Then, he’d told me about a potential house that I might be interested in seeing while I was in Phoebe. It was a massive house, definitely bigger than my place in Nashville, and it was super secluded. The house was sort of a mini mansion, sequestered in the roaring hills of one of Phoebe’s colorful forests, only ten minutes from the center of town. We made plans to check it out before I left for my next tour stop.
Leaving Kit’s place, I was eager to meet back up with my friends at the only recording studio in Phoebe. I’d been writing what felt like non-fucking-stop the past couple weeks, and I wasitching to get some studio time in. Especially if I was going to execute my secret little plan.
Being back in this studio felt amazing. I’d saved up at my retail job for years to acquire the money to cut some demos back when I’d been undiscovered and unsigned. I had a piano and guitar at Kit’s parent’s house at the time, but I’d wanted to make pop music and I needed a studio for that. This recording studio had honestly been the start of my dreams coming true.
An hour droned on of me being in and out of the recording booth, making sure I got the vocals just right for this new song. It was actually the song I’d been messing around with back in Nashville when Van had interrupted me before taking me to the club, the same one where we’d announced the music video forBirthstone Babyand officially announced tour.
Stepping out of the booth for, hopefully, the last time, I sat down beside Blue, who was overseeing the mastering, per usual. Priyanka was in the corner, tapping away on her iPad with her two forefingers with a smile, and Van was sipping on his coffee that I’d ordered for all of us when we’d met back up at the studio.
“Ready?” Blue asked me, arranging my latest take and readying it for me to hear along with the piano and synth track he’d constructed.
“Hit it.” I beamed, glancing at the screen so I could watch the waveforms.
Thankfully, this was the take I was needing. My voice sounded exactly how I wanted it to for this song, making it the ballad I was hoping it would become. I was so excited about how fast we’d been able to make this song. And now that this song was done, I was ready to enact my master plan.
“That’s the one.” I nodded, slapping Blue on the shoulder. “It’s perfect. Can you get it mastered in time?”
Blue scoffed, running a hand through his silver-dyed hair. “Who do you think you’re talking to?” He smirked playfully and I couldn’t help but match his laughter.
“Thanks, Blue.”
At that, Priyanka looked up from her iPad with renewed interest. “Wait, mastered in time for what?”
“Oh, nothing.” Blue cleared his throat, giving me a sideways glance and pairing it with a wink.
“I saw that,” Priyanka chipped as she set down her iPad on the chair next to her and crossed her arms. “What’s going on?”
“You know, you don’t need to know everything, Pri.” I managed to say without completely laughing through it.
“As your publicist, that’s technically false.” She wagged her pointer finger in the air at me, but her lips curved upwards exuberantly.
“Don’t worry, Pri. You’ll find out soon enough.”
Her brow turned into an irritated squiggle. “I don’t like this, Alistair.”
Blue chortled, clearing his throat to cover up the fact that he was laughing at Priyanka’s pain. I couldn’t help but stifle my own potential enormous laughter. I caught a glimpse from Van, realizing that he’d been watching me with such a content smile on his face. When he looked around the room, noticing that anyone could interpret the way he was looking at me, he wiped the look off of his face and resorted to the blank look of interest he usually wore.
It was adorable, and it made my heart rattle inside my chest. The fact that he’d looked so…comfortable when he watched me. Somehow, Van had managed to see me in a way that no one else had before. He just understood me, even when we weren’t talking. Maybe that’s why the sex between us was so damn good. We saw each other. And that made exploring each other’s bodies a hell of a lot easier, it seemed.
Standing up from my chair, I gave Blue a knowing nod before turning around to address Priyanka. “I’ll tell you tomorrow, I promise.” I walked over to the lounge chair that I’d draped my grey faux leather jacket on and scooped it up with my arm.
That really rattled Priyanka. “Wait, where are you going?”
“Out.” I said simply, feeling every bit like the teenager I never got to be when I was at that rebellious age. I tilted my head toward Van. “Don’t worry, Van’s coming.” I wasn’t that worried about being swarmed by fans here in Phoebe as I had been in Nashville, but safe was preferred to sorry.
At that, Van lifted from his seat and tightened his black suit jacket before sweeping across the room to stand by my side.
“You’re leaving?” Priyanka inquired, despite the very obvious intention I had already launched.
I shrugged. “I’d like to explore town with the rest of my day off.” And it was true. Now that we were back in Phoebe without any holiday plans, I wanted to see the parts I hadn’t been fortunate enough to see the last time I was here.
“But—”
“I’ll make sure nothing happens to him, Priyanka.” Van swore, an oath of my safety lingering invisibly in the studio.
“I mean, I know you will, but—”
“I’ll be back soon.” I placed a hand over my heart. “And I won’t get into trouble. Promise.”
