52. Rory
RORY
The bus rattles when we hit a pothole, and my eyes fly open. I’m up against the wall of my bunk.
Where’s Layla? Shouldn’t she be here?
I try to turn, but there’s someone wedged behind me. I crane my head back to look.
Nestled on top of her dad, out to the world, is my little ladybug. Aww. Layla’s face is pressed to his chest, and she grips his hair like she’s afraid he’ll leave. They’re so precious together.
She and Jace both sleep soundly.
I really have to use the bathroom, but I don’t want to wake them. Closing my eyes, I decide to wait a little while.
I think about last night. How Jace raced back from the arena. How he slept cramped in my bunk. How I’m supposed to leave soon.
Needing to get my mind off that, I grab my phone, which is plugged into the wall and tucked into a cubbyhole. Since I skipped last night’s show and don’t have any footage, maybe I can share someone else’s video.
I brace myself for the onslaught of jealousy that usually ravages me anytime I have to watch Jace and Marlowe perform, but when I go through the videos fans posted last night, they have one thing in common.
It takes me a few minutes of scrolling from clip to clip, but I eventually watch the whole song.
Jace doesn’t look at Marlowe. Except one time.
After he introduces her, he turns away, looking at the opposite side of the arena. He smiles at the crowd and plays his guitar and sings his heart out.
She prances around, singing harmonies and background vocals. Smiling, she keeps looking at him, probably waiting for him to flirt back, but he’s turned away.
Finally, she drapes her arm around his shoulders, and he faces her.
But he’s not smiling.
And then he leans close to tell her something, and her smile instantly vanishes and she backs away.
Like she remembers where she is, she starts mugging for the crowd again. When the song ends, Jace politely thanks her for joining him and carries on with one of his new songs.
Fans are going crazy, speculating Jace and Marlowe are fighting or, gasp, broken up. If the possibility of them dating ballooned their views, their potential breakup skyrockets their popularity.
“I should’ve done that from the beginning,” Jace says, his voice raspy with sleep. “I’m sorry I didn’t.”
Scooting back against the wall, I turn to face him. “Aren’t you worried about Niles?” I whisper so I don’t wake the baby. “Won’t he be upset?”
“I’m tired of these games. He either likes the music, or he doesn’t. If he’s pissed about this, he’s pissed.”
Is Jace doing this for me? Or because he doesn’t want Niles yanking his chain constantly? I’m afraid to ask. “Want a pic of you and Layla? I don’t think I have any this cute.”
He gives me that half smile, his green eyes twinkling. “I’d love a photo. She’s getting so big. I wanna remember when she was small like this.”
I move back as far as I can and snap a few photos, which I text to him. “I know bringing her along has been tough, but someday, she’s going to understand what you did and appreciate that you didn’t leave her behind to pursue your career.”
His eyes grow serious. “Rory, I—”
“Jace!” one of the guys shouts. “Got some good news. Get up here!”
After a stretch, Layla pops her head up. “Dada.”
“Hey, baby.” He kisses her forehead. “Morning.”
“Monmon.”
Jace and I grin at each other because she was trying so hard to say that word.
I brush her hair out of her face. “Did she get up earlier?”
“Yeah. I changed her and got her a snack. Played in that back lounge for a little while. When she started yawning, I crawled back in here, hoping we could get a nap.”
“You could’ve woken me.”
“It’s the only uninterrupted time I get with her, so I don’t mind sacrificing a little sleep.”
Footsteps stomp down the aisle. “Jace! Come on!” That sounds like Shane.
I motion toward Layla. “I can watch her.”
He shifts Layla to the bunk as he scoots out. Then he lowers his voice. “We’re gonna figure out how to ramp up security. I don’t want you to be afraid.”
Nodding, I wrap my arm around the baby. “Go.”
When Jace leaves, I shove my face into his pillow and breathe in his scent. “I know this is weird, Layla. Don’t judge.”
Like she understands, she giggles.
From down the hall, the guys yell excitedly. After I use the bathroom and pull on some clothes, Layla and I join them. I was planning to stay in that bunk for the foreseeable future, but I’m going stir-crazy after one day.
The guys are crammed on one couch in the lounge at the front of the bus, reading something.
“What’s going on?” I ask as I bounce Layla in my arms.
Frank grins. “We got our record deal. It’s happening!”
Cooper barks like a dog and Shane shouts in celebration. Derek cracks a smile. But Jace frowns.
“Is something wrong?” I ask him.
He blows out a breath. “Niles is flying out this evening to meet us in Tulsa. Wants to do some fancy dinner when we sign.”
“Niles wants you to sign tonight?” I hoist Layla higher in my arms and sit at the kitchen table.
Frank nods and claps his hands. “It’s what you guys always wanted. He’s promised full marketing support and a healthy budget to promote our fall dates.”
“Have you read the contract?” I ask our manager, annoyed he’s not asking more questions.
“Niles emailed it to me, but I haven’t had a chance to go through everything yet.”
I turn to the guys. “You can’t be serious about signing this without getting a lawyer to review it first.”
Cooper’s nostrils flare. “Shut up, girl. You don’t know shit. I’ve been busting my ass for years for this chance, and you wanna nitpick details?”
Jace reaches across Derek and shoves Cooper. “You shut the fuck up or I’m gonna give you a black eye to match your bottom lip.”
Shane wraps his arms around Jace. “Calm down, bro.”
Frank scowls at me before he turns to the guys. “Enough of this. You can’t walk in there tonight bitching and moaning about this deal. Either we get on board or cancel. We’ll read it after we grab lunch. I’ll email everyone copies.”
I’m too anxious to eat, too perplexed why Jace’s band doesn’t see the problem with this scenario.
Even though Oklahoma City isn’t far from Tulsa, an overturned eighteen-wheeler on the highway turns an hour-and-a-half drive into three hours.
The band is supposed to do some promotional event in Tulsa, but it gets canceled because of the weather.
We stop for gas, which takes forever because the entire state of Oklahoma decides they need to refill their tanks before the storm gets worse.
By the time Frank emails the contracts, it’s late afternoon. And when he said he’d send it to everyone, he doesn’t mean me, but Jace forwards me a copy.
He and I hole up in the back of the bus and go through the contract, but after twenty minutes, he groans. “I’ve never felt this dumb before. I don’t understand half of what this says. What does ‘notwithstanding’ mean?”
“Despite or regardless of.” I pull off my glasses and rub my eyes, which strain from trying to read the tiny print.
“Jace, this is a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree contract. Niles wants a percentage of all of your revenue. Every single part. Your merch sales, your VIP ticket sales, any revenue from your website.” I haven’t gotten that far, but I’ve read enough to understand the broad strokes.
“We don’t sell anything on our website.”
“Maybe you should. I think your fans would buy stuff there, except you’ll need to figure out how to do fulfillment. But here’s the point. Niles wants a piece of it. Fifteen percent. It says right here.” I point out the clause.
As he scans it, he asks, “How do you know what a three-sixty deal is?”
“When you started talking about signing with Bandit, I researched it.”
He smiles at me, and my heart pangs in my chest. I want to tell him I love him so badly.
That I lied when I told him I’d be happier as a librarian than here with him.
That I’ll stay if he promises to keep some space between him and Marlowe.
That losing him and Layla feels like someone’s carving out my heart.
But I can read the room. On the cusp of one of the biggest decisions in Jace’s life isn’t the time for my confessions.
He runs his hands through his shaggy hair. “I’ll never finish reviewing this in time. It’s a hundred pages long.”
When we pull up to the restaurant an hour later, we’ve only gotten a third of the way through it, and I have a laundry list of reasons Jace shouldn’t sign.
We’re standing at the edge of the kitchen, about to join his band, when I grab his arm.
“Don’t do it. Or find a way to put it off.
Niles might be disappointed, but he can’t be mad at you.
Requiring you to read this in an afternoon and come to a decision is insane, not to mention illegal.
The contract even says at the top that you should get legal representation to review it. ”
He scrubs his face. “Fuck. I hate this.”
As I talk to Jace, I glare at Cooper, who’s giving me the stink-eye from the lounge.
“Whatever happens, don’t let your friends bully you.
” I’m not sure if Jace is going to sign or not, and it won’t be easy to resist with his bandmates and manager all breathing down his neck.
But this has to be his decision, not mine.
I think it’s a lousy contract, but if Jace passes on it and gets kicked off the tour, then what? Will he hate me forever for blowing this opportunity?
I take the baby and follow him to the front of the bus where the band is getting ready to go to the restaurant. We park along the far end of a strip mall. It’s raining and dark because another front has blown through, so I can’t see anything out of the windows.
“We’ll be back,” Frank says as he pulls on a windbreaker.
I turn to look at Jace’s band, not able to hold my tongue anymore. “Don’t do this. Did any of you read that contract? Niles will own your asses for the rest of eternity. At least get an attorney to negotiate the deal.”
Cooper rolls his eyes and heads out into the rain. Derek shrugs and follows him. Shane scratches the back of his head. “At least we’ll be on tour. That’s not so bad.”
Jace’s expression is blank, giving me no indication of what he’s going to do, as he leans over to kiss my cheek.
And then they’re gone.
I pace up and down the aisle. Ozzie sits behind the wheel, reading on his phone, and Edmond lounges on the couch, picking seeds out of an orange.
Meanwhile, I’m going out of my mind. I grab my phone and pull up iTunes and nearly fall over when I see the music charts. “Red Light” is number one.
This isn’t the version with Marlowe. The producer is probably still editing those tracks.
No, this is Wayward Sons’ original version.
That’s why Niles wants to ink the deal tonight. He knows Jace will have more leverage with a number one song.
Does Jace even know he has a number one song? I run up the bus to Ozzie. “Can you hold Layla for ten minutes?”
When I hand her to him, he holds her out like she’s contaminated. “I’m not good with kids.”
I hate leaving her here, but it’s pouring out, and I don’t want her to catch a cold. “Just don’t drop her. I’ll be right back.”
Edmond frowns. “Miss, where ya going?”
“To the restaurant. Jace doesn’t want to sign this, but what if he’s pressured to?” He should have all the facts before he makes a decision like this. I stand in the stairwell. “Open the door, Ozzie.”
He plops Layla on his lap and releases the lever that swings open the door. Thank God.
I run out into the rain and sprint across the lot, but I stumble in a pothole. I somehow manage to stay upright, but I lose my Chuck. I put my hand in the disgusting water to pull it out, but I don’t have time to put it on, so I run with one shoe, hoping I’m not too late.
The rain comes down so hard, I can barely see.
Wait. There. Bright red neon letters glow in the darkness.
“Miss! Wait!” Edmond shouts.
Is something wrong with Layla?
I stop, and he runs up to me. “I’m sorry, Miss Rory, but I can’t let you do that.”
“Do what?” I pant as I wipe the water from my eyes.
“Interrupt this meeting.”
“Watch me.” I turn to run.
But I’m yanked backwards and lifted off the ground.
“I warned you!” he yells.
“What are you doing?” I scream and thrash, but it’s drowned out by the pouring rain.
“Shut up!” He shakes me so hard, my teeth rattle.
Then everything goes dark.