Free Rock Star: The Contest (Book 2 of a Bad Boy Romance) by Kate Ward Page A

I’m not seeing him.”
    I didn’t hesitate. Hesitation was a clear giveaway.
    “OK. Well, thanks for being honest with us. See you tonight.”
    I walked, no, crawled away from there feeling terrible. Chase needed this. He needed the extra exposure for his career. I needed this. It was an opportunity of a lifetime. The following half an hour felt like hours, as they both sat there drinking coffee and occasionally eyeing me over the top of their cups. Had they bought it? Probably not. It wasn’t like they weren’t clued into the music business. It was what they did. They had probably had their own run-ins with men and women who they had fallen for. Small-town folk who became one-night stands.
    “You know your lying is going to catch up with you and when it does…” Spike shook his head. I didn’t reply. I told him to take over while I went and took a bathroom break. I never went to the bathroom, though. I went upstairs to my apartment and closed the door. Breathing a sigh of relief. I felt like crap inside. This wasn’t a good situation to be in.
    I texted Chase to let him know that they had been by and had been asking questions. However, nothing seemed to faze the guy. He messaged me back that it was fine. It was just routine since they had got wind of what went down at the cottage. Leann had been through the same thing.
    Leann!
    What had she said? This would have been a prime situation to throw me under the bus. She had become more and more ruthless as the number of contestants had shrunk down to just seven. I wouldn’t have put it past her to plant in their heads the idea that I was screwing around with Chase. Maybe she wasn’t aware of how it would affect Chase.
    The whole idea they would boot him out, and I wouldn’t be affected by it, sounded fishy to me. It was just like what a suit, someone from a network, would say just to get you to tell them the truth, and then they would bring the hammer down on you as well.

    * * *
    T hat evening , it was to be a live show in front of a small audience. They wanted to see how we reacted playing in front of group of unknowns. These were people that weren’t the type to show up to the big event. Random people from the surrounding towns that were given the task of listening to each of us sing and then giving us feedback on what they liked and disliked. Seems odd, right? I mean, let’s face it, not everyone likes the same music. Regardless they thought this would be a great way to push our buttons and make us raise the bar.
    It was decided that they wanted to hold it in a local café. Being as mine was the only one in town, they made arrangements to rent it. It was a nice perk, getting some extra cash from them being as I was going to be part of the show.
    An hour later the film crew was set up and my small store had been turned into a TV show. Men and women of all ages piled into every inch of space and one by one they had us come out and sing for them. It wasn’t nearly as nerve-wracking as I thought it would be. One person would be eliminated from the round based on how tonight went. Teddy, Maisey, Leann, Luke, Wayland, Rachel and I were the final contestants.
    We took turns singing, and at the end the producers asked the audience what they thought. Some commented on the way we used the stage. For some we moved too much, others said it was not enough and there wasn’t any passion in what was being sung. For another it was our pitch was off. It was like a roasting, except all of us were getting burned by a room of strangers who were drinking my coffee. I should have placed a sign outside that read…
    Free Coffee And We Accept Free Insults.
    But that was just what had to happen.
    At the end, after everyone had left, Wayland had been eliminated. They were brutal with his performance. They said he moved like a chicken and sang like a hyena. Spike thought it was hilarious. He sat on the sidelines, cracking up. I was surprised he didn’t chime in with a few of his