The Happy Ever After Playlist - Abby Jimenez Page 0,53
fuck they want. They’re paying for it. This is just like the fog machine and the fucking pyrotechnics. It’s their call.”
I raked a hand through my hair. “No.” I looked him in the eye. “If they dump her on me, I’m out.”
“So now comes the fun part.” Ernie ticked off on his fingers. “You walk, and they sue you for breach of contract. You have to pay back your advances, plus their expenses, plus any projected revenue from the tour. The damages will be in the millions. These guys don’t fuck around. You could have a kid in the hospital and they’d expect you to be there, onstage as scheduled. Barring a mental fucking breakdown or a life-threating illness, you’ll be there. Even in a coma you might be there. They’re not above operating you like a puppet with their hand up your ass.” He dipped his head to look at me. “And the icing on the bullshit cake? If you do manage to get a tour canceled for anything less than some medical emergency, you can kiss your fucking career goodbye because nobody’s going to touch you after that.”
I felt the color drain from my face.
“I don’t understand,” I breathed. “I don’t fucking get why she’s pushing this. Why me?”
He scoffed. “You’re probably the only guy who didn’t do lines off her ass and smack her around before he fucked her. She’s gotta tour with somebody, so why not the guy who held doors for her?” He shook his head. “We are between a rock and a hard place, my friend. I gotta tell you, if you would have asked me a month ago who the worst person to bring on tour is, I’d have said a girlfriend. But Lola? She’s my fucking tour nightmare. You see the shit in the tabloids this morning? She threw a beer bottle at a photog’s head. She’s like a rampaging hybrid of all my ex-wives, on cocaine.”
Sloan.
A cloud of doom rolled over me as I realized for the first time just how far-reaching this was.
I wouldn’t be able to bring Sloan on tour. I wouldn’t even be able to fly her out to visit. It would be uncomfortable for her at best. At worst it would be downright dangerous. Lola had a history of instability and violence and some weird fucking fixation on me. Who knew what she’d do? Even locked gates couldn’t keep her out. Even if I got Sloan a bodyguard, I couldn’t guarantee Lola wouldn’t get to her with more than a year of close proximity to try. Hell, Kanye had bodyguards too and a lot of good that had done. Not to mention all the lewd shit I knew she’d throw at my girlfriend just to piss me off. I couldn’t subject her to it.
Fourteen months. Fourteen fucking months of Lola, without Sloan.
“What if I get a restraining order?” I asked, clutching at straws. “They can’t force her on my tour if she can’t get within a hundred feet of me.”
He scoffed. “For what? Throwing stripper shoes at your trailer? Mentioning you on Twitter? Has she made any threats? Hurt you in any way?” Ernie put a hand on my shoulder. “Look, I don’t want you climbing a ledge yet. I’m working on it. I’ll get the lawyers involved if I have to. I didn’t even plan on telling you until I had a definitive answer, but with this shit…”
“Fuck. No wonder she showed up here.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. She’d probably hoped for some happy reunion between us, so I wouldn’t fight it when I found out what she was trying to do.
But I would fight it. I would do everything in my power to make sure this didn’t happen. Because if it did, it might cost me Sloan.
Chapter 20
Jason
? Superposition | Young the Giant
My feet were back on Minnesota soil for the first time since Christmas. I loved that Sloan had come home with me. Despite the shitty night I’d had, compliments of Lola, I hadn’t stopped smiling all day. I was irritable right until I picked Sloan up and she bounced into my arms.
We walked with Tucker to the rental car counter at the tiny airport in Duluth. Sloan laughed at the single luggage carousel.
“So where is Minneapolis from here?” she asked, leaning down to pet Tucker. He sat pressed against her leg, looking up at her.