Pushing past that niggling feeling, I take a sip of my iced coffee and look up to find him staring back at me expectantly. Shoot, did I miss him asking a question?
“I’m sorry, could you repeat that?” I ask him.
“I was just asking if you’d ever consider relocating to Nashville since that’s where the label I’ve been in contact with is located.”
I glance down at my coffee cup and consider my answer. I mean, would I consider relocating? A few months ago I would’ve jumped at the opportunity to live in Nashville and sign a record deal Kyle said is practically a sure thing. Now, though? Now I’m a married eighteen-year-old about to move to Boston to attend college alongside my husband so he can live out his dreams of playing college hockey.
“Uh, I don’t think I would at this time. Would that be a requirement from the label? Ideally, I’d like to still attend college at Berklee this fall. I got nearly a full scholarship,” I inform him.
Kyle’s eyebrows raise, and I think it’s because he’s impressed, that is until he responds. “Taevin, you do understand that an opportunity to sign a recording deal for multiple albums as a debut artist is extremely rare, right? So rare that I’ve never even heard of a deal like this.”
I don’t point out the fact that it’s likely because he hasn’t been in the industry that long, and instead murmur, “Perhaps it’s too good to be true, then.”
Kyle’s eyes narrow slightly. “No, I don’t think so. I think there’s something else making you hesitate.” Without breakingeye contact, he takes a slow drink of his tea. Clearing his throat, he admonishes, “Don’t tell me you’ve got some high school sweetheart you’re so hung up on you’re about to miss out on a once-in-a-lifetime shot that’s been placed in your lap.”
Gathering my hands in my lap, I look down to avoid his skeptical gaze. “I do have a boyfriend who will also be attending college in Boston this fall,” I admit the halftruth, though not calling Jackson my husband makes my stomach churn with guilt.
Why did I just lie again?
Kyle waves his hand dismissively. “Boyfriends come and go, trust me. The last thing you want to do is pass up this opportunity for college. Besides, what would a music degree get you that this record deal wouldn’t immediately surpass as far as income and experience?”
He has a point; getting a record deal would mean I don’t bury myself in student loan debt. But it could also turn out that I’m not ready to make this leap and my inexperience will lead to my career in the music industry tanking before it’s even begun.
“Look, if you want to work together, I can get this deal signed by the end of the week, but I need to know you’re all in,” Kyle presses.
I worry my lip between my teeth and fist my hands together in my lap. Looking up at Kyle, I ask, “Can I have a day or two to think over my options and get back to you?”
Kyle sighs as if he’s disappointed with my answer, but ultimately nods his head in response. “I suppose that’d be alright. But I need an answer in two days or I’m out. I’m a busy man, Taevin. I don’t have time to sit around waiting on an indecisive, lovesick teenager.”
Well that was uncalled for. I mean, sure, to outsiders I’m guessing Jackson and I look like lovesick fools, but what we haveis unshakeable. We’ve made vows to be together for the rest of our lives.
I just need to talk to him about the record deal. He said so himself that we could make long distance work if we needed to, though I’m pretty sure he thought we’d have a few years before that was even a possibility.
Kyle hands me his business card, and after exchanging a firm handshake, I make my way out of the coffeeshop.
I’m just pulling my phone from my purse when I collide with a hard chest.
“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going—” I start, but am startled to find I’ve run right into Jackson’s father. “Senator Wilson, hello.”
Taking a step back, he narrows his eyes at me. “It’s Taevin, right?” he asks with a sharp edge to the question.
“Yes. I’m Jackson’s girlfriend,” I tell him, and there I go lying again. But Jax’s father cannot find out about our marriage or things would spiral out of control for the last week before we leave for Boston.
“Is that so?” Senator Wilson questions. “Not for long, if I have anything to say about that.”
I shouldn’t be surprised by his condescending tone, yet here I am taken aback by what he’s just insinuated. I’m furious, so much so that I let my anger get the best of me when I can’t stop myself from pushing back. “Yeah? And what are you going to do about it? If I recall, your son already told you that if you interfere with our relationship, he’ll throw his future plans at Harvard out the window. Is that what you want, Senator?”
He puts his hands in the pockets of his suit pants and rocks back on his heels. “I think I may have misjudged the seriousness of my son’s fascination with you, and perhaps I’ve underestimated you, Miss Gray. But the thing is, if you wantwhat’s best for his future as well as your own, you should listen very closely to what I have to say.”
Without warning, Jax’s dad grabs me by the arm and drags me around the corner of the coffeeshop into the alleyway. Fear prickles at my spine as I run through my escape options. What is he planning to do to me?
Letting go of my arm rather roughly, he reaches into the inner pocket of his suit jacket and for a second I fear he’ll pull out a weapon, but I’m relieved to find it’s only his cellphone. My relief is fleeting when he turns the screen for me to see.
“Care to tell me what I’m looking at here, Miss Gray?” he questions as he swipes through a series of photos of Jackson and I in very compromising positions.
My heart sinks and my stomach churns as I take in the damning photos of the two of us in the woods when he took me turkey hunting with him in June. What’s bad about that, right? Well, considering I have my back pressed up against a tree while Jackson’s pants are around his ankles, I’m guessing it wouldn’t be hard for someone to put two and two together.
And when his father continues to swipe through the photos that are getting increasingly worse, I gasp and push his phone away.
