“Wow, you look nice yourself, Rhett,” he replied mockingly. “Dare I even say hot? Thank you for coming to my party. It’s so good to see your smiling face.” When he was done, he noticed my non-sense of humor shining on my face. “Rose invited me.”
“Rose was fired,” I answered back.
His jaw dropped. "Still? You guys haven't made up yet?" He quickly waved it off before I could go into the many different reasons why betrayal in this industry was a tough thing to get over. "She invited me before the conference room fiasco. Besides, my best friends were coming. I usually go where they go."
I looked across the room and noticed that the three friends seemed to be having a good time. They weren't mingling with anyone else, but the smiles on their faces indicated that they didn't need anyone else to have fun. They were a tight group.
“I like them.”
“And yet, you don’t like me? I am them. They are me,” he whispered into my ear as I continued to stare across the room.
I whirled around to face him, trying to halt the shivers running down my spine at the sound of his smooth voice. “I don’t like what you stand for.”
“What? Music?” he scoffed.
“No. Career theft,” I responded.
“Theft is a bit dramatic. Nothing was stolen from you. You just have to share a little bit. Didn’t you learn to do that in preschool?”
I glared, refusing to play his game. “You’re starting to sound like my mother.”
“Damn, low blow.”
“Ever.” Gage’s voice interrupted us. I looked over to see that the small group had moved closer to us. “Tell me who that is in the kitchen, and dear lord, let her be single.”
I followed his extended finger and found my exquisite best friend on the receiving end. "Oh, you mean the girl with the teal tips in her hair?" I laughed.
“The freaking sex goddess. Yes.” Gage was practically drooling, and even though I had only known him twenty-four hours, I would put money on the fact that he had never been more excited. This was going to be good.
"That's Lola, and she is very, very single."
"I like very, very single. I happen to be very, very single myself," Gage replied happily.
One of Lola’s friends, Zane, popped a Champagne bottle after shaking it up. The cork flew and so did the bubbly liquid—all over my kitchen and everyone standing in the vicinity. Why did people still find that fun? I thought the only people who still did that were hockey players celebrating in locker rooms.
“Someone win the Stanley Cup?” I heard Rhett complain.
My head whipped toward him in surprise. “Are you a mind reader?”
He chuckled, but Lola's shrieking distracted us. We watched as she started dabbing at the Champagne covering her chest. At least her dress was dark, so it hadn't become transparent. Next to me, Gage groaned audibly.
"Dude, you were the last one I thought we would have to worry about being uncool tonight," Alex chastised while shoving Gage.
“Doesn’t Lola work for you?” Rhett asked.
“She’s my stylist,” I answered. “But also my best friend.”
Lola’s laugh carried throughout the suite, and Gage continued to stare as if he were amazed by her every move.
“She’s a handful,” I warned.
“Good thing I have two big hands,” he pointed out while looking at his hands. Almost as if he could already picture them touching her.
“No seriously, I found jalapeno-flavored lube in her purse just this morning.”
“Oh, hell no.” Alex waved his hands around. “Forget that shit.”
“Agh,” Gage groaned. “Why did that just turn me on even more?”
“You’re sick, dude.” Rhett laughed.
I chuckled to myself and called out to my best friend. Gage’s body locked up as if readying itself for impact.
“Do you think that’s the best idea…” Rhett started. “I mean, if we’re going to be working together.”
Immediately, I spun and glared at him. That was not something I wanted to get out. Not here. Not now.
“Wait… what?” Sienna gasped.
“Are you two going to...?” Alex asked, without completing his question.
"Yes, gorgeous?" Lola cooed upon reaching our little group. She kissed my temple, and I could smell the sweet alcohol emanating from her glistening tan skin.
All eyes were on Rhett and me. Alex was wide-mouthed, Gage raised an eyebrow, Sienna was about to vibrate right out of her skin, and Lola was… drunk.
Trying to distract them, I turned to my friend. “Lolz, this is Gage. The one I was telling you about.”
Gage’s cocky smirk graced his face faster than I thought possible. “You were talking about me?”
“Oh…” Lola smiled wickedly at Gage. I mentally patted myself on the back when I saw the immediate interest enter her eyes. “Mr. Brooding and Mysterious.” She placed her manicured finger on his chest and let it slide down until her hand fell away. “Lola Masters.”
Gage was like a fly caught in the black widow's web. Except he was begging to be eaten alive. Before he could introduce himself, Lola grabbed the back of his head and quickly pulled his mouth down onto hers. Everyone stood there, shell-shocked, watching Lola's rose-colored lips move against Gage's. Everyone except for me. Lola was always this impulsive. If she wanted it, she took it.
Gage's hands held onto her bare back and his eye were wide, still stunned by the surprise kiss. She pushed off his chest and licked her lips while staring up at him. Gage rocked backward on his heels and blew out a breath.
“Not bad…” Lola teased.
“Amazing,” offered Gage.
“Did she just…” Rhett started.
“Daaamn,” Alex said, chuckling.
Sienna piped in again. “Uh, hello. More important things are obviously going on right now. What the hell, Rhett?” She looked at him as if he had betrayed her.
“Way to burst the mood,” grumbled Gage.
Rhett regarded me with wide eyes, evidently not knowing how to proceed. I wanted to scream at him for bringing up what I just wanted to forget about.
I spotted my manager, Amanda—my real manager, as opposed to my mother—who held a stack of papers in one hand and two phones in the other. She was a busy lady, but I didn’t hesitate to jump at the distraction. “Amanda!”
"Ever… I've been trying to call you. Rose told me about what happened, and she wanted me to talk to you until you work things out with her," Amanda stated, not even caring about the group of people standing around her. She was all business.
"Sorry, I had a shoot today and I lost track of time. I forgot to get back to you."
She waved it off as she thumbed through a few papers while balancing a shit-ton of stuff. Rhett stuck his hands out, attempting to catch anything that might fall off her precarious load.
“You need some help?” he offered.
Amanda’s glasses slipped down her nose, and she shoved them back up with the phone in her hand. She was so busy that she didn't even notice Rhett offering assistance.
“Ever, we need to put out a statement. Rose thinks this is going to leak soon. If not by some snoopy gossip columnist, then by the record label in an official statement.”
“How convenient that Rose thinks it will leak. She’s probably the one—”
“I told you she didn’t cause the leak earlier,” Rhett interrupted.
I rolled my eyes and continued speaking to Amanda. “I will be the one to let my fans know.”
“Then it needs to be soon,” she replied. “Very soon.”
“Not to be nosy or anything, but what is going on?” Alex finally asked.
“That’s exactly the definition of nosy, dumbass.” Gage chuckled.
I sighed in frustration and walked toward my bedroom. Taking the chain from around my neck, I used my key to unlock the door.
There was silence behind me until I heard Alex ask, "Uh�
�� should we follow her?"
Footsteps trailed mine, and I stood at my giant wooden door while they all passed me into the lavish bedroom. I closed the door when the whole gang was present.
“I think I’ve gone to heaven,” Sienna uttered, her mouth agape and her eyes wide.
I let them take in the room. It really was beautiful, though a little too luxurious for the girl from Ohio who liked to sing songs. But my security team approved of the hotel because of the layout of the rooms and the layers of protection put into place for their guests. The hotel staff had explained that the glass was bulletproof, which I didn't think was particularly necessary. I was more in danger of some crazy fan mooning me than anything, and no amount of protective glass could save me from that. I wasn't a big-time politician or some ambassador from a foreign country that would require those amenities.
When all eyes were back on me, I spat out, “Rhett and I are going to be performing together.” I thought saying it out loud would help me to accept it. It hadn’t.
Lola and Amanda glanced around at the shocked faces. Of course, they both already knew, Amanda being my manager and Lola having listened to me bitch all afternoon at my photo shoots. It was still almost comical to see the reaction of Rhett's closest friends.
“As in…” Gage started.
“Like a show?” Alex finished.
“Shut the front door!” Sienna shouted. “You’re doing a show with Ever freaking James?” She smacked Rhett on the chest.
“Not just a show,” I griped.
"Oh my God…" Sienna wobbled on her feet, and Alex reached out to steady her upper arms. "Is Rhett joining your band? Ever and Rhett, Rhett and Ever?" Sienna screeched.
“Ever and then Rhett," I stated. "Maybe. I don't think he really even needs his name in there." Would they really add his name in? Of course they would. My name in lights would now have to share space with his stupid sexy name.
"Selfish much?" Rhett chuckled. I glared at him, and he winked. I knew I was being juvenile about the whole situation, but nobody had given me a chance to even process this. I tried to take in a deep breath and let the bad vibes roll off me.
“Dude, you got a record deal?” Alex beamed at his friend.
Rhett nodded his head, trying to contain his excitement. Probably for my benefit. This was a huge deal for him, and he couldn't even celebrate because I couldn't control my urge to be a brat. I still didn't like the idea—I wasn't even remotely happy about it—but tonight I could let him celebrate his accomplishment.
“He got a deal alright,” I added.
Rhett looked at me with surprise, and the smile he had contained earlier split across his face. Damn him… of course, his smile was gorgeous. It did weird things to me—things I wasn't comfortable with.
“Wow, you didn’t even sound sarcastic when you said that.” He beamed.
“No matter my feelings of the situation, you are talented. I’m sure you’ll do great.”
His friends immediately embraced him with hugs and words of congratulations. The guys smacked each other on the backs as Sienna latched onto him with all of her strength while trying to hold back her shrill shrieks of joy.
“You deserve this, man,” Alex bellowed.
"Now, we really have to celebrate!" Gage called out. He lifted his arms in the air, causing his shirt to ride up. I watched Lola zero in on his abs, and I laughed at her blatantly checking him out.
“Ever, Rose thinks...” Amanda started before I interrupted.
“Rose thinks it’s okay to handle business behind my back when that’s nowhere near her pay grade,” I snapped.
Amanda sighed. “Look, I get it. She was shady. But right now shit’s hitting the fan. We need people here who actually know what they’re doing.”
“Where is she?” I mumbled, not happy with her logic. Or the fact that she was right.
“In her room,” Amanda quickly replied. I gestured for her to call Rose and get her down here. Amanda’s fingers immediately started flying across the screen of her phone.
Moments later, the sizeable wooden door quietly creaked open, and Rose slipped in with a look of trepidation.
“Ever, please can I—”
“Not now,” I replied sharply. “I’m going to announce to my fans about Rhett. Tonight.”
“I think that’s best,” Rose stated quietly.
Amanda quickly added, “As a representative of the label, I’m supposed to advise against that.”
“But as someone who has worked for me for many years…”
“I would suggest you had done it an hour ago,” Amanda admitted. “The paparazzi have already gotten pictures of him entering the hotel.”
Shit…
I turned to Rose. “How should I do this?”
“Instagram,” Rose proposed.
Finding fans and connecting with them through Instagram, announcing important events and sharing personal stories, was kind of my thing. Why should I make the statement anywhere else? They were my fans… my family. They deserved to hear the news from me and not from some scummy Page Six articles.
"Alright, let's do this." Rose had my business phone in her hand. I never even thought about the fact that she had it all day. "You guys should sit down next to each other." When I moved to sit down on the end of my bed, Rose jumped. "No. We absolutely cannot do this anywhere near a bed."
She was right. The rumors were going to run rampant as it was. The last thing I needed to do was fuel them by sitting on a bed with Rhett. They had no idea there were seven other people in the room with us.
Lola disappeared into the bathroom as we tried to figure out the best place to record a video—a place that wouldn’t suggest we were in my bedroom. Rose walked around the room, pulling chairs along with her. Lola came back out with her hands full of products. She hugged them to her body, trying not to let any slip to the floor. Gage immediately joined her and grabbed as much as he could from her arms. She pointed to a dresser, and he set them down.
“Sit,” Lola directed toward Rhett.
He obeyed, and she pulled his head back so he was looking up at her. I smirked, knowing precisely what she was doing. She reached behind, snatched a sponge and dabbed it into a foundation compact.
Rhett jumped up at the first tap of makeup across his skin. “Whoa, what are you doing?”
"Getting you ready." She pointed at the chair, but he didn't obey so easily this time. "This is the first time they are going to get a good look at you," she stated as if it were completely obvious. And it was to us, but not to someone who was new to this chaos.
“Let them look at me then. I don’t need any shit on my face.” He waved his hand in front of his face dramatically.
I sat down in the chair that Rose placed next to him and said, "Don't fight it."
"Yeah, get your pretty little makeup on." Gage chuckled. "Want me to find you a dress while we’re at it?" Lola glared at him, and he raised his hands in surrender. "Just do what she says, dude."
“Everyone who performs gets it done, Rhett,” Sienna piped in.
He groaned loudly and closed his eyes. He lifted his scowling face up to Lola and allowed her to smudge the cream across his skin. He grimaced with each swipe but tolerated it…until she pulled out the eyeliner.
“Nope. No way. That’s never happening.” He pointed at the stick in her hand as if it had personally offended him. “Never.”
"Fine," Lola huffed. "Rose, make sure you add a good filter to the video." She grabbed a silver can of hairspray and attacked Rhett’s head with it. She got some in his face, and I laughed because she totally did it on purpose.
He opened one of his eyes and glared at me. I smiled, a little too sweetly, and said, “I tried to warn you.”
Lola messed with his hair until it was to her liking and then moved on to teasing my hair back to its full-bodied state. When Rhett raised his hand to feel his face, Lola slapped it away.
“She scares
me,” he whispered to me theatrically.
"She takes how I look very seriously. And now you too, I guess, until you find your own stylist."
“I don’t need anybody dressing me or caking shit on my face. I just want to play music.”
Lola and I both rolled our eyes simultaneously. He had no clue what he was in for.
"Okay, you're up, Rose," Lola called while wiping her hands off with a wet cloth. It was amazing how quickly she could go into business mode when she was tipsy. "One of you guys grab that lamp over there. We need more light." Rhett's friends all stared at her. Lola was bossy, but for the most part, I was thankful because she got shit done.
Alex carried the lamp and tilted it so our faces were bathed in its glow. Rose squatted down and pointed the camera directly at the two of us.
Sienna moved forward and said, “You two need to move closer together. It looks weird with that much space between you.”
“She’s right.” Lola smiled.
I looked at him and waited.
“Oh okay, don’t worry. I’ll move," Rhett announced sarcastically with a smirk. "Wouldn't want you pulling a muscle."
“I’m at the edge of the chair, thank you very much.” I gestured toward the chair. He looked down, but his eyes locked on my legs and stayed there a moment longer.
“Closer,” Rose demanded while looking at us through the phone’s camera.
Rhett reached over and grabbed my legs, pulling me entirely onto his seat. His hands were still on my thighs, and of course Noah chose that moment to come waltzing in.
Almost immediately, Lola shouted, "Out!" When he started to question her, she repeated herself and added, "We're doing business that you're not involved in." He looked at Rhett and then ducked back out without another word.
“I think I can handle sitting on my own now.” I gestured to Rhett’s hands still gripping my thighs. He immediately pulled them away but left one arm behind me on the back of the chair.
“Let’s keep it short and sweet, Ever,” Rose recommended.
“I’ve got this.” I was trained in all the do’s and don’t’s of publicity. That didn’t mean that I never screwed up or deliberately tried to test my label’s patience. I took a deep breath and readied myself.
Ever Lonely (Ever James Band Book 1) Page 8