Rich Groom (The Dirty Thirty Pledge 1)

“That’s actually perfect,” he says. “I’m so happy that you have that.”

“Why?”

“Because along with the personal stuff I came here to do, I was also looking for talent at the festival yesterday, and you were exactly what I was looking for. No one else even held a candle to you.”

My heart skips a beat in my chest. He can’t actually be saying what I think he’s saying. Can he? “What do you mean?”

Frankie laughs. “I mean that I want you to open that box and give me one of those CDs so I can call my label and tell them I think that I’ve found someone who would be perfect for us. And honestly, I don’t have to ask their permission. I’m the boss.”

I know that it’s not that simple. There’s about a million hoops that you have to jump through to make a record deal happen, even when you’re the CEO of a label, but I don’t fucking care. I stand up off the couch, the sudden energy in my body driving me to move. “Don’t fuck with me, Frankie.”

“I’m not.” And there’s nothing in his face that tells me that he’s kidding.

“You’re absolutely serious? And you’re not just saying this because you want to get into my pants?”

“I already got into your pants,” he says smugly, “and yes, I’m absolutely serious. You’re brilliant.”

I barely let him put down his coffee before I tackle him again, kissing him while he laughs. Every bad feeling and worry that I had is gone, and I have nothing but the warm glow of perfection and happiness.

4

Frankie

I’m up at an ungodly hour on Sunday morning because for some reason I’m doing a bunch of things. I should have put them off till tomorrow, but at least one of them can’t wait. I’m going to see Glenn in the hopes that we can reach some kind of agreement, and I’m going to have breakfast with my family.

This whole situation still fucking sucks, and I haven’t had any magical revelations in my sleep that are going to allow me to get out of this, unfortunately for me. But as much as this makes me want to stay in bed and rage, I can’t do that today. The only silver lining is Annabelle and the fact that she’s willing to see me again.

So, reluctantly, I pull myself out of bed and dress. I make sure to shave because my mother will make that face that says she thinks I’m falling to bits if I don’t. But it’s a small price to pay. I haven’t seen them in a few years. They came to Nashville for Christmas a few years back, and I talk on the phone with them often enough, but there’s nothing quite like seeing your family in person.

Driving up to the house I feel another sense of that same déjà vu that throws me back. Lots of good memories in this house, both in it and when I was sneaking out of it. Mostly to hang out with Glenn and Wallace.

My stomach turns thinking of my old friends, and the dark cloud returns. There has to be a mistake with all this. I can’t believe that Glenn would really make me go through with this if I didn’t want to. There has to be a different reason. Something I’m not seeing. Maybe the business is in trouble and he’s been lying about it. If that’s the case, then there are even worse problems then him trying to write me out of the company. Or maybe it’s something else along that line.

I need to find out because Glenn is right, the chances of me getting married in two weeks are slim to fucking none, even after reuniting with Anna, and I’m not going to lose what I have, especially if it can make her dreams happen. And I have a feeling that there’s more than dreams at stake for her right now.

When I was in her house yesterday, I noticed some things. Things that I’d never mention or judge anyone for, but I still noticed. The food I saw on her shelves is instant. I saw ramen and condensed soup, and of course the pancake mix. Stuff that’s fast and inexpensive. Combine that with the stack of overdue bills that fell over when I put her package on the counter, and it has me worried. Something is clearly wrong, because even though it’s been forever, I know Anna. She’s not the kind of person that would get herself in that deep—not voluntarily.

The thought of her in that kind of trouble makes my stomach turn, even more than the trouble that I’m in. And if I can help her fix it, I will. I’m deadly serious about this. I want to be with her, and I want her problems to be my problems. I want to prove to her that I’m serious about the fact that I’ve changed—I care about her. All of her.