Love Song(79)

My heart stutters. “Yes. Who’s this?”

“Wyatt, my man, it’s Tobey. Dodson. Got your number from Hannah. I hope you don’t mind that I’m calling?”

“No, not at all.” Now my pulse is racing. Blake glances over curiously, brow raised, but I step away from the pot of boiling spaghetti and duck out of the kitchen. “It’s nice to meet you. I mean, over the phone. It’s nice to phone meet you.” Jesus, shut the hell up.

“Pleasure’s all mine,” he replies, his tone sincere. “I’ve been meaning to call you for a while, but I got called away on business in Tokyo. I work with this sick K-pop girl group over there, and we had to re-record a few tracks for their new album. Anyway, I’m stateside now, so I wanted to touch base with you. See what’s what.”

“Yeah, sure,” I say awkwardly. “So…um…what’s what?”

There’s a deep chuckle in my ear. “You tell me, my man. Hannah says you’re working on some new material?”

“Uh. Yeah. I am.”

“Love to hear it, if that’s something you’re interested in. I was telling your mom, I’m obsessed with this track of yours—‘Silver’? It’s the exact vibe I’ve been craving lately, you know? There’s so much pop and bubblegum right now, market’s oversaturated with it. Don’t get me wrong, I love my pop divas. Been doing some great collabs. But I need to sink my teeth into something different, you feel me?”

“I think so, yeah.”

“Figured we’d open up a dialogue, see if the chemistry is there. But I’m heading back to Tokyo this week until the end of the summer, so if your new material speaks to me, we realistically wouldn’t be able to get into the studio till September. That work for you or no?”

“It totally works,” I blurt out, then cringe at how overeager I sounded.

“Brilliant. In the meantime, send me the new shit. You good with critical feedback, or am I dealing with a diva over here?”

I laugh. “Nah, criticize away. Only makes me better, right?”

“That’s what I like to hear.” Dodson sounds enthusiastic as he says, “I’ll have my assistant send you all my deets. Email, phone numbers, whatever. And we’ll touch base soon, my man.”

He disconnects without a goodbye, leaving me a little dazed.

Did that really just happen?

I stumble back into the kitchen and collapse onto a breakfast stool. Blake is draining the pasta at the sink, but she sets the strainer down at my dramatic entrance.

“Everything okay?” she says.

With my head still spinning, I recap the conversation, and her eyes light up when I finish. She comes to the counter and flings her arms around me.

“Holy shit. Wyatt! This is incredible.”

I grip her arm, not quite hugging her back. I’m still too stunned. Noticing my frozen state, Blake pulls back and searches my face.

“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you happy about this?”

“I am. But…” I clear my throat because it’s coated with apprehension. “What if he hates my new material and decides he doesn’t want to move forward?”

“He won’t.”

“He might.”

“He won’t. You are beyond talented, which apparently everyone sees but you. But listen up, Graham—you are way too hot to be insecure.”

I can’t help but laugh. “I’m not insecure. I just…”

“Don’t think you’re good enough,” she finishes.

Yeah. I suppose so. Sort of. I know I’m good. I just always fear I can’t be great. And that’s a hard pill to swallow when everyone around me is. My mother. My father. My sister. All great.

“It’s the curse of coming from a family of overachievers, I guess,” I say wryly. A lump fills my throat. “It’s like… What if I can never measure up?”

“I feel that way too,” Blake reminds me. She pulls out the stool next to mine and sits, reaching for my hand. “Everyone else is destined for greatness, and I’m destined for a boring office job I hate and my dumb hobbies.”

“I mean, most people work jobs they don’t love. That’s just life.” I squeeze her hand. “But your hobbies aren’t dumb.”

“I research things for fun,” she grumbles.

“Yeah, and you enjoy it. Isn’t that all that matters? Who cares what everyone else is doing?”

“See, you keep saying that,” she teases, “and you tell me to never compare myself to anyone else unless I want to destroy my self-esteem. Yet you’re sitting here comparing yourself to your family.”

“Haven’t you learned by now that people are shit at following their own advice?”

Blake laughs. “We should make a pact. Promise to keep reminding each other not to fall victim to the trap of comparison.”

A warm sensation washes over me. “I like that.”

This time, when she loops her arms around my neck, I don’t resist. I just hold her tighter.





Chapter 27


WYATT





THE NEXT DAY, THE RAIN has let up and the sun peeks through the clouds. Blake and I make omelets for breakfast and eat them on the deck while she types one-handed on her phone. Then she sets it down and takes another bite, only for the phone to buzz again. Her braid falls over her shoulder as she peers at the screen.