Page 59 of Kiss & Collide
Violet inhaled, very slightly mollified. It was nice to hearsomeoneadmit it, even if it was three years too late.
“Do you want me to say thank you?” she asked sarcastically.
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Astrid replied, unable to keep up the uncharacteristic groveling for that long. “Just …”
“What?”
“Think about it. I know my brother can be an idiot, but he really does miss you.”
It was an appealing, if unlikely, thought—Ian pining away for her. She couldn’t deny that it soothed her ego, so damagedwhere he was concerned. “Look, I know he’s your brother, but there’s no way I’m taking his cheating ass back—”
“Then come back for us!” Astrid snapped. “Come back for the band. Without you, Ian’s taste in music is shit. You know that. All he listens to these days is bloodyImagine Dragons! You were important, Violet. In lots of ways. We all know it.”
All of a sudden she felt breathless, and slightly panicky. This call … it was too much.
“Astrid, I have to go.”
“Talk to you soon?”
“We’ll see.”
25
Everyone wanted to talk to Chase after the race in Singapore. Even with a security guard ushering him along, it took over twenty minutes to reach the after-party at Cé La Vi, the bar and nightclub at the top of the SkyPark. He’d finished twelfth, which was great for Pinnacle, but nothing special overall. Didn’t seem to matter.
Violet wasn’t kidding about the impact of thatVanity Fairshoot. In the three days that it had been out, he’d blown up online. He didn’t pay much attention, but Violet had been monitoring it all closely, shoving her phone in his face whenever there was something particularly good she wanted him to see.
Just as he stepped out of the elevator, finally at the top of the SkyPark, his phone dinged with a text from Jeff Corbett, his sponsorship consultant.
Check your email.
He swiped over to it and clicked on Jeff’s email. It was an official sponsorship proposal from Jet Energy drinks. There wasan attached PDF with the details, but Jeff had bullet-pointed the deal in the email, ending with the monetary offer at the bottom. His stomach swooshed and he felt lightheaded, reading the numbers once, and then again. The money was … life-changing. Career-making.
Regardless of what happened with Pinnacle this season, that kind of sponsorship money attached to his name would mean some Formula One team would want him in their car next season, without a doubt. He had to call his dad. Call Tyler and Sam. Call his agent. But first, he had to find Violet. She had made this happen; she deserved to be the first person to know.
He’d made it all of ten steps closer to the club, close enough to hear the thumping base, to see the flashing purple lights and the sway of bodies, when his phone buzzed again. It was Madison. They’d been texting a lot in the few days since theVFthing had dropped. It was huge for her, too, and people online were apparently going ballistic about the two of them as a couple. It pained him, but it turned out Violet was right about that, too. All those zeroes at the end of Jet’s offer were proof of that.
Assuming you’ve heard we’re scheduled for a date in London next week?
Violet had just put it in his calendar. There was a two-week gap after Singapore, and Madison had a reading with a director in London. So Cam and Violet had scheduled another date.
Just heard, he replied.
Any preferences on what you want to do?
Did he and Madison have any say? He’d assumed Violet and Cam had already sorted it all out for maximum exposure.
Anything’s good with me.
Great, she replied.Then I’m taking you to my favorite place in London. I think you’ll love it.
So Madison was planning this one? That felt … personal. All of this felt more like a date than a business meeting, which is how he’d been thinking about it to get through. Except maybe it wasn’t anymore? Or it didn’t have to be, if he didn’t want it to be? He remembered Madison’s casual invite in Vegas, offering to move their date someplace more private. Apparently, that was still on the table.
He fired off one more text to her.
Sounds great.
About as noncommittal as it got.
