Free Burn Out by Cheryl Douglas

breakin’ on to the scene, wouldn’t
you be stoked to work with Trey-freakin-Turner?”
    “Yeah, I would.”
His eyes narrowed as he tried to keep his excitement in check. This could be
exactly what he needed to put a little balance back in his life. “Have you
talked to him about this?”
    “No, I wanted to
talk to you first.”
    “I appreciate
that,” Evan said, inclining his head. “Hell, I think it’s a great idea. We just
have to convince Trey. Why don’t you get him on the phone, set up a meetin’ for
later today or tomorrow before we leave?”
    “I was thinkin’ we
should wait until we’re in the Bahamas to talk to him about it.”
    “Why?” Evan asked,
folding his arms.
    “Then it wouldn’t
seem so much like a contrived business proposition, you know what I mean? It
would just be his two nephews pitchin’ a cool idea they had.”
    “What’s the
difference?”
    “He retired
because he wanted to spend more time with his family. I don’t want him to think
this is gonna be a full-time proposition. It doesn’t have to be. I mean, you
probably spend, what, twenty-five or thirty hours a week on artist acquisition
and development?”
    “Yeah, about
that,” Evan said, scanning his schedule in his head.
    “Think about it,
you could go from workin’ eighty hours a week to fifty hours a week if Trey
goes for this. Five days a week, ten hour days, and your weekends are your own
again. How great would that be?”
    “Since when does
my schedule concern you?” Evan asked, frowning.
    He had noticed
Ryan trying to convince him to delegate more responsibility lately, and when
he’d finally agreed to start small to see if his brother could handle the added
pressure, he’d been pleasantly surprised. Not only had Ryan handled it
effortlessly, but he’d completed the tasks in half the time it would have taken
Evan because he wasn’t being pulled in so many different directions.
    “Since you’ve been
so miserable this past year,” Ryan said quietly, leaning forward. “I hate that
I’ve found everything I ever wanted with Bri and you’ve had to sacrifice your
one shot at happiness because of this company. It doesn’t seem right. If I can
do anything to help you get back on the right track, I’ll do it. Anything.
Whatever it takes.”
    His brother still
surprised him sometimes. Over the past year, Evan had watched Ryan go from a
hard-drinking, self-centered player happy to collect a pay check for partying
with the talent to someone who routinely pulled ten and twelve hour days to get
the job done. “Thanks, man, that means a lot.”
    “I know you’ve
been through hell since you lost Erika, but from what I saw the other night,
you may have another chance with her and I really don’t wanna see you screw
that up.”
    Evan smirked.
“Thanks… I think.”
    “You gonna tell me
what happened when you guys left Jimmy’s?” Ryan asked, kicking his feet up on
the desk as he settled in to hear the story.
    Evan had never
been comfortable talking to his brother or any of his friends about his sex
life, especially when it involved Erika. But he’d been struggling to make sense
of that night. He wanted to believe it was the start of a new beginning for
them, but when she claimed it was a mistake…
    If there was one
subject Ryan was an authority on, it was women. Maybe he could help him put the
situation in perspective. “We slept together.”
    Ryan grinned.
“That’s what I’m talkin’ about.” He held his clenched hand out for a fist bump.
    Evan rolled his
eyes. “What are we? Sixteen years old? Grow up, already.”
    “Okay, gimme the
detes,” he said, chuckling as he wiggled his fingers. “Was it as hot as you
remember?”
    “Crazy hot,” Evan
said, trying to wipe the smug smile off his face. “There’s no doubt in my mind
that she’s still into me, but she’s runnin’ scared.”
    “Can you blame her?”
    Evan didn’t need
to hear his brother’s condemnation. He’d already beat