Take Me with You (Take Me #2)(45)

“If it looks like he’s coming at me with a gun, I’ll contact you and the police,” he said in a sarcastic tone.

I playfully smacked him on his arm. “Don’t joke about that.”

After a pause, he sighed. “I wasn’t.”

“Let’s get this shit out of the way,” Hollis said, clapping his hands together. “Time is money!”

I glared at Hollis. I still couldn’t f*cking listen to the moronic things that came out of his mouth. And I couldn’t believe that, after all this time, we were actually here in New York City about to sign with Pacific Entertainment. I wanted to be pissed about it all. Hollis gave me a bad feeling, but at this point, I also thought we had an understanding.

So, I couldn’t stop my stomach from f*cking flipping like an idiot at the thought. We were really going to be on a f*cking record label!

It almost displaced the paranoia I had about my dad showing up in Princeton at any given moment and the constant pain from the motorcycle accident.

Almost.

At least I’d gotten Ari to go to Florida with her roommates. Peace of mind about that situation. She hadn’t been happy to hear we were signing the week she was going to be gone, but at least she was excited for me, for all of us.

Neither of us knew what this meant going forward, but we’d f*cking figure it out together. That was what we had decided before she left.

“I read over the contract you forwarded to me, Mr. Tift,” the lawyer Miller had acquired for us said, “but I want to read the this document here before we hand my clients a pen.”

“By all means,” Hollis said. He waved his hand at the stack of papers on the table.

I walked a short distance away from Hollis with Miller. “This lawyer is legit, right? He’s going to figure out if Hollis is f*cking us over?”

“Best I could find on short notice, but I think we’re covered,” Miller told me. “Anyway, I don’t see why it would be in Hollis’s interest to f*ck us over.”

“Because he’s a douche. It’s in his job description.”

Miller cracked up and shook his head. “Well, I think we’re covered.”

I punched Miller on the arm. “I can’t believe I let my f*cking cousin come up here with us today.”

“Me either. How many dudes do you think she’ll blow before the night is over?” he joked.

“I can’t control her. I thought I knew someone who could help with that.”

Miller raised his hands. “Don’t look at me. No one can control that level of crazy.”

“You seemed to handle her f*cking fine at the ski lodge, if I remember correctly.”

“Sometimes, I think she handled me.”

I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. “That sounds like Sydney. But, bro, she’s still my little cousin. I don’t give a shit what’s going on with Shelby, but if you hurt Sydney…”

“No one can hurt Sydney,” Miller said quickly. “No one and nothing. She does whatever the f*cks she wants. We’ve all known her forever. We all know how she is. Just as much of a slut as you were.”

“That’s my cousin,” I growled. There were few people I defended fiercely.

“Don’t I f*cking know it? I bet you’d love for her to find the equivalent of Ari.”

“I think she likes dick too much,” I regrettably told him.

“You know what I mean. Chick can’t be tamed.”

“My comment still holds. You’re not a douche bag, Miller. Leave that to Vin.”

I didn’t clarify whether I meant to leave Sydney to Vin with all her crazy or for Miller to man up and claim his woman. In the long run, my two cents didn’t f*cking matter. I just hated that my boys were still arguing over my dumbass cousin.

“Everything seems to be in order,” our lawyer finally said. “Same document I read earlier this week.”

“Fucking great!” Vin cried. “Let’s f*cking do the damn thing!”

Miller and I moved toward the table where the other guys stood, and we all stared down at the contract that was about to change our lives. Hollis handed out pens, and then we signed page after page of a document that had so much f*cking legalese that it read as if it were in another language. But we kept signing until every page was full.

I dropped the pen onto the table. All the f*cking worries that had led up to this moment vanished. We were on a major record label. We were a part of Pacific Entertainment.

“Good to have you guys,” Hollis said. He shook each of our hands and laughed at the shit-eating grins on our faces. “Time to celebrate. I wish I could stay and party with you, but I need to get back on the road and catch up with The Drift. I flew in from Dallas just for you guys!”

I didn’t even care that he was feeding us his typical bullshit. I was high on life right now. It was unreal compared to all the other shit I’d had to deal with, but signing those papers would turn it all around. I wanted to f*cking party. I wanted to get wasted and f*cking go crazy tonight.

“McAvoy! Send out a blast, letting people know where we’re headed. Let’s make it a party!” I cried.

We all cheered, dancing around like f*cking dopes and giving each other bro hugs. This was the motherf*cking dream.

Hollis promised to be in touch about everything going forward. He kept using words like tour and debut album and studio recording—all these f*cking things we’d never thought would f*cking happen in a million years. Miller sending out those shit demos last year had seemed like such a joke at the time. Just last semester, I couldn’t have foreseen any of this actually happening.