Page 108 of The Drummer

His brow furrows as he considers my story. I don’t have totell him I went along with it because I didn’t have a choice. He already knows that. He knows how this game is played even better than I do. Hell, he’s the instrument paid to drive these rumors.

“If what you’re saying is true, her people aren’t going to be happy you outed the scheme. Yours as well.”

“I’ll deal with that.”

She’s become insufferable anyway. And now that Callie’s in the picture, everything’s changed. This has to stop once and for all. I’d told Jana I was done with the façade weeks ago, before I even knew Callie existed. Jana was pissed and fought it, as I knew she would. I thought she got her payback with the Kara Corbin retribution, but I was wrong.

Learning at Luke’s party that she wasn’t done with me was a gut-punch. She might never get over it, continuing to punish me for the rest of our lives if I don’t do something.

I’ll tell Callie before the article comes out. I have to for us to have a real future together, but things were too unstable and raw for that bombshell before now. Callie doesn’t know our world. She wouldn’t have understood. And there were already so many other obstacles standing in our way. I never expected our relationship to go so far so fast, but now that it has, I’ll have to come clean.

I deserve the hit that will come with the truth.

“Okay. That’s something, but not exactly a major headline,” he says dryly. “Publicly, the narrative is you two split anyway.”

“Yes, which brings us to story number two. You asked about Callie. The woman seen with Luke.”

A glimmer of anticipation flashes in his eyes. “You know who she is?”

“Yes. She’s my girlfriend. Myrealgirlfriend.”

He goes still. His shocked gaze locks on me, and I know I’ve got him. This alone should make him happy, and I haven’t even dropped the biggest story yet.

“Wait, so she was seen with Luke because…?”

“They’re friends. They hang out. So what? I’ve been on the road finishing the tour, so I wasn’t around the day of the diner thing. But the three of us are back together now.”

“Thethreeof you? Are you saying there’s a?—”

“No,” I interrupt with a glare. “Not even close. It’s just Callie and me. Luke is a friend, nothing more. And if you say anything different, you will never get a conversation with me or anyone else in the band ever. Understood?”

“Yeah, yeah. Fine. Okay, so you’re dating this girl. Is it serious?”

I swallow hard. That question shouldn’t be as easy to answer as it is.

“Yes, it’s serious, and of the three scoops, I want this one leaked first. We need to shut down the rumors that she and Luke are together. You can even tie it to the Jana thing later on. Say she’s why I’m finally coming clean about that. I don’t care.”

In some twisted way, that’s true.

He’s a second away from rubbing his hands together in maniacal glee. “And the third thing?”

I take a deep breath. “You know that new artist blowing up the charts right now? Penchant for Red?”

He returns a suspicious look. “Yeah. First album just went platinum. We’ve been trying to get to them for months, but they’re behind a freaking wall. No one knows anything. It’s like the music came out of thin air. The mystery is part of what’s driving the buzz. You know something about them?”

“Yes. A lot.”

He’s practically salivating. The publication that finally breaks the story and solves the mystery will have the industry headline of the month.

“Can you get me an interview?” he asks, eyes wide.

“You already got one.”

He squints in confusion, and I take a deep breath.

“It’s me, Orin. Penchant for Red is my side project. I had to keep that information locked down for obvious reasons. I couldn’t have people knowing I was working on something else while everything was so up in the air with Night Shifts Black. Honestly, I wasn’t ever planning to tell anyone because I don’t want the publicity, but shutting down all this other bullshit is worth it to me.”

His head moves in a numb arc as he stares at me. “I don’t… No… How?!”

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