Bo & Ember (10 page)

Beckett had approached me at the club the other night, before we’d met Yardley, about representing me if I ever chose to go to, or was offered, the next level. I told him I’d think about it, though I wasn’t sure there was much to think about. Bo and I hadn’t talked about it, but I knew he didn’t care for Beckett. He seemed to tighten his jaw when Beckett smiled at me like someone who’d known me my whole life. Because he had.

Adrian’s voice retained its professional cool. “Well, when you get settled back on the East coast, if you still need representation, I can make recommendations to you.”

“Thanks, Adrian.”

“No problem, Ember. It was good to hear from you.” A smile seemed to finally pour over his words.

“You too, bye.”

“Bye.”

Grateful to be through with what turned out to be a not-so-awkward conversation, I made my way inside and back up to our room. As I approached the door, I heard two different male voices. One was Bo’s, but the other definitely wasn’t Regan’s. If my stomach had a face, it would have grinned in that moment. A dry, sarcastic grin of someone settling in to be entertained by awkwardness.

I opened the door and my ears hadn’t, in fact, deceived me. Beckett was standing, leaning against one of the posts of the bed, with his hands casually in his pockets. His freeform sandy brown waves looked significantly more carefree than I felt in that moment, given the look Bo shot me as I crossed the threshold.

“Ah, there she is!” Beckett flashed his best smile, one that accented the sun-kissed creases around his eyes. “I saw you on the phone outside when I pulled up, but it looked like a serious phone call, so I thought I’d come up and wait for you.”

I pulled my lips into as big of a smile as they would allow, still unsure about the look on Bo’s face. “I was just on the phone with the lawyer who agreed to look over our contract. I’ve got to email it to him. Give me just a sec.”

I walked over to the desk and pulled out my laptop, feeling two sets of steely blue eyes on me. I quickly navigated to my mail and forwarded the contract to Adrian. Once it was sent, I closed the laptop again, and turned around slowly.

“So he’ll look it over?” Bo asked, despite having been present for the last several minutes.

I nodded and walked to him, lifting up on my tiptoes and kissing his chin. As I suspected, the muscles were as tight as brick. “Yep. He said it sounded standard so it shouldn’t take long.”

“That was a pretty kickass contract,” Beckett agreed. “I was just talking with Bo about the conversation you and I had the other night. About management.”

Oh, for God’s sake.

I looked up at Bo, who returned a somewhat accusing gaze. “I hadn’t had a chance to bring it up yet,” I said to Beckett. “The last couple of days were really crazy.”

Beckett shrugged, his eyes looking far more amused than I would have liked, though that could have been my own guilty conscience. Even though I didn’t think I had anything to feel guilty about. “It’s all right. You’ve got someone looking over the initial contact. In theory you won’t really need a manager, unless you want something more, or when the term of your current contract ends. You’ve got a year.”

Bo put his arm around my shoulders as he spoke. “I think we’ll probably get settled first, see how recording the album goes, and the tour … and all of that before we decide what to do next.”

“Great,” Beckett answered. “Well, I’ll be heading back to New York in a few days, but I’ll see you when you get to town, I’m sure.”

“Of course,” I agreed cheerfully, needing this exchange to be over.

Beckett extended his hand toward Bo, who shook it firmly. “It’s great to meet you, man.”

“You, too,” Bo replied cordially.

It was often my only tell that Bo was feeling uncomfortable. When he slipped into Mr. Fortune 500 mode. His poker face was fierce … and frustrating.

Beckett turned to me and pulled me into a warm, sunblock-scented hug. “I can’t wait to see you tear up those charts, Em. This is amazing.”

“Thanks,” I whispered, feeling guilty for wanting a childhood friend to leave as quickly as possible. “We’ll see you in New York.”

Once Beckett left and I shut and locked the door, I turned to find Bo leaning against the same bedpost Beckett had claimed minutes earlier.

“Sorry for not telling you about that talk I had with Beckett the other night,” I started. “There were just a lot of
ifs
in that conversation. I hadn’t seen him in years, and it really wasn’t something I was bothering to consider.” Once I studied Bo’s face, irritation began to brew. “But, I gotta say, I don’t really like the way you’re looking at me.”

“I don’t like the way
he
looks at you.” Bo shrugged as if that was the only answer.

“I can’t do anything about how people look at me, Bo. You, of all people, should know that we can’t do anything about how people
look
at us.” My nostrils flared to accommodate my angry breath.

He scoffed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Um … everything.” I looked around, a self-protective grin forming on my lips. “For the last year and a half, I’ve heard girls screaming your name, and watched them fawn all over you anytime they got close enough.”

“Yeah, but I don’t know them.”

“So?” I shrieked, sounding more like a teenager than a levelheaded human being.

Bo growled and ran his hand over his face. “Gah! Okay, you know that little freak-out you had the other night in bed?”

“Hardly a
little
freak-out,” I mused. “But, yeah.”

He walked toward me and put his hands on my shoulders. “I’m having one now. For every groupie trying to get my number, there will be a hot industry exec waiting in the wings to woo you away from me.”

I meant to say something profound and romantic and helpful. Instead, I burst into incredible laughter.

“What?” He exclaimed before throwing his head back in an equally loud laugh.

“Jesus,” I tried to slow my breath enough to speak, but the laughter kept coming. “We’re a goddamn mess and we’ve had a record contract for less than twenty-four hours!”

Bo squeezed me against his chest as his breathing finally regulated. “You’re right. Sorry for being an ass. I love you.” He kissed me on the forehead. “Fuck, let’s get some sleep so we can finish out this tour and plan our move back east, okay?”

I bit my lip, looking up at his newly scruffy jawline. “I agree. I’m exhausted. Shave your face in the morning, though. Some of those little girly girls might like it, but it makes you look like you’re trying too hard. A face like yours ought to be seen.”

With a wink and a kiss, everything was on stable ground once more.

Bo

“I
can’t believe that went by so fast.” Georgia looked at Ember and me, and shoved her hands in her pockets as she stood next to Regan in the middle of the airport. “How did that last month disappear?”

Our summer tour with The Six was over, and it was time to honor our new contracts. Ember and I packed up our beachside bungalow, shipped our belongings to my—our—house in Concord, New Hampshire, and were now saying goodbye to our closest friends on the West Coast.

“I know. It was too fast.” Ember’s voice was quiet, but strong.

While I knew she was sad about saying goodbye to Regan and Georgia, we had a shared excitement about our new adventure that made this goodbye a little easier.

While the girls talked about the last few weeks together, and organizing when they’d see each other again, I nodded to Regan. “When do you start recording?”

A million-dollar smile cropped up on his face. I knew the answer, but seeing him so happy made me happy, too.

“Tomorrow. Remember the lead singer from Sunset Mission? They played after us at the vineyard?” I nodded and he continued. “Apparently they were only together for that weekend, and Yardley was able to snag him. She signed a guitar player who just graduated from college, too.”

His excitement was palpable and I couldn’t help but smile. “That’s awesome, man. Are you guys going straight bluegrass?”

He shrugged. “It’s hard to care, really. I’ll play anything as long as it means I get to play.”

The thing about Regan was, he meant it. Whether he was asked to play nursery rhymes for the rest of his life, or rock music, he really
would
be happy as long as he was playing. A true servant to art.

After a few minutes, I nudged Ember, letting her know we had to navigate through security and get to our gate. Our flight was scheduled to have us in Boston by early afternoon, and we had to haul it to Concord.

Ember and Georgia hugged. It was a sight that choked me up a bit, given where the two had started in their friendship.

I looked at Regan, took a deep breath, and said, “Good luck, man. Keep in touch and we’ll see you soon, okay?”

He nodded and we hugged. Not an awkward side man-hug. The real deal. He was the only person left alive who had loved Rae as much as I did. Saying goodbye to him felt like I was leaving a piece of her in California.

“Get out of the way,” Ember snapped playfully. “It’s my turn.”

She hip-checked me out of the way, and while she was smiling, I knew the quiver in her chin would melt into tears as soon as Regan’s arms were around her. I was right. Ember’s shoulders shook as she buried her face in the shirt of her best guy-friend.

Georgia walked around the pair and shouldered up next to me. Well, her shoulder to my torso since she was almost a foot shorter than me.

“Would you look at those two?” She rolled her eyes and then nudged my side. “Thanks for everything.”

“Me?” I questioned.

She nodded. “Star quarterback, cheerleader, band geek? It’s like The Breakfast Club with you guys, and I’m glad I get to be a part of it. I’ll miss you. Even if I will have to find a new diet routine since I won’t be participating in the barf-fest that is Bo and Ember for a while.”

I laughed and wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “No one has ever made me laugh like you do, G. That’s for sure. I won’t tell Ember you called her a cheerleader, though. She’d kill us both.”

“Oh … right,” Georgia snickered. “Ainsley.”

Ember and I finished our goodbyes with our friends, and two hours later we were taxiing toward the runway, ready for our flight home.

Home.

That had been a flexible term over the last year and a half, but I really felt like going back to Concord was going home.

“What are you thinking about?” Ember asked as the plane hurtled down the runway and began to lift off.

I hesitated, not sure if Ember would share the same sentiments about home as I did.

“What is it?” she asked again, tilting her head in concern.

Tears stung my eyes as I realized both the relief and the fear I felt about the next stage in our journey together.

“You’re my home, okay? No matter what the next couple of years bring, it’s you. It’s me. It’s us. You’re my home, Ember.” I lifted my arm as she nuzzled her way into my chest.

She kissed my jaw and rested her head on my shoulder. “You’re mine, too, Bo. I think you always have been. Even before … us.”

Once the plane had landed, we got our rental car and started the drive to Concord.

“It feels a little weird, doesn’t it?” Ember asked as she looked out the window. “Being back here and knowing it’ll be for more than just a few days? I mean, we’ll have to be in New York for a while, but … what?” Ember looked at me as I bit my lip, trying to stop myself from smiling.

“Nothing.”

“You’re a horrible liar, so you might as well tell me what has you looking like a cat with a canary in its mouth.”

“We’re not going to New York.”

Ember scrunched her eyebrows. “I beg your fucking pardon? Did something happen with our contract I’m not aware of?”

I chuckled. “Yes, but not in the way you think.”

“Jesus, what now?”

I’d been holding this in for the last three weeks. Once we got the okay from Adrian that the contract was good as it stood, I went to Yardley with another proposition.

“Our contract is for just the two of us. There’s no band. It’s just us.”