Page 60 of Whiskey Sour
I don’t particularly like his tone. It reminds me of Knox pre-Elton, but I let it slide. He might just be extra grumpy tonight. Or he might think that aliens are dumb too. Either way, I also hand him a Blue Nipple and reject their tips when they try to hand me some.
“Little dude! Where’s the tequila?”
I smile, even though I’vealreadyshown Maxtwicewhere it’s at. Before I can go rescue him, Elton’s hand snakes out to grab my wrist. “Hey, our…special guest has arrived.”
My heart skips a beat. All thoughts of Max and his inability to get our patrons drunk flies right out the window. Jaw dropping, I look around as if I have any idea what this person looks like. “Where?”
“I sent her by the stage,” he tells me, and I can tell he’s really into this whole secretive plotting we’re doing. “Is Cass ready for her?”
I bite my bottom lip. Well…
Here’s the thing. After the shelter, I contacted one producer. I figured there was no harm in just seeing what’s up and hearing her out. So…I might have secretly contacted herforhim and invited her to Theme Night.
Without him knowing.
“Wait,” Elton says, shaking his head as his eyes widen. “You didn’t tell him?”
I was going to, truly, but I was afraid he would turn down the idea without giving it any more consideration. This producercould open a lot of doors for him, and he doesn’thaveto walk through them, but isn’t having options nice?
“Figures,” Knox snorts as he downs his drink. “They don’t tell each other shit.”
I wrinkle my nose at him. “That was kind of rude. What do you mean by that?”
“Ignore him,” Rhys snaps as he throws Knox a pointed look. “He’s drunk already.”
“Lennox Sanders!” Elton yells, slapping his husband’s arm. “No, you are not!”
As Knox flushes under Elton’s stare, I wag my hand between them before things can escalate. “Okay, okay. Talk now, fuck it out later. Where is she, Elton?”
Elton turns his now narrowed eyes toward me and shrugs. “Like I said, she’s by the stage. You’ll know who she is when you see her.”
“Great!” I turn to Rhys, already tipping the partition up. “You’re gonna be okay here?”
Rhys’s eyes widen comically as Max appears next to him, holding a grater. “Um, what do we use this for?”
“You’ll be fine!” I shout, not waiting to hear what Rhys tells Max as I book it to the stage. I don’t want to make Nancy wait, so I topple through people to get there, arriving breathless in front of her. And, ew, a little sweaty. “Hi! Nancy?”
I’m guessing she’s the producer from the way she’s dressed. Instead of hanging with the alien theme, she’s in a simple but stylish suit. Not stuffy or anything, but definitely here for business.
She smiles kindly as she extends her hand in a greeting. “Yes, and you must be Skylar?”
“That’s me!” I giggle, brushing my clammy hands against my shorts. I swallow dryly, all of a sudden nervous as I gesture to thestage. This is a big deal for Cassius, and I don’t want to fuck it up. “Shall we?”
She nods, and I’m so happy this all timed out so right. We part the curtain to the backstage area just as Cassius switches his track to a prerecorded set. He takes a step back from the mixer to grab some water, his chest shining with a thin sheen of sweat from how hard he was going. When my eyes see the bruise on his side, I remind myself to tell himagainthat he should stop going to that stupid gym. But he insisted he likes it, so to each their own, I suppose.
When he sees me, his eyes light up and a crooked grin makes its way to his lips. “Hey, sunshine.”
“Hi,” I say shyly. He goes to kiss me, but I sidestep him quickly, which has his brow furrowing in confusion. Before Nancy can appear, I bite my bottom lip and shrug. “Please don’t be angry.”
He shakes his head. “Why would I be— Skylar, who’s this?”
“This is Nancy!” I rush out, even using jazz hands as she approaches us. “She’s a producer for Unknown Studios!”
Cassius stares blankly at her outstretched hand before turning to me. “What did you do?”
I gulp, a bit confused by the irritation in his tone, but I keep a smile on my face for Nancy’s sake. “Well, when she reached out, I thought I would make an introduction. You know, she’s heard your mixes and?—”
“Skylar, a word, please,” he says through barely gritted teeth.
