in my own waters from now on.
“Thanks for the pep talk.” I straightened my spine. The water might rise too high, too fast, and I might drown, but I’d go under proudly. “I’d better go back inside and find War.”
“Not yet.” Bryan grabbed my arm.
I glanced down at his fingers on my skin, wishing things were different, wishing he would pull me into him, back me into the wall, crush his hard body into my willing one, and his mouth to mine. But wishes weren’t allowed, only cold hard facts and reality.
“Why not?” I shrugged free from his hold.
“Stay,” he said firmly. “Talk to me some more. Let’s get you in a better frame of mind.”
He might be able to achieve that feat. War certainly couldn’t. He thrived on me being strong and defying him, but he didn’t seem to know what to do with me when I was feeling uncertain.
“What’s the worst that would happen if you don’t get the scholarship?” Bryan asked.
My brow dipped. “I don’t go to college. I’ll have to find somewhere else to live, and I’ll have to get a job, one that pays better than the consignment shop.”
“You’ve given it some thought.”
“Yes.” Because of my brother, and now Bryan.
“What about the band?” he asked.
“My share from our gigs isn’t enough to pay rent.”
“War’s in there right now, probably negotiating with reps. There’s a good chance Tempest could get a record deal with some advance money.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“You’re just feeling lost because of Chad, and having legitimate doubts because of all the stress.” Bryan took my hands, anchoring me in more ways than one. “You’re talented, smart, and determined. You’re also an integral part of this band. Don’t sell yourself short. You’ll make it one way or another, and you don’t have to do it alone. Chad will come around. You have War. Your brother. Me, and all the guys in the band.”
War
“Not interested,” I said, and walked away on purpose, leaving three A&R agents with their mouths hanging open.
“Wait.” Vanessa, the pencil-thin rep from Black Cat Records, caught up to me before I’d cleared the end of the bar, and I turned to face her.
“Don’t waste my time. Unless you have a different answer for me than the other two.” I pointed with my chin to the reps from RCA and Zenith. With me gone, those two were now squaring off against each other.
“No, not different.” She peered over the lenses of her dark-rimmed glasses at me. “However, I have authorization to top whatever they offer you by fifty thousand.”
“RCA’s already at a hundred thousand.”
“Then Black Cat will go one fifty.”
“Fucking shit.” My eyes widened, my brows rising under the rolled bandanna tied around my head. Even split equally between everyone in the group, that was a lot of money. “But they want me to ditch Lace. Is that the way your offer comes too?”
“Yes.” Vanessa tucked a strand of blond hair behind her diamond-studded ear. “You have to realize that Lace doesn’t fit the band’s image.”
“Tempest doesn’t have an image. We’re just a bunch of musicians who play loud. The stage is our theater. Our music is our voice, a megaphone for other outcasts like us that society has shit on. A big fuck-you to the rest of the world who doesn’t understand. If you don’t like it, you can kiss our collective asses.”
“That’s it.” Vanessa didn’t even look offended. She actually smiled. “Bad-boy rocker is your image. You on lead epitomize it.” She gestured to me as if my headband, white T-shirt, faded jeans, and scuffed boots simply made her point.
“Lace is all that.” I narrowed my gaze. “She’s a badass.”
“She is in her own way. She’s proficient on the keyboards, and she harmonizes well with you. But she’s lost onstage in a group with five guys. Her badass isn’t your brand of badass.” The Black Cat rep’s expression firmed. “Our offer doesn’t include her.”
“All right, I hear ya,” I said, tapping my chin as if considering. Though Vanessa had made some valid points, I didn’t concede anything. This was a game of negotiation. I’d done the dance with Kyle over drug-related shit. I knew how to play. “Guess I’ll just have to go back to RCA and see what they say when they hear what you’ve offered me.”
She gasped as I turned around and nearly ran over Dizzy.
Before I could ask him how long he’d been standing there, he glared at me and grabbed my arm. “Shut