she pulled out a chair at the table to sit. “Can we talk business for a minute?”
“Yup.” I sat in the chair opposite her. “Before I forget, you’re almost out of shock for the pool. Want me to order more for you?”
“What?” She blinked. “Uh, sure, but I need to find someone else to handle that going forward.”
I couldn’t help my teasing, hurt tone, and pressed my hand to my bare chest. “Are you saying I can’t be your pool boy anymore?”
Her smile was humoring me. “I highly doubt you’re going to have the time.” She drew in a deep breath. “And also . . . I can’t be your manager anymore.”
It was warm outside, but the way her voice broke as she said it left me cold. “Sorry, what?”
I hadn’t noticed the papers on the table until she pushed them toward me. “This transfers the copyright of ‘Power’ over to you. I retain the credit, but it’s your song, Troy.”
I picked up the paper and stared at the dense, legal text, but couldn’t process any of it. She was just giving me the song she’d written? “Wait, go back to the part where you said you can’t be my manager anymore.”
Her eyes were wide and full of fear, and it turned my stomach. “Ardy has offered to pay me a finder’s fee and take you on as a client.”
Anger flared inside me. “And you’re just going to let him?”
“No,” she said. “I asked him to.”
“What?” I stood fast, making the chair chatter over the wooden planks of her deck. “Why the hell would you do that?”
She swallowed so hard I saw the bob of her throat. “Because,” she whispered, “if we’re going to have a chance at a future, I can’t be your manager.”
My body froze as her meaning hit me. Future. This was fucking huge. The power of it was enough to drive me to my knees beside her chair and slide a hand into her hair, cupping her cheek.
“Okay, wait.” My voice was as uneven as I felt inside. “Just wait a minute.”
“I don’t want to hide anymore. We do this, and no one’s going to say I took advantage of you, or that you’re just fucking me to get ahead.”
I scowled. Would people think that? Ardy had said he respected my hustle when he’d found out I cleaned Erika’s pool. If he knew we were dating, it was possible he’d think that was true.
Oh, shit. “You don’t think that, do you?”
The corner of her mouth lifted like she was amused I’d even had to ask that question. She covered my hand on her cheek, moving it enough so she could plant a kiss in the center of my palm. Her stunning tenderness lit me on fire. She’d been bossy and needy with me, but never like this.
“We can tell your parents,” she said.
I wanted that.
Fuck, I wanted all of it out in the open, where I could show her off and not worry about who’d see us together. But I was smart enough to understand there wasn’t much risk for me. My mom was going to love me no matter what, but Erika had a boss who might fire her, and a friendship that could be destroyed.
“I want that,” I said, “but not like this. I don’t want to do it without you.”
Her gorgeous face twisted with anxiety. “Troy.”
My hand firmed beneath hers, and I shot her the most determined look I possessed. “Remember when I wasn’t going to audition if you wouldn’t give me a chance? We do this together.”
“I’m doing this so we can be together.” She lifted my hand away from her face, threaded her fingers through mine, and matched my determination. “Look, I don’t want to hand you off to someone else either, but this is the best I can come up with. I’ll still be a part of the things Warbler offers you.”
“No,” I said. “This is ours.”
Resignation swept through her. She knew I was going to fight her on this, and now she was willing to play the card she didn’t want to have to. “The rights to ‘Power’ are contingent on this deal.”
I shot to my feet, breaking the connection of our hands. “You said it was mine.”
“It is.” Her eyebrows pulled together. “I want you to have it, and I want us together. Don’t you want that too?”
“Yeah, I do, but I also—”
“Part of being an adult is compromise, not getting everything you want.”
I should have been happy.