“He’s right, you know.” An elegant woman approached them, business cards in hand. “I’m Angela Harrison, from Thirteen Records … and Devyn’s mother.” She passed out her cards, shaking each of their hands.
“For real?” Luke gaped at her. “You’re a big deal.”
“And you guys will be too, if my gut feeling is right—and it hasn’t failed me yet.”
“Mother, I see you’ve met my friends.” Devyn approached with a deer in headlights look on her face. Wylder took a step toward her friend, knowing there were issues between mother and daughter.
“This is the roommate you’ve told me so much about.” Her mom nodded toward Wylder.
“Yes, this is Wylder, Logan, and Luke,” Devyn said nervously. “Aren’t they amazing together?”
“Yes, they are. I’m intrigued with you three. I’ve heard all about the scandal of course, but it doesn’t make sense. Luke can obviously sing, but his guitar playing is his true gift.”
“We can explain,” Luke rushed to say. “It’s a long story.”
“And I’d like to hear it. That is … would you consider leaving the country music scene?”
“Yes, yes, we would.” Luke stepped forward. “Can we buy you a drink—er a milkshake?”
“I’m spending the evening with my daughter tonight, but I’d love to meet with you three and your parents or guardians tomorrow for lunch before I catch my flight back to LA.”
“Well, I’m not so sure—” Logan started to say.
“Don’t listen to him.” Luke stepped in front of his brother. “We’ll meet you at the Main tomorrow at noon.” He steered her away from his twin, finally leaving Wylder and Logan alone to do some schmoozing of their own.
20
“Wait, so this whole mess started because Logan didn’t have the stage presence that Luke has, and Luke didn’t have the vocal chops Logan has?” Ms. Harrison sat back against the booth at the Main, sipping her strawberry peanut butter milkshake. “Why didn’t you come clean once Luke got the label’s attention? Get them on board with the boys as a duo? It’s obvious Luke has a huge talent for guitar, and I was so surprised to hear he can sing semi-well too. That’s the part that just doesn’t make sense.”
“That’s mostly my fault,” Sebastian gave his brothers an apologetic look. “We were pretty much homeless and desperate. I was still just a kid myself, and we listened to our uncle who convinced us this was our only option since the label was looking for their next breakout solo artist. Then it got bigger than us, and we didn’t know how to get out.”
“And you were scared to lose the only lifeline you had.” Ms. Harrison nodded. “I get it.”
“Do you think it’s possible for them to come back from this?” Sebastian asked.
“Oh, we can have our PR people put a fresh spin on their story. Try the actual truth for once.” She waved it away like it was nothing. “But what about Logan’s stage fright?” She turned her attention on Logan. “I saw you on that stage last night, and Devyn sent me clips of your spot on the L.A. Daily Show, and the leaked YouTube video. I didn’t see stage fright of any sort. You have an undeniable magic in your voice.”
“It’s Wylder.” Logan nodded. “She gets me through it.” Logan reached for her hand under the table. “Whenever I start to feel it, she distracts me, pulls me back into the music, so it feels like it’s just us, and the crowd kind of fades away.”
“Do you think you can manage it?” Ms. Harrison asked him direct and matter of fact. “You’d need to master it one way or another.”
Logan took a deep breath, glancing between his brother and Wylder, and nodded. “It won’t always be easy, but I can do it if that means Wylder and Luke are there with me. For the music, I can do it.”
“It wouldn’t be too difficult to plan concerts with short breaks for Logan if need be.” Ms. Harrison scribbled something on the napkin in front of her.
“Hey, that’s what I said.” Luke perked up. “We can easily write some duets for me and Wylds to give Logan a chance to get off stage to catch his breath.”
“And you all write your own songs? All three of you?” Ms. Harrison seemed startled by that fact, like she’d stumbled onto a gold mine she hadn’t expected to find in rural Ohio.
“Yes, ma’am,” they all said together.
“Wylder has lots of experience helping Becks with his songs,” her dad mentioned proudly. He and her mom had remained quiet throughout their lunch meeting with Devyn’s mom, and Wylder couldn’t quite get a read on what they thought of all of this.
“Beckett Anderson?” Ms. Harrison asked. “He has great songs.” She chewed on the end of her pen.
“Well, he writes all his own material,” Wylder said. “I’ve just helped him from time to time.”
“She co-wrote Hometown with him right before he landed his first recording contract,” Wylder’s mother added. “That was one of his first big hits.”
“And she sang on stage with him at the Cincinnati music festival last year—a capella no less—and they brought the house down together.” Her dad flipped through his phone to find the link to the YouTube video. “It’s had a lot of views. Just read the comments, they’re dying for more Wylder.”
Well, that pretty much told Wylder her dad was on board with this. She just still wasn’t sure what this was.
“You three are an incredible talent, that’s for sure.” Ms. Harrison smiled. “You really all write your own music and play instruments, and you sing like that?” She shook her head, impressed.
“Logan wrote most of our songs,” Luke said. “He’s always had a great mind for country music. My songs are a little more edgy, pop rock. I have notebooks full of songs the label didn’t think were right for my brand. But we all three had a hand in the song we performed last night.”
“And you didn’t kill each other?”
“Not this time.” Wylder laughed nervously. “It actually started with Logan, and then I worked on the second verse, and together we crafted the chorus and the hook. Luke helped tighten the chorus and brought home the last verse and added the guitar solo and drum riffs, remastering the whole thing to be more pop rock than anything we’ve done before. It was kind of incredible the way the song came together.”
“It really was an impressive performance. But I’m hesitating.” Ms. Harrison glanced down at the notes she’d scribbled on a napkin. “I don’t work with country music artists, that’s just not what our label is about. Could the three of you see yourselves as pop artists? Something with a little more edge to it, but still mainstream?”
“As long as we can have significant creative control with what we write, we can handle any genre or topic you throw at us.” Logan glanced at Wylder. “We kind of learned that this year. Just don’t ask us to write songs about tractors.”
“Or monster pop.” Wylder couldn’t hold back her laughter.
“What are you two talking about?” Luke stared at them like they each had three heads.
“We can totally write edgy pop stuff.” Wylder tried to stifle her laughter.
“I guess my last question is for you, Luke.” Ms. Harrison turned toward him. “You’ve been a solo act for a long time. Can you make the change to working with these two and share the spotlight?”
“I never wanted to do this alone. Not without my brother, and not without Wylder. We started off just the two of us as kids, but she’s what we need to make this real. I just hope she knows that.”
“Aw, Luke. I didn’t know you cared.” Wylder winked at him.
“All right, Mr. And Mrs. Anderson, Mr. Cook.” Ms. Harrison turned to the adults. “I’ll leave you all to discuss this among your families. And you guys need to graduate high school. I think it’s important you three get to finish out the rest of your term here at Defiance Academy. But I want to see all of you in L.A. as soon as you graduate.”
Luke looked at Wylder and Logan. “Uh, does this mean you want to sign us?”
Ms. Harrison grinned and nodd
ed. “Yes, Luke, it means I’d really like to sign you. I’d like to sign you so much, I don’t want to let someone else snap you up before I get a chance to. So if you need anything, anything at all, you call me, day or night.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Wylder and the twins stood with Ms. Harrison. “Thank you so much.” Wylder’s head was spinning. She’d never given much thought to becoming an actual recording artist. Music was in her blood, and if she were honest with herself, if she had the chance to have music in her life—for it to be her job—she wanted to take that chance.
“And one last thing,” Ms. Harrison said as she started to walk away. “Come up with a band name. A good one.”
“Did that just happen?” Wylder whispered as Devyn’s mom walked away.
“I have to call Becks. He’s not going to believe this.” Luke pulled his phone out of his pocket. “What?” He looked up to find them all staring at him. “We’re bros now.” He hit send and got up to make his call.
“What do you think?” Logan turned to her, ignoring her parents and Sebastian’s celebratory cheering.
“I think … we’re going to be rock stars.”
Epilogue
One Year Later
“I can’t believe this is about to happen.” Wylder gripped her lucky drumsticks in her clammy hands as she paced backstage. The thunderous noise of the waiting fans echoed in the arena they were about to play.
“It’s happening, babe.” Logan rested a hand on her shoulder to still her pacing.
“You okay?” She glanced up at him. “You’re looking a little green.” She was nervous so she couldn’t imagine how Logan felt.
“This is my normal pre-concert face, get used to it.”
“This is going to be epic, guys!” Luke came up behind them, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Can you believe it? We’re about to open for freaking Noah Clarke and Jo Jackson!” His face screwed up into something resembling delight and constipation.
“And that’s his pre-concert annoying face.” Logan leaned over, taking huge, deep calming breaths.
“We’ve got this, Logan.” Luke slapped him on the back. “Once we get out there, if you feel like you’re going to puke, just look at Wylder, and she can do that lovey-dovey thing she does that makes you all better.”
“I do not do that.” Wylder poked Luke with her stick.
“I’m good.” Logan raised his hand, waving away their concerns as he kept his head between his knees.
Wylder doubted his stage fright would ever go away completely. It would flare up like this now and again before they took the stage, but over time, it would get better. According to Luke, Logan was already ten-thousand times better about his stage fright than he used to be.
“And you guys are sure about our band name?” Wylder winced at the thought of it. “It’s not like I’m the leader, and it’s not too late to change it, you know.” She really didn’t love the name their new label had settled on for them. It felt like she was taking the spotlight for herself.
“We’ve been over this, Wylds.” Luke rolled his eyes. “It’s a cool name, and I think we all agreed we’re just happy to have this opportunity no matter what they call us.”
“Exactly.” Logan stood up. “And it is a really cool name. “
“They’re about to announce us, so it’s now or never.” Wylder shifted nervously. “You sure you don’t want to go with The Cooks Plus One, or New Rule … or any of the others we came up with?” The label had asked them to submit a list of names for their new group, but in the end, they’d hated them all and discarded the whole list.
“It’s perfect, Wylds.” Logan took her hand. “Try to enjoy the moment, babe. It’s our very first arena concert.”
“Opening for Noah Clarke and Jo Jackson.” Wylder closed her eyes, relishing the moment. Jo Jackson was her idol. Another girl rocker who slayed on drums. To perform on the same stage as Jo was a dream come true.
“Have a good show, guys.” A newly familiar voice brought Wylder out of her reverie. “I heard you play at soundcheck.” Jo Jackson gave Wylder a huge smile of approval. “You are killer on drums, Wylder. Can’t wait to get on the road with you guys. This is going to be an epic tour.” Jo nodded to the boys and made her way back to her dressing room.
“Did that just happen?” Wylder’s heart hammered in her chest. “Did Jo Jackson just talk to me? Like she knows my name?”
“Deep breaths, Wylds.” Luke chuckled. “Don’t let it go to your head.”
“Jo Jackson likes my playing.” Wylder grinned as the nerves vanished.
“I’m so proud.” Becks came to join them at the edge of the stage. “My baby sister following in my footsteps.” He sniffed, wiping his eyes. “Just yesterday, you were a little girl playing with the toy drums Dad got you for Christmas. And now, you’re all grown up and setting out on tour all by yourself.” He sniffed again. “You know you guys can always come open for me, let me keep an eye on you while we’re on the road.”
“Small problem there, bro.” Luke rolled his eyes. “We’re a rock band now, so no more country for us.”
“Right.” Becks nodded, swiping at his eyes again. “I forgot you guys are traitors.”
“Don’t get all weepy, Becks.” Wylder slapped him on the back. “You have to go announce us.”
“Right. I can do this.” Becks took a deep breath and squared his shoulders before he plopped his hat onto his head and walked onto the stage.
“Bless his heart, that hat is just awful.” Luke shook his head. “He looks like a sequined rooster.”
“Ladies and Gentlemen!” Becks shouted into the microphone to gather the audience’s attention. “None of you are here to see me, so I’ll be brief. It’s one of the greatest honors of my life to announce this new band. My good friend, Mr. Luke Cook, and his brother, Mr. Logan Cook, are two very talented musicians. But my little sister.” Becks shook his head. “Well, she’s the most amazing person I know. Wylder Anderson!” Becks raised his hands at the roar of the crowd. “For the first time together in concert, please welcome, Wylderland!”
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About Ann Maree
Ann Maree Craven is an Amazon bestselling author of Young Adult Contemporary Fiction and YA Fantasy (her Fantasy fans will know her as Melissa A. Craven). Her books focus on strong female protagonists who aren’t always perfect, but they find their inner strength along the way. Ann Maree’s novels will appeal to audiences of all ages and fans of almost any genre. She believes in stories that make you think and she loves playing with foreshadowing, leaving clues and hints for the careful reader.
Ann Maree draws inspiration from her background in architecture and interior design to help her with the small details in world building and scene settings. (Her degree in fine art also comes in handy.) She is a diehard introvert with a wicked sense of humor and a tendency for hermit-like behavior. (Seriously, she gets cranky if she has to put on anything other than yoga pants and t-shirts!)
Ann Maree enjoys editing almost as much as she enjoys writing, which makes her an absolute weirdo among her peers. Her favorite pastime is sitting on her porch when the weather is nice with her two dogs, Fynlee and Nahla, reading from her massive TBR pile and dreaming up new stories.
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Wylder and the Rising Rockstar (Reluctant Rockstars Book 3) Page 16