CHAPTER 40
Theo
A horn blared near Wicked Saints Records as a car moved around me, blocking me from leaving my metered spot. LA gridlock was the absolute worst at any time of day, but I didn’t have the patience for this now, not with less than a week before Vegas and my dancers already in the studio without me. My hand slammed against the wheel, and another car blocked me in. “Fuck.”
A shrill ring sounded through my speakers, and Winter’s name popped up on the dash. “Hey,” I answered into the air, finally inching my way out onto the street.
“Congratulations. You got the job!” Winter’s excitement made me chuckle.
She couldn’t have chosen a worse time to tell me great news. Ninety percent of my concentration was on not fucking up my car. “That was quick. I literally just walked out from our meeting.” I slammed on my brakes as another car moved around me. I ground my teeth. “You might need a backup plan, though. I’m about to murder someone in this traffic.”
She barked out a sarcastic laugh. “Funny. But don’t. I have too much invested in you.”
Oh, so now Winter wants to admit it. It was because they loved my idea. I’d never seen so many suits with wide eyes and dropped jaws before.
“Look,” Winter rushed. “We’ll be a few minutes behind you to the studio, but I just wanted to give you a heads-up.”
That piqued my interest. “Okay. I’m sitting down,” I teased.
“Ha,” she said dryly. “Reggie’s pitch was before yours. I just called him to let him know he didn’t get the gig. He wasn’t too happy.”
Great. “What did I tell you? You shouldn’t have had the damn pitch to begin with. Now I’m going to have to deal with Reggie’s attitude all fucking day.”
“Yeah, well. I’m allowed to fuck up every now and then. I’ll admit, I should have left this one alone.”
“Just say it.” A grin stretched across my face.
She was silent for a moment, either hesitating or confused by what I meant. “Just say what?” From the annoyance in her tone, she knew.
“Tell me I was right. Just this once.”
A snort pushed through the car speakers. “Not going to happen. But before your ego bursts, I need to tell you something else.”
I made a face, my gut telling me I wasn’t going to like this news. “Spit it out.”
“I offered Reggie a bone. I’m letting him choreograph one of the features for Vegas.”
If I’d had anything in my mouth, I would have choked on it. I coughed out my next breath instead. “News flash. That’s my job. Also, the choreography is done. That ass has already changed practically the entire routine for ‘The Cure.’ You’re giving him another one because you feel sorry for him?”
Winter sighed dramatically. “I knew you’d freak out. Look, Reggie deserves a shot just like you did when it was your time. He’s a good choreographer. Really good. I didn’t trust him to choreograph an entire Vegas show, but that had more to do with experience than his talent. You need to give him a chance.”
“This is bullshit. What song is he redoing?”
“None of them.” She perked up as though this was somehow good news. “I have a bonus track I’m releasing midtour, but I want to intro it on stage early to create the buzz. It will be perfect.”
Despite the rage spiraling through me, I decided to let this one go. Reggie could have his partner choreography and whatever this bonus shit was. Maybe Winter was right. Maybe he just needed his shot. Maybe then he’d get the fuck off my back.
“Okay.”
“Yay,” she squealed. I cringed and turned down the volume a couple of notches. “Okay, I gotta go. Let’s do lunch today and celebrate, and I’ll tell you more about the bonus track so we can figure out where it will fit into the set list.”
Lunch with Winter. Discomfort snaked through me as I imagined what Lex might think. I couldn’t blame her if she got angry, not after the way I acted the other night when she went to dinner with Reggie. Although that didn’t exactly have an unhappy ending. I smiled.
But we’d decided that this thing between us, whatever it was, would be temporary. We agreed the job was our number one priority. And if that was truly the case, she shouldn’t have an issue over my going to lunch with Winter.
“Yeah, okay. Lunch.”