So, I couldn’t stop my stomach from fucking flipping like an idiot at the thought. We were really going to be on a fucking record label!
It almost displaced the paranoia I had about my dad showing up in Princeton at any given moment and the constant pain from the motorcycle accident.
Almost.
At least I’d gotten Ari to go to Florida with her roommates. Peace of mind about that situation. She hadn’t been happy to hear we were signing the week she was going to be gone, but at least she was excited for me, for all of us.
Neither of us knew what this meant going forward, but we’d fucking figure it out together. That was what we had decided before she left.
“I read over the contract you forwarded to me, Mr. Tift,” the lawyer Miller had acquired for us said, “but I want to read the this document here before we hand my clients a pen.”
“By all means,” Hollis said. He waved his hand at the stack of papers on the table.
I walked a short distance away from Hollis with Miller. “This lawyer is legit, right? He’s going to figure out if Hollis is fucking us over?”
“Best I could find on short notice, but I think we’re covered,” Miller told me. “Anyway, I don’t see why it would be in Hollis’s interest to fuck us over.”
“Because he’s a douche. It’s in his job description.”
Miller cracked up and shook his head. “Well, I think we’re covered.”
I punched Miller on the arm. “I can’t believe I let my fucking cousin come up here with us today.”
“Me either. How many dudes do you think she’ll blow before the night is over?” he joked.
“I can’t control her. I thought I knew someone who could help with that.”
Miller raised his hands. “Don’t look at me. No one can control that level of crazy.”
“You seemed to handle her fucking fine at the ski lodge, if I remember correctly.”
“Sometimes, I think she handled me.”
I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. “That sounds like Sydney. But, bro, she’s still my little cousin. I don’t give a shit what’s going on with Shelby, but if you hurt Sydney…”
“No one can hurt Sydney,” Miller said quickly. “No one and nothing. She does whatever the fucks she wants. We’ve all known her forever. We all know how she is. Just as much of a slut as you were.”
“That’s my cousin,” I growled. There were few people I defended fiercely.
“Don’t I fucking know it? I bet you’d love for her to find the equivalent of Ari.”
“I think she likes dick too much,” I regrettably told him.
“You know what I mean. Chick can’t be tamed.”
“My comment still holds. You’re not a douche bag, Miller. Leave that to Vin.”
I didn’t clarify whether I meant to leave Sydney to Vin with all her crazy or for Miller to man up and claim his woman. In the long run, my two cents didn’t fucking matter. I just hated that my boys were still arguing over my dumbass cousin.
“Everything seems to be in order,” our lawyer finally said. “Same document I read earlier this week.”
“Fucking great!” Vin cried. “Let’s fucking do the damn thing!”
Miller and I moved toward the table where the other guys stood, and we all stared down at the contract that was about to change our lives. Hollis handed out pens, and then we signed page after page of a document that had so much fucking legalese that it read as if it were in another language. But we kept signing until every page was full.
I dropped the pen onto the table. All the fucking worries that had led up to this moment vanished. We were on a major record label. We were a part of Pacific Entertainment.
“Good to have you guys,” Hollis said. He shook each of our hands and laughed at the shit-eating grins on our faces. “Time to celebrate. I wish I could stay and party with you, but I need to get back on the road and catch up with The Drift. I flew in from Dallas just for you guys!”
I didn’t even care that he was feeding us his typical bullshit. I was high on life right now. It was unreal compared to all the other shit I’d had to deal with, but signing those papers would turn it all around. I wanted to fucking party. I wanted to get wasted and fucking go crazy tonight.
“McAvoy! Send out a blast, letting people know where we’re headed. Let’s make it a party!” I cried.
We all cheered, dancing around like fucking dopes and giving each other bro hugs. This was the motherfucking dream.
Hollis promised to be in touch about everything going forward. He kept using words like tour and debut album and studio recording—all these fucking things we’d never thought would fucking happen in a million years. Miller sending out those shit demos last year had seemed like such a joke at the time. Just last semester, I couldn’t have foreseen any of this actually happening.
Once McAvoy had sent out the blast to our social media sites, we took a cab to a nearby bar. We’d played New York City enough that we had a few local groupies who came to all our shows. After the New Year’s show in the city with The Drift, our fan base had grown. But I hadn’t anticipated the number of people who would show up.
“Ugh! Look at all those sluts,” Sydney said. She stood next to me in another tiny fucking skirt and shirt with cowboy boots.
Those goddamn cowboy boots.
“This coming from a girl who has fucked the entire Tennessee football team.” I nudged her.
“Not the entire team.”
“And half of my band.”
“I can only fuck three-quarters of the band, cuz. Sounds like I’m missing out.” She smirked defiantly.
“And how many dudes did you blow at the ski lodge?”
She shrugged. “How long were we there? I lost count.”
“Long enough that you should remember. What’s up with you and Miller?”
“Oh, stop, Grant. I don’t want to talk about Miller. Just because you went and got your ass whipped doesn’t mean I should suddenly change my ways. I like sex. I like lots of it. I’m not fucking waiting around for him or anyone else while I live three fucking states away.”
“You know I don’t give a fuck what you do, Syd. I’m far from a model fucking citizen. Just don’t fuck with my boys.”
“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes. “Who else am I supposed to fuck?”
She gestured around the room, and she had a point. Practically everyone who had shown up was a chick. And at least half of them seemed to be trying to figure out who Sydney was, so they could make a move on me.