Conquest (14 page)

Jesse shook his head, loathing his big mouth, and vowed he would work harder to draw Evan out more. It wasn’t that he wanted to pry into his life, he just wanted to know the man behind the persona who stood on stage with a mic in hand, holding thousands of people captive at his every word and movement. He knew that wasn’t the true Evan. It was as if he were two different men. The one who shined and smiled for all the world to admire, and the one who lived alone in a secluded mansion where the phone hadn’t rung once over the weekend.

The last thought reminded him he should call Brandon. Since it was almost noon, Brandon would be at the theatre, but he might still be able to answer his phone. He opened his cell phone and almost hit the number two to speed dial Brandon out of habit, having momentarily forgotten he bumped everyone’s number down one to put Evan’s cell as the first. He hit three instead. The phone didn’t get to finish its first ring before Brandon’s voice sounded through the other end.

“Well, well, well, look who finally decided to call.”

Jesse winced, knowing he was in for a scolding. “What’re you talking about? I’ve left you two messages.”
“Yeah, I got your stupid messages!” Brandon raised the pitch of his voice to mimic Jesse’s. “Hey, asshole, it’s me. Just wanted to let you know I’m running off with some guy to prove to you I can take care of myself!” His voice deepened back to its normal baritone. “Fine! I get it! I watch over you too damn much! You know what? Too freakin’ bad, because it’s not going to change!”

“I knew you’d take the messages like that, but it’s not how I meant them. And I was being honest. I didn’t go running off with just
some guy
.”

“Oh, that’s right. You went running off with Evan Arden. Real cute, Jess. You have the stupidest sense of humor.” “I’m not joking. I’m on my way home and if I look in my rearview mirror, I can see him following me.”

“Fine. Then I’ll meet you over there so you can introduce me to him.”
“Now’s not a good time. I’m only running home so I can change, then Kenny and I are going to a meeting at Phoenix Records. They might sign us! Isn’t that awesome?”
“Uh huh,” Brandon said, his voice flat and unbelieving. “Well, whenever you decided to quit this stupid joke, then you can give me a call. Until then, think about what you put me through the past couple days. Talk to you later.”

“Brandon, wait! Don’t hang up like that!” Jesse listened to the silence on the other end. “Are you still there?”

 

“I’m not talking until you quit being a moron.”

Jesse took a deep breath, willing his voice to come out as calm as possible. “How about this? If everything goes good at Phoenix, then all of us will go out to celebrate, and I’ll introduce you to Evan, that way you can feel like a major jackass and learn to believe me when I tell you I’m not joking.”

“For your sake, he better at least look a little like Evan

Arden with the way you’ve been clinging to this dumb joke.” “Whatever. I’ll see you tonight.”
“Fine. Bye.”

Jesse hung up his phone to the satisfying mental image of flinging it out the driver’s side window and watching it crash and roll across the pavement. He swung onto his street, found a place to park where Evan could park behind him, and hopped out of his truck.

Evan met him at the tailgate and took off his sunglasses, looking up at Jesse’s apartment building, the brick discolored from years of city grime. He glanced over his shoulder at the rest of the stained and weathered structures on the street. Most of the buildings seemed somewhat inhabited, though nearly every one had sheets of plywood covering a few windows. The majority of cars on the street were battle-scarred derelicts that looked like they hadn’t seen a carwash since they were built.

A young woman with a black eye and cracked lip staggered across the street toward a group of young guys throwing dice, her blond hair hanging in limp strands around her skeletal face. The vinyl purple miniskirt she wore was askew on her bony hips, her white halter top barely fit her flat chest. She fell into one of the guys, offering to let him do whatever he wanted for twenty bucks. In a look of disgust, the guy shoved her away, and she slunk off with his cursing chasing her.

“I see what you meant now by saying this isn’t that bad of a neighborhood.” Evan grabbed Jesse’s guitar and bass from the truck. “The crack whore and gang bangers really create a nice ambiance.”

“There’re worse neighborhoods.” Jesse hefted Kenny’s two guitars and led the way inside. “Sorry, I’m on the third floor and the elevator’s broken.”

Evan glanced at the yellow paint peeling off the walls of the stairwell.
They reached the third floor and walked down a short hall. Jesse set one of the guitars outside his apartment and turned to Evan. “Hey, I’m not sure how Kenny’s going to react to knowing that it was you I spent the weekend with, so try and stay cool if he freaks, okay?”
Evan looked at him, confused. “Doesn’t he know you play with guys?”

Jesse lifted one hand, teetering it back and forth. “Yeah, but we don’t really talk about it, and I’ve never brought anyone home. Of course, I’ve never met anyone worth bringing home, but that’s neither here nor there. What I’m trying to say is, don’t take it personal if he gets a little funny.”

Evan chuckled softly. “Great.”

 

Jesse cracked the door open. Kenny flung it the rest of the way.

 

“I’m gonna beat your…” Kenny stopped, his eyes off Jesse and on Evan.

“Kenny, you remember Evan from the other night, don’t you?” Jesse said, walking inside. “So you see, your guitars were more than safe. Navy SEALs couldn’t break into Ev’s house with the security he’s got.”

Kenny stared at Jesse, the realization of what he was saying sinking in. He stood dumbstruck, his honey-brown eyes round, his mouth agape.

Evan held out his hand to him. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you this Saturday, but you’re a real slick guitar player.” Kenny looked down at Evan’s hand. Tentatively, he took it, muttering, “Thanks.”

 

Evan nodded and moved to Jesse’s side as he sat on the couch.

Kenny’s gaze darted back and forth between them. “You mean, you two, but he’s…he’s…” He collapsed down in a chair next to the couch, rubbing one hand through his shaggy, dark blond hair.

Jesse leaned toward Evan. “I think his little hamster is running too fast on its wheel. He’s about to have a meltdown.”

Evan smirked at him. “I can’t believe you two are in a band together. Sometimes you
can’t
shut up and this poor guy can’t even get words out.”

“Hey!” Jesse reprimanded him with a light shove on the shoulder. He looked back to Kenny. “Yes, Kenny, he’s Evan Arden. What’s the big deal?”

Kenny shook his head and looked away from him. “Just go get ready.”

Jesse gazed at him for a moment, then slowly rose from the couch. He gave Evan a look asking if he would be okay, to which Evan flicked his hand in a shooing gesture. Jesse headed toward his bedroom, glancing back at them before stepping in to change.

Evan sat quiet, feeling the tension swirling in the room like a heavy invisible fog. This was not something he was used to. Since he rarely stuck around long enough to say “good morning” to his lovers, he never had to deal with meeting their friends or family, and really, he never wanted to. It was too committal. But with Jesse, it seemed perfectly natural to meet the people in his life. He just hadn’t anticipated obstacles like this.

Kenny cleared his throat. “So, do you, uh, like Chicago?”

Though he could hear how uncomfortable Kenny was by the tone of his voice, Evan smiled at his attempt at conversation. “Yeah, it’s a nice town.”

“Are you here long? I thought I heard once that you lived in

New York.”
“I live here now. I just bought a house up by Evanston.” “That’s a haul from up there all the way down here.”

“I don’t mind it, but I’m worried Jess’s truck won’t make the trip too many more times.”

“I’m surprised it made it once. I’ve been telling him to get something better, but he can’t really afford anything newer.”
Evan nodded.
Silence filled the room again.

Jesse’s bedroom door opened. A rush of relief washed through Evan at Jesse’s reappearance. He craned his head around to look at him, his body warming at the sight. Jesse had changed into a pair of black dress pants and a midnight blue button down shirt of light, airy material that flowed around his slender torso and drew out the indigo in his eyes. He’d used hair wax to accentuate the layers, and it all combined to give him a look of trendy sophistication.

“You look amazing,” Evan said.

“Thanks.” Jesse sat down beside him and rested his hand on Evan’s thigh. He looked into Evan’s eyes, recognizing an already familiar glint. He smiled and wet his lips with a slow lick of his tongue to let Evan know they were thinking the same thing.

Kenny loudly cleared his throat.

 

Jesse flicked him a quick glance, then turned back to Evan. “Can you give us any idea of what to expect?”

Evan took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. “Well, I was seventeen when I got signed, went on my first tour at eighteen, and even though my contract was updated before I started my third album,
Allegro
, some things have changed.”

“Hmmm, right,” Jesse said. “So, what you’re saying is that it was so long ago you can’t remember, and the stone tablet your contract was on got washed away in the Great Flood.”

Evan aimed a sarcastic smirk at him. “I’m sorry, I was going to tell you about record contracts, but since you’re still working your way through
Curious George Goes to the Zoo
, it’d go right over your pretty little head. However, I
will
talk to Kenny since he’s a lot nicer than you.”

Jesse let out a cynical snort. “He just hides it better.”

Kenny punched Jesse on the arm. “Please, for five minutes, just close it! Some of us are nervous about this.”
Evan put his index finger to Jesse’s lips. “Shhh, be a good boy for five minutes.”

Jesse caught Evan’s finger in his mouth and sucked it down to the middle joint before slowly drawing back and letting it go. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Kenny’s mortified expression and fought to keep from yelling at him to chill. He knew Kenny would be shocked at finding out about him and Evan, and maybe springing it on him like this wasn’t the best way to go, but when Evan asked if he could come with him to see his apartment, he couldn’t say no. He wanted to greedily snatch every second with Evan he could, and he figured Kenny would freak out for a moment, then shrug it off and go back to being his laidback self. That’s how Kenny was, he accepted everybody, so he didn’t understand why he was being intolerant now.

Evan chuckled at what Jesse did and Kenny’s reaction to it. “
If
you are offered a contract today, get ready for some heavy reading. Record contracts are made with the label in mind, not the artist. They want to make sure they have their asses covered every which way they can and squeeze out every penny that’s possible. There’ll be points set aside that are supposed to summarize what’s of interest to you, but read the whole thing. Really, you should have an entertainment lawyer with you or at least a manager, but,” he gazed around their apartment, “I can see your extravagant lifestyle doesn’t leave you with a lot of extra cash.”

Jesse bumped his shoulder against Evan’s. “Hey, you may have a kickass view of the lake, but you should try looking out our window between midnight and four and watching what goes on in the alley. It’s better than TV.”

“Yeah, I bet. So anyhow, with the cutbacks Phoenix has had I’m thinking you’ll be dealing straight with Greg and he’s pretty honest. He used to handle everything for me from managing to publicity. Granted, I might have driven him into the ground, but I don’t like having a lot of people in my business. So don’t worry, he’ll explain everything. You’ll probably still end up feeling like a two dollar hooker on a discount dollar day, but at least you’ll understand why.”

“Damn,” Kenny muttered.
“What else?” Jesse asked.

“Watch your royalty percentage. Depending on where an album is sold, your royalty rate can fluctuate. Normally you’ll get more when your CD is sold through normal retail stores, but its all about Internet downloads now, so make sure you’re not getting screwed on a low percentage for album or individual song downloads, and watch that the points are coming out of retail sales not wholesale.”

“What’s the average percentage?” Jesse said.

“It varies, but if you get ten points out of Phoenix, then that’s about average for a new band. Even though Phoenix isn’t the size of the big boys, they’ve always been able to hold their own, even before I signed with them.”

Kenny said, “I bet you could go into any record company and demand the highest percentage you wanted.”
Evan shook his head. “When I renegotiated my contract before
Allegro
, Phoenix got me locked into a ten album deal, moving it up from the five I had originally signed for.”
Jesse snapped his head toward Evan. “Does that mean you have to make six more albums?”
Evan let out a single humorless laugh. “Don’t get your hopes up. All it means is that if I do decide to make another album, I can only do it with Phoenix unless I get out of my contract or they let me go, neither of which will likely happen. It’s not unusual for record companies to do that, especially if they think the artist has some staying power. But it doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed to make ten or however many albums either. If your first one doesn’t sell they can cut you loose and there’s nothing you can do about it. Also, when they throw the advance at you, don’t get excited over the large number. It includes your recording budget. You won’t see any royalties until that’s paid off first. On the plus side, if your album bombs you don’t have to pay that cash back, so shoot for as high an advance as you can. It might be the only cash you’ll see.”
“Well, that’s good at least,” Kenny said.

“It’s a plus, but you have to sell a lot of albums to make that money back. It takes selling 500,000 just to hit Gold, 1,000,000 for Platinum, and there’s a hell of a lot of expenses in between to eat up your royalties before you ever see a check.”

Kenny stood up. “This is a lot to remember.”