Page 104 of Sing Your Secrets

thirty

Reese

“Are you…uh…making moonshine?” Quinn asks, hunching over with her head in my fridge. She’s spotted the rows of mason jars half filled with questionable brown liquid.

My shoulders bounce as I chuckle. “Uh, no. That’d be Miles’s kombucha. His mom made him a fresh batch.” Miles is a little ritualistic in the studio. For the past month, since the first time we said we loved each other, he’s been a machine. Animalistic. He doesn’t drink alcohol, coffee, or smoke—nothing. No vices. He wants a clear head…except he’s barely been sleeping. “I think she’s concerned. He’s been working so hard on this album for the past few weeks, we only get alone time when he crashes here.” And much to my dismay, by alone time I mean him falling asleep next to me. My favorite toy and I have gotten reacquainted as Miles eats, drinks, and breathes his new music.

A little spark of motivation ignited into a forest fire. I’m not sure what force possessed him, but Miles unleashed his creativity through the most soulful, sexy, and original songs I could’ve dreamt up. I’ve never seen anyone write such a fucking fantastic EP that fast. It’s been all hands on deck.

Dad’s been running the studio like a skilled head coach. He’s teaching all of us as we go. Sedi’s become quick on the boards, learning to anticipate Dad’s sound requests before he even makes them. I’ve learned more about good production in the past month than I have in ten years looking over his shoulder. What I’ve learned is simple—don’t stifle the sound by what you think should happen. Just set the rhythm and then give the song room to grow.

Plant the anchor…then let it flow.

Even Petey’s been hanging around, pitching in while trying to develop a concept for his next project. Never in my wildest imagination did I think my ex-boyfriend and my new boyfriend could fuel each other creatively. What a strange place I’m in. Who knew forgiveness could have a ripple effect? It took time to fully mend my heart, and now it’s beating stronger than ever.

I want to get lost in this beautiful, lyrical, beat-heavy, melody-rich world where I never have to pull a set of headphones off my ears again. But unfortunately, I’m still stuck in two worlds. A tale of two very different cities. Distracted by the increasingly annoying thing called a full-time job.

“Where’s Miles tonight?” Addie asks as she shifts uncomfortably in my stiff chair. “Okay, by the way—this chair is really pretty, but it’s the most uncomfortable thing I’ve ever sat on.”

Mani pats the floor next to her and Noa. “There’s room down here, Baby Bear.”

“You guys are the ones who suggested we do girls’ night here. We should’ve gone to Quinny’s,” I protest. Joel’s brothers are in town visiting, so Addie’s home is currently under siege. We had to take our weekly tradition elsewhere.

“My building’s roof is being worked on. It’s been loud as fuck for an entire week. I don’t know how Cody sleeps right through it.”

“Um, I lived with Cody, and if you can sleep through his snoring, you can sleep through roof maintenance,” Addie says, sliding to the floor, resting her back against the seat of my stiff, European-style high-backed chair.

“Cody’s snoring is endearing. Like a gruff, sexy muffler. A jackhammer above my head at three in the morning is a whole different story. It makes me want to Spartan kick someone off the roof.” Quinn says, smoothing her flyaway hair on top of her head. She’s still in her silk business suit, so I know she came straight from the office to meet us.

“A sexy, gruff muffler?” I ask, raising one brow. “You really are whipped.”

“You should talk.” She pulls out a chilled bottle of wine from the fridge. “I have half a mind to yank down your pants to see if ‘Miles’ is tattooed across your ass yet.”

With a snarky smile, I turn around and pull down my cotton shorts to show her my bare ass. “Still clear. And to answer your earlier question, Addie,” I say, throwing Quinn a look as I pull back up my bottoms, “Miles is waiting on an email with a potential deal with Elite Records that Petey got him. Can you believe that shit?” With the songs taking form so fast, Petey had the grand idea to pitch Miles to his old label. With Petey’s endorsement, the response was instant. An offer came swiftly. After five years of chasing a deal with no luck, Miles was finally seen. He didn’t believe it at first. The memory of his smile mixed with tears on his face, when he realized all his hard work was finally paying off, is etched into my brain forever.

“I don’t understand,” Addie says, “I thought you guys were going to release the album independently.”

“Yeah, Miles still will. But because of the songs Dad and Miles put together, Elite Records is interested in signing Miles for his next album. A full album. It’s full funding for development, promotion, marketing, and everything else he needs. When it goes through, Miles will be getting the fattest paycheck of his life.” I scoff. “I’m going to make him upgrade our date nights from Applebee’s to Olive Garden…just saying.” My uncontrollable smile turns into a half-laugh.

“You seem really happy, Reese,” Noa says with the warmest smile.

“Well, he does that to me.”

“No, not just because of Miles,” she continues. “It’s something about you getting in the studio again.” She twists her wrist in the air. “It’s bringing this light out of you. It’s like when I start painting on a new canvas and I just feel alive. That inspired, imaginative piece of your soul shouldn’t be dependent on any man. With or without Miles, promise me you’ll stay exactly like this.” She blows a kiss in my direction.

I hold up my phone and pull up a blank note. “Okay, I’m going to need you to say that again, slowly.”

“You’re taking notes?”

“Yeah, that sounded great. I’m going to need a convincing speech when I tell my mom I’m quitting Henley & Associates.”

“Oh, ho, ho! She’s going to lose her shit,” Quinn adds, unhelpfully. “If I were you, I’d go into that conversation with full body armor.”

“Thank you, Quinny.” I muster as much sarcasm as possible in my response before lobbing a pillow at her head. I miss, but I notice Addie’s puckered bottom lip and her arms wrapped around each other.

“What’s wrong, Bear?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I like Miles, but everything is changing so fast.” She circles her finger around the room pointing to each member of our little group.

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