Page 6 of The Rocker

“Text me the address where you practice, and I’ll be there around five. Don’t make me regret this, Walker.”

“I won’t. I promise you,” he vowed, and for some reason, I believed him.

* * *

It was borderingon six o’clock by the time I rolled up to an old, beat-up house that was far away from civilization, which seemed to be a good thing since I could feel their music from inside my car.

My Chuck Taylor’s hit the uneven pavement and carried me toward the music. Even here, they sounded good. I knew I was right about pursuing them. I just had to prove it to everyone else.

I wasn’t sure if I should go to the front door since it was clear they were in the garage or if I should knock on the garage. My choice was made for me when the garage door slowly started to rise. I was met with four sets of eyes. Three of them were lit up like I was their favorite present, and the other darted away the second we made eye contact. I really hoped Greer wouldn’t become a problem. It wasn’t good that he seemed to already hate me.

“You made it,” Walker stepped out to greet me.

“Yeah, I’m sorry it took me longer than I expected. I kept getting stopped as I was trying to leave the office, and then the traffic was bad.” I gave them all an apologetic look.

“You could have called,” Greer muttered under his breath.

I ignored him and moved to sit on a ratty old couch, which I really hoped none of them had hooked up on. From the looks of it, it wouldn’t surprise me.

“I got all the music you sent me, and I have to say if you wanted to, you could make a career out of songwriting. They’re all good. Extraordinary even.”

Walker perked up, and a light shade of pink colored his cheeks. “Really?”

Leaning forward, I rested my arms along the tops of my legs. “One thing you’ll soon learn about me is I don’t lie. I’m always going to give it to you straight. There’s no point in sugar-coating anything in this business. If I do that, it cheapens our relationship. I want you to be able to trust me.”

“That’s what we want as well,” Cross spoke up from his stool across the garage.

“It was hard for me to pick my top three, but I did, and these are the ones I want you to focus on for me to bring back to Cristiano. He’s got me booked all over the state, so I won’t be able to come to any other practices for at least a week.”

Kenton tilted his head to the side, and his big brown eyes bored into mine. “Does he want you to fail?”

“It feels that way, but I’m not sure why.” He was the one who sent me out to scout, and it looked bad on him that he kept picking horrible bands for me to go see. If he thought he was going to get me fired, he had another thing coming.

Bright blue eyes looked me up and down before Cross spoke. “Did you turn him down?”

I had turned him down when he came on to me. I’d been working at Titan Records for less than a year. I’d come from a small label that was going under and was pretty much starting over until I proved myself.

“Yeah,” Cross sighed. “That’s why he’s doing it. His ego is wounded.”

“He can’t really expect me to sleep with him, can he? That would make for a horrible work environment,” I mused out loud.

“Did you at least tell him you had a boyfriend to soften the blow?” Walker stepped forward but then rocked back on his heels.

“No, because like I said before, I don’t lie. It’s just not how I operate.” They all looked at me like I was naïve, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to take advice from them. “Let’s get back on track here. Unfortunately for you, my time is limited. We have two months to prove you’re the next up-and-coming band. Let’s start with…” I scrolled through the notes I’d made on my phone. All of their songs were good, but I needed to find the right one to introduce the world to them. “Stay. I think this one has the potential to be your first single.”

When I looked up, all of the guys were staring at me with awe on their faces. I knew right then and there; they’d do whatever I asked of them to make them the best damn band in the world.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” I leaned back on the couch and felt a spring pop, but I didn’t care. This was what I lived for, and it was time I proved myself to Titan.

“Give us a minute. This all just became very real for us.” Walker said as the biggest smile started to spread across his face. He looked to each and every one of his bandmates and then finally to me. “This is unbelievable. Is this how it normally works?”

I shook my head. “Not normally, but I pushed for you guys. If I can’t show him what I see in you by the end of two months, I may be out of a job.” Fuck, that would suck. I didn’t want to have to start over. Again.

Walker looked to me with so much conviction I had no other choice but to believe him. “We won’t let you down.” One by one, they each said the words—even Greer. And I believed them.

“Show me what you’ve got.”

CHAPTERFOUR

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