Page 96 of Not Your Little Girl Anymore

“He received a call. I guess someone higher up had reached out to him.”

My eyebrows pull tight. “He quit. Why is anyone reaching out to him?”

James cuts him. “He never removed himself as our coordinator.” He hops onto my countertop and pulls down an unopened bottom of Jack. “Mind if I?” he asks.

“Nah, go for it,” I respond, returning my attention to Sam. “So, what? Now that someone has reached out to him about our band, he wants to continue to work with us?”

“I’ll take some,” Tyler butts in, speaking directly to James.

James nods, hopping down from the counter, and helps himself by pouring two glasses of whisky and handing Tyler his.

Samantha takes a sip of her beer. Her free hand slips into the pocket of her leather pants. “Chase wants to schedule a meeting with us to discuss other potential offers. The new songs were a bigger hit than we’d anticipated, and I think we should consider it. Truthfully, he was the best thing this band had. We should hear him out.”

I take a quick swing of my glass bottle and think for a second. I look at the doorway where Summer walked into. My heart rises as I remember her words from a short moment ago. They repeat over and over in my head. You also have a career you must keep alive.

A curve pulls at the corner of my lip. The answer is simple. “We should definitely negotiate with him.”

Samantha smiles, relieved at my answer.

Tyler taps me on the shoulder. “We knew you’d say that. That’s why we brought the beer. Let’s celebrate what was the best show we’ve ever had.” He raises his hands, the glass of whisky in one, as he walks backward into the living room.

“I think we have that blonde of yours to thank,” James says.

Yes, I guess we do.

Chapter Thirty-six

Summer

My heart staggered when I saw one of the guys enter the living room. The drummer—Tyler is his name—sits on the opposite end of the couch.

Why is he making himself comfortable?

I knew I would eventually have to warm up to everyone, but I didn’t expect that to happen tonight.

Tyler doesn’t say anything. He sips from the glass in his hand silently. I want to say something to break the awkward silence that fills the room, but I don’t know what to say. I hardly know any of them, and my first real encounter wasn’t the best, even though I apologized a little while ago.

Thankfully, Alec comes in. My stomach lurches, when I see his worried expression. His hand presses against the upper arm.

“Can I talk to you for a second?” He moves his head for me to follow him.

Something twists within me, but I nod through it, getting up slowly. I follow him to his bedroom. As soon as we both step through the doorway, he closes the door for privacy.

“What’s wrong?”

He squeezes the back of his neck. “They informed me that my… coordinator loved the show. The new songs.”

“That’s awesome!” I say, ecstatic. “But, why don’t you sound thrilled?”

His cheeks puff out from the breath he blows out. “There was one song I specifically wrote for you. Nobody else was supposed to hear it.”

Shiny gray eyes look at me. My mouth opens but the words don’t come out, so I close my mouth to swallow to ease the swelling in my heart.

“You… you wrote that for me?”

The corner of his mouth tilts up. “I did.”

I bring my hand to my mouth, resting two fingers on my lips. “That’s… the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

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