Wicked (Somerset University #2) - Ruby Vincent Page 0,11

held her gaze. “But we can’t skip the steps.”

Serena slinked into my space. It took herculean effort not to tense as she pressed herself against me. “You must not have heard me.” Her hot breath tickled my skin. “Skip the steps or you can’t have us.”

“Serena!” Chandler burst out. “Jaxson, please. We’ll do it. We’re happy to record the demo.”

She spun on him. “Really? How the fuck are you going to do that without me or my songs?”

“They’re Interstellar Records. We can’t turn them down.”

“Oh, please. The days of them being the biggest name in the industry are over. Why else are their scouts sulking around shitholes like this?” I was granted the favor of her attention once more. “Isn’t that right? After that cock-up a few years ago and all those albums leaked, no one wants to sign with you. Suddenly a local hit averaging two thousand views a YouTube video is worth your time, and if you want to be worth ours, you’ll stop pretending like we’re the risk when you are.” She reached for me. “Got it, kid?”

I caught her wrist before her fingers touched my lips. “I’m going to need you to stop that, mama. My lady doesn’t take kindly to other women putting their hands on me.”

Her self-satisfied smile twitched.

“As for the rest.” I shrugged. “If you don’t want to record a demo, fine. I was looking forward to passing it along to Papa Van Zandt, but our demo pile is loaded with talent. He won’t miss what he never heard.”

“Papa?” she repeated.

“Your info is outdated,” I continued like she hadn’t spoken. “We took a hit and came back stronger than ever. You noticed our biggest names didn’t leave us and never will. Last year, we tracked more in revenue than our leading competitors combined.” I opened my hand, letting her arm flop back to her side. “We don’t need you, we want you— Scratch that. We wanted you.”

I backed away, flashing the stricken members of the band a smile. “Y’all are crazy good. I’m sure another label will pick you up... eventually.”

Gwen and I left. The door swung shut behind us and still we heard Chandler, Ty, and Rylan explode.

“What the fuck did you do?!”

“Is this okay?” Gwen whispered. “Bianca said you had to get them.”

“Bianca mainlines coffee, sleeps in her office, and manages an entire department. She’s got zero minutes for bullshit. She doesn’t want a band that thinks they’re too good for the label.”

“It’s not the band, it’s Serena.” She peered over her shoulder. “I didn’t know she was like this. She seems so sweet on stage.”

“She’s an interview type. They know how to fake it when everyone is watching.”

She nudged my arm. “Forget them. Let’s grab some dinner. Those wings hardly hit the spot.”

“I should get home. I’m always late nowadays and the others take their chance to lure Val to their beds while I’m out of the running. Tonight I want to fall asleep with my girl.”

“You’re so sweet.” She ruffled my hair like a damn puppy.

“We talked about that.”

Laughing, Gwen tossed me the keys. “I’ve been drinking. You should drive.”

“Thanks for the permission to drive my own car,” I said with a grin. Striding through the parking lot, we parted at the hood for our sides. “Can I wipe my ass too?”

“You’ve got a slick comeback for everything, don’t you?”

“I—”

“Wait! Jaxson, wait!” Chandler raced out of the bar. He skidded to a stop, red-faced and cheeks ballooning. “We’ll do it. The d-demo. Please, we want to do it.”

I arched a brow. “All of you?”

“Yes. Serena too. She acts tough like that to warn off people who want to waste our time. The four of us are going to take Beyond Berlin all the way.” He stuck out his hand. “Interstellar can get us there.”

I let the smile spread across my face. “Then I’ll see you next week.”

We shook.

ADAM’S CAROUSEL LAMP cast dancing shadows on the walls. The little boy slept peacefully, and alone.

Val’s sleeping in another bed tonight.

I trudged to my room. The smell of chicken and vanilla washed over me before I registered the scene. Flickering candles shed light on the small dinner for two prepared in the middle of the room. Val found a bed to sleep in that night and it was mine. Curled up on top of the sheet, she slept soundly in a slinky outfit I would have desperately loved to get her out of.

I swallowed a curse. Rushing to the nightstand, I plugged