Series: Cobalt Empire Series by Krista Ritchie
Total pages in book: 220
Estimated words: 215301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1077(@200wpm)___ 861(@250wpm)___ 718(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 215301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1077(@200wpm)___ 861(@250wpm)___ 718(@300wpm)
It’s just business.
“I’m sorry,” I tell Tom. It’s official: this press junket has me apologizing genuinely to this nepo baby more than I ever want to. More than he ever wants me to.
Like right now. Tom glares. “Sorry for what?” He untwists a water with an angry turn of his hand.
“I could’ve skirted around the question.”
“What for?”
“You know what for, Tom,” I snap.
“Okay, yeah, people will speculate that we’re together about ten hundred times more now that they know you’re gay. But I don’t want you to keep this hidden if you want to be open, dude. Some things aren’t worth the cost, and this definitely isn’t.”
I hold the seat behind his head. “But this is going to complicate shit.”
“Good thing my type is complicated.” Tom ends up smiling into a swig of water, and it almost makes me smile back.
I consider kissing him.
Then the door suddenly swings open. I retract my hand fast and thread my arms.
Even if it’s just Jeremy. “Boys.” He slides inside and sits across from us. Turns out, the Cobalts aren’t the only ones who like fancy SUV limo-seating. So do record labels. “How are we holding up? Tired, angry, happy?”
“Pissed off and aggravated,” I say. “A regular day of the week with Tom.”
Tom smiles brighter into a laugh. He eases more when he sees I’ve cooled off.
After our publicist, Sheela, joins us in the car, I have trouble not looking at Tom, even as she starts speaking a mile a minute about how “visceral” that live performance was and the prospect of it going viral.
“The whole newsroom couldn’t stop talking about it. You should’ve heard them after you all left. Oh, even the camera operator said that was his favorite on-air performance!”
“Really?” Tom is glowing from the review.
My smile edges just seeing him light up from a small victory. You’d think Sheela said the whole newsroom gave us a standing O.
When I turn forward, I realize Jere has been watching me watch Tom. His soft smile on me is approval and guidance, but it sinks my stomach. If he can tell I have feelings for Tom, who else can?
I’m going to fuck The Carraways over because I can’t hide attraction and…something so much more.
I shake my head at Jere. He begins to frown, but our attention veers when Sheela says, “It’s the best marketing, really. Lean into all the fan theories that you’re together. Keep flirting—”
“We aren’t flirting,” Tom denies. “We don’t want people at our shows just to see if we’ll kiss. We want them there for the music.”
Sheela drums her lips. “Good point, but really, you want to sell out shows. Why they’re there doesn’t really matter, does it?”
“It does matter,” I say before Tom can, and I profess, “The music is all that fucking matters.” I cannot nuke his dream.
Tom stiffens but says, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
The rest of the car ride is silent.
39
TOM COBALT
“You literally cannot be here,” I tell my carrot-orange-haired, diabolical little sister in my kitchen. The fact that Audrey is in New York and not tucked innocently away in her bed in Philadelphia is a major fucking snag in tonight’s birthday itinerary.
My birthday. The greatest day of the entire year. The day I can make everything about me and no one calls me out for it.
“I am literally standing right before your eyes,” Audrey pushes back.
Eliot squeezes my shoulder. “Okay, breathe, brother.” I do feel faint. But actually—no. Audrey isn’t going to ruin any part of today for me. She exists to terrorize me, and I exist to torment her, but she does not have the power to destroy all I’ve worked hard for.
The universe knows I can handle ultimate chaos. It’s why many monumental things are coinciding on April 21.
I turn twenty-two.
I’m throwing a party to remember in apartment 2166.
My sister showed up out of the blue.
And Silver Sweet just went live on all streaming platforms.
The label purposefully chose my birthday to drop the album. I thought it was smart. More eyes will be on my socials today. Including my own. I keep checking reactions. Mostly positive…I think.
Hard to tell.
People are talking more about Phoenix being gay and also his physical demeanor during Good Morning Manhattan. Specifically, his manspreading. Which, yes, very hot, but also, please listen to the album, thank you.
Audrey perches her hands defiantly on her hips. “You’re really this upset to see me?”
“Only in this context, Audrey Virginia.” I lace my fingers on my head, trying not to externally freak. The last time she was in New York, she OD’d on fentanyl at a frat party. Granted, it was because one of Ben’s ex-frat brothers told her it’d been Tylenol.
I like that she acts like that moment in time didn’t puncture, let alone scratch. I like believing that nothing could bring her down. The real issue is that Ben has taken extreme blame for our sister almost dying that night.