Ripped: The Price of Loyalty by Tania Joyce

 

Chapter 28

“If I didn’t keep going on and on about wanting creative control, we would’ve never lost our contract. If only I’d kept my big mouth shut,” Gemma slurred and concentrated hard on pouring another lot of whiskey shots without spilling any. It was mid-afternoon at an exclusive whiskey bar on 26th Street. Jazz music drifted softly through the sound system, a few businessmen and women wined and dined, and Sam sat at the main bar on guard, leaving her and the boys to remain unnoticed, tucked away in a dark corner at a private table.

This morning, her and the guys had been so excited about hitting the studio. And now . . . nothing. No contract, no manager, no deal.

“I can’t believe they let us go.” Hunter downed another ounce of Jack Daniel's Sinatra Select whiskey and slammed the glass down on the table. The dim lighting in the bar added to the dull mood that hung like gray clouds around the three of them.

“I’m still in shock. I thought Grant would give us what we wanted.” Kyle slouched over the table and twisted his shot glass around in his fingertips.

Gemma closed her eyes to hold back her tears. She’d always pushed the boundaries, always wanted more, and now she’d gone too far. All this time she’d been worried that having a boyfriend could ruin their success—never had she contemplated being dropped by their label in the Grant takeover. “I’m so sorry, guys. If I didn’t harp on, we would still be signed. Now we have nothing.”

“Gem, enough.” Kyle’s hand tensed tighter around his glass. “It was a decision made by all of us.”

“Grant Entertainment is as bad as my mother. They’re just out to use us to make money.” She washed the bad taste in her mouth out with a shot of whiskey.

“We’re Grant’s loss. We have to remember that,” Kyle said. “I wouldn’t want to stay with them anyway. Somewhere in this fucked up situation there has to be a positive. We got out of the record deal none of us were happy with anymore, and we fired Amie.”

Gemma smirked. A small sense of satisfaction rippled through her. On the way to the bar, the three of them had given Richard instructions to proceed with canceling their management agreement with Amie. The bittersweet ending couldn’t come fast enough.

“I’m glad she’s gone. But so is everything else. Don’t you wish we could go back to the time when we first signed to SureHaven.” She swayed and her head spun. “When everything was new and exciting.”

“Geez, you can talk some shit when you’re drunk, Gem.” Kyle’s eyes shimmered in the soft lighting. “I don’t ever want to go back to the beginning and start from scratch. We’ve come too far.”

Hunter tilted his head at her. “I agree with Kyle. Now, drink up.”

He swirled his hand in the air at the bartender and ordered another bottle.

Gemma’s eyes blurred, unable to focus clearly on Hunter filling up their shot glasses. She’d had too much alcohol, but it tasted so good.

From underneath the table, Kyle’s foot appeared on the seat next to her, and her hand fell to run along his calf muscle. He nudged his foot against her hip and she smiled, always loving some form of contact with his body.

“Gem, what happened today with Grant sucks,” he said. “It really does. In fact, the past few months have. But now we get to start fresh.”

“Fresh? I don’t know where to begin.” Gemma’s head rolled back and she stared at the ceiling.

“Snap out of it.” Kyle’s brow furrowed. “You forget we’re one of the biggest bands in the world. We’ll find a new manager and have heaps of labels wanting to work with us and eating out of the palms of our hands.”

“Let’s hope so.” Hunter flicked his hair back off his face. “Because all I want to do is record albums and get back on stage.”

“But this time, it has to be our music. No one else’s.” Gemma’s head spun with dizziness.

“It’s always about the music, Gem.” Kyle reached under the table and ran his hands over her knees, sending shivers up her legs. “We’ll use Richard and Bec and Kate who seems to know everyone, to help set up meetings, and we will find a new label.”

“If not, I’ll fucking build a studio and we’ll make our own damn records.” Hunter slapped his hand on the table.

They had so much equipment in the guys’ home studio that they probably could. But she wanted a label behind them.

“Whatever we do, it’s going to take months of talks and negotiations.” Gemma’s blood rushed to her head. “We have to fit into whoever’s marketing schedule. It’s not like we can walk in off the street and say, ‘Hey, we’re Everhide, let’s make a fucking album.’” Hunter and Kyle expected this change was going to be easy, but Gemma had her concerns. The music industry was tough. They’d already had one lucky break; she doubted if they could push it for another.

Stars appeared before Gemma’s eyes and a cold sweat broke out on her brow.

“We’ll be fine.” Kyle rubbed her thigh, but then he stopped. “Gem? Are you okay?”

Nausea rose and fell like a rough sea inside her belly, and the room spun. “I think I need to go home.”

“Move.” Kyle shoved Hunter out of the booth. “Gem’s going to be sick.”

Kyle helped her to her feet, and she clung to his T-shirt. She lost her balance and stumbled when he looked back over his shoulder. “You coming, Hunt?”

“Nah,” he slurred. “There’s those ladies at the far end of the room that have my name on their to-do list. Especially that blond.”

Gemma blew Hunter a kiss, clutched on to Kyle and let him help her out the door.

***

A kaleidoscope of early autumn colors rustled on the trees in the park across the road, and late afternoon sunshine filtered in through Gemma’s apartment windows. Curled up on her sofa, Gemma plucked at the strings of her acoustic guitar. Song lists and ideas and notes lay scattered on the coffee table.

For the past two and a half months, Gemma and the boys, with Richard and Sophie, their new manager, in tow, had been to meeting after meeting, held phone call after phone call, and had sat in on discussion after discussion with multiple record labels and entertainment companies. They’d flown to LA and London, had visited numerous music companies here in New York, and had spent way too much time sitting at desks with executives trying to cut a new record deal.

But nothing had come to fruition.

No contract had been signed.

It hadn’t been easy. Just as she’d predicted. Kyle thought they’d be able to walk in anywhere and demand what they wanted based on their success, but many companies were like SureHaven and the Grant Entertainment Group—they wanted to maintain control over every aspect of their artists, and that was something the three of them were not going to give up again.

And what made matters worse? While all this battle to find a deal was going on, the tension between her, Kyle and Hunter grew with each day that passed. Desperation to find a new label started to take its toll. They smiled for the cameras, but behind closed doors Hunter drank too much, went out partying all the time, and was back to his wild ways of sleeping around. Kyle constantly worked at his laptop. He spent too many nights sleeping away from her and left her constantly wondering why. She wouldn’t believe that losing their contract had created a gap that was widening between them.

She’d had enough of vacant talks with record companies. Every one of their meetings had left her in a grumpy mood, like she had a severe case of PMS. So, in her spare time, to make herself feel better, she sifted through all the songs they’d written over the years to come up with a selection to choose from for their album . . . if and when it happened.

Her intercom buzzed. She glanced at the monitor and could make out the shapes of Hunter and Kyle walking through the foyer to the elevator. A few moments later, the security-code pad on her door blip, blip, blipped, and in walked the guys, Hunter carrying a bottle of JD, Kyle, a stuffed backpack.

“Why did your suit fittings take so long? I was about to send out a search party for you,” Gemma said, playing “The Twilight Zone” on her guitar.

Hunter placed the bottle of JD on the coffee table and stepped over her legs. He flopped down into the single sofa seat and put his boots up on her coffee table. “Got to look good for at the AMAs in a couple of weeks.”

“Sorry for taking so long, Gem.” Kyle went via the kitchen to grab some glasses before he sat beside her. “But Richard called, and we went to his office.”

“Is that what the JD’s for? To drown our sorrows?” Gemma put down her guitar and placed her hand on his leg.

Kyle grabbed the JD and poured them all a drink. Gemma swallowed, trying to settle the grumbling in her tummy. She’d been unable to face whiskey since her night at the bar a couple of months ago. He handed her and Hunter a glass, but remained sitting forward, twisting his drink in his hand. Gemma’s gaze darted between him and Hunter. Neither of them could look her in the face. “What’s going on? What’s happened?”

“I know I’ve been distracted lately,” Kyle said, worry furrowing his brow. “And I made Hunt promise not to tell you why until the timing was right.”

Gemma’s grip tightened on his leg. “Tell me what?”

What had he been working on? Did he want to pursue a different career? Or did Hunter and Kyle finally decide to go out on their own? Dread crept across Gemma’s skin and seized her throat.

Hunter looked skyward and groaned. “Kyle, hurry up and tell her or I will.”

Kyle wiped his palm on his jeans. His glass shook in his other hand. “When I found out I didn’t believe it at first.” His voice trembled. “I don’t want you to be pissed at me like Hunt was.”

Oh God.Was he sick? Gemma’s mind exploded. Kyle had lost weight recently with all their stresses. Had he been hiding something serious from her? She studied his face, looking for signs of illness, a discoloration in his skin, a dullness to the light in his gorgeous eyes.

“Kyle? Please tell me what’s going on.” Her voice caught in her throat.

With shaky hands, Kyle dived into his backpack and withdrew three fat documents. He laid them on the coffee table side by side. “We’ve done it, Gem. We’ve done it. Not one, but three companies offered us contracts.”

She screamed.

Screamed so loud it hurt her ears.

She flung her arms around Kyle and hugged him tight. Her heart pounded as if it had been jumpstarted. “Oh my God. The way you were moping around, I thought you were sick or something. Don’t scare me like that. But this . . . this is fucking amazing.”

She high-fived Hunter and sat bouncing on the edge of her seat, her head reeling, wanting to know every detail.

“I told you Gem would be thinking the worst.” Hunter kicked Kyle’s foot. “Don’t you ever make me keep shit from her again.”

“Agreed. But her reaction is priceless.” Kyle’s face broke out into a wide smile.

“True.” Hunter shrugged and poured another round of drinks.

Gemma turned to the documents on the coffee table. The names on the contracts came into focus—Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Universal Music Group. She shook her head, trying to make sense of it all. “How did this happen? When we met with them, they didn’t seem interested in giving us what we wanted. What changed?”

“I told Sophie and Richard to keep hounding them,” Kyle said. “Because I knew we needed to have someone like this take us onboard. We’ve outgrown being a manufactured band. If anything, we never were because we were making our own music long before we signed with SureHaven. They were just a part of our journey to get to here.”

“You kept this from me. Why?” Heaviness lurked in the pit of her stomach as she flicked through the pages of one of the thick documents.

“It was so hard.” Kyle brushed his fingers through his hair. “All the communication with Richard was driving me crazy. I thought you would see his messages on my phone or on my laptop. Making calls to him was even harder to keep away from you.”

“I am pissed that you didn’t trust me with this.” A stab of pain speared her heart. “We don’t make decisions without each other. We discuss everything.”

“I didn’t tell you because you were over it. All the meetings, the setbacks, and the rejections.” Kyle took her hand in his and kissed it. “I wanted to make this happen for you. It’s your dream. Our dream. I knew what we wanted so all I’ve done is work with Richard to land these contracts. There are a few variations in each of them, so now the three of us have to decide who we sign with.”

Staring at the documents, Gemma took a deep breath. He’d done this for her? For them? How could she be angry when he’d worked so hard to make this happen? Seeing their future in black and white made her fall in love with him that little bit more.

“So, what’s the deal?” Gemma opened the pages of the quarter-inch thick Sony offer.

“The main thing is we have one hundred percent creative control on all our music, production, and artwork. There are variations on management, marketing, tours, promotion and distribution, royalties, copyright, exclusions, and recording rights. After everything we went through with SureHaven, Richard managed to negotiate better termination clauses so we don’t get screwed over again. All these offers are for a one-album deal with an option. That’s the best we’ve been able to do at this stage, and I think that’s a positive for us if it doesn’t work out.”

“So what’s the JD for?” Gemma asked.

Hunter grabbed the bottle for a refill. “We have to go through each one and make a decision.”

“How long do we have to decide?” Gemma held out her glass toward Hunter for a top up.

“Thirty days,” Kyle said.

Unable to wipe the smile off her face, Gemma gazed at the contracts before her. “Well let’s get started. Kyle, which one do you think is best?”

“I have one in mind, but I want to see if you and Hunt agree with me. He hasn’t gone through them either.”

A few hours and a bottle of JD later, they still hadn’t reached a decision. Technical jargon messed with Gemma’s head.

“Regardless of who we sign with, I have one condition to add.” Hunter waved his glass at her and Kyle. “We go into this deal clean. No more covering up your relationship. No one will give a shit about you two being together.”

Gemma’s heart lurched. She never contemplated how hard it had been on everyone covering up for her. It wasn’t just Hunter and Kyle—it was their staff as well. Since Ben, she’d fallen down such a dark hole, afraid of what everyone thought. She’d wanted to give the media hounds nothing to feed on. But she couldn’t escape them. Never would. The past few months of lying low with Kyle had given her the strength and solidarity she needed. With him beside her, maybe it was time to move into the light once again.

Hunter leaned forward, his eyes bore into her and clutched around her soul. “Gem, I know you, you fool. You may not think it sometimes, but I really care about you. Always have. Always will. Now, stop being stupid. You and Kyle love each other in a way I don’t understand. You belong together. It’s time to face reality. It’s time to stop hiding. That goes for both of you. The media will go crazy for a few days when they find out about you two, then it will disappear. Trust me.”

She winced, but he was right. And for the first time ever, she didn’t care who knew that she was with Kyle. She loved him. That’s all that mattered.

But she’d deal with the media after they signed a contract.

“Can we work out who we’re going to sign with first, please?” Gemma slapped Hunter on the leg with the Sony document.

“Later. I’ve had enough for today. My head’s hurting.” Hunter stood and kissed her on the forehead. “I’m gonna go and leave you two alone so you can fuck each other senseless and celebrate our contracts.”

“Where are you going?” Gemma asked.

“Maybe that whiskey bar again. But when I’m walking down the laneway, I want to hear you screaming out Kyle’s name.” Hunter winked and rubbed her head.

“You’re a sick fucker. You know that?” Kyle shook his head.

“I know. Catch ya.” Hunter waved over his shoulder and left.

The second the door clicked shut, silence came over the living room like a heavy blanket settling on a bed. Kyle placed his empty glass on the coffee table, dropped to his knees, and edged between her legs. He took her glass away and ran his hands up her bare thighs.

She ran her fingers through his thick hair. “I can’t believe you did all this behind my back.”

“Please don’t be mad with me. I didn’t mean to make you worry. I wanted to surprise you.”

“That you did.”

“I hated not spending every night next to you. You’re like my oxygen; I can’t breathe when you’re not around.”

“Then you better not stay away from me ever again.”

“Lucky for me I only live around the corner.”

“About that . . .” Gemma’s breath hitched. “I’ve missed you like crazy when we haven’t spent the night together. I want to be the one who finds out about stuff before Hunt. I want to be the one you confide in. I’m yours and plan on being so for a very, very long time . . . so what would you say to moving in with me?”

Kyle’s hands stopped rubbing her thighs. His gaze ran up her legs, across her chest, and settled on her face. His heavy breathing and the pounding of her heart was all she could hear. “Move in with you?”

“Yeah,” she whispered.

“That is a serious step.” He popped the button on the top of her shorts. “Let me think about it. How does yes sound?”

“You will?” Her heart somersaulted up to her throat.

“Yes. I would love to move in with you.”

Gemma took his face between her hands, and she planted her lips against his.

“Now we have even more to celebrate.” He smiled cheekily against her lips, nudged her thighs apart, and pulled her hips forward to the edge of the sofa. “Do you want to celebrate fast or slow?”

“I don’t like slow.” She brushed her hand down the side of his cheek, his soft stubble tickling her fingertips.

“Good answer,” He tugged her shorts off. “Neither do I.”

***

Lying on her sofa in the aftermath of their lovemaking, Gemma wrapped her arms around Kyle, and he pulled the throw-blanket over their waists. With his head lying against her chest, she ran her fingers through his hair. Finally, after tumultuous months, everything was falling into place. With a contract to sign and Kyle moving in with her, their lives were about to change yet again. But now she had to face her fears. It was time to go public. She had to tell the world she loved Kyle.