“That’s what they call me.” Wylder shoved some cash into the guy’s outstretched hand.
“This is crazy.” The guy grinned, reaching for his phone. “Would you?” He held his phone up.
“Aren’t you the guy Nicky requests because you don’t make a big fuss over my brother?”
“Yeah, Becks is great. We’re buds, but you’re Wylder.”
“I’m nobody.” She grabbed the stack of pizzas, hoping he’d get the hint.
“I’ve seen your videos like a thousand times. You’re so talented. And pretty. Didn’t you used to have dreads?” He took a step closer. “How about that selfie with me?”
“Thanks for the sustenance.” Wylder backed away, putting the door between her and the pizza guy.
“It was nice meet—”
“Pizza’s here,” she called as she slammed the front door in his face.
Wylder set the boxes on the kitchen counter and went to grab plates and glasses.
“Great, I’m starving.” Luke took a seat at the kitchen counter and drummed his fingers against the granite.
“If you’re waiting for Wylder to serve you, you’re going to be waiting a long time, brother.” Logan took the glasses from her and went to fill them with ice.
“Right, sorry.” Luke reached for the plates and set them out for the others. “Are we having a party?” He helped himself to a slice of each. “Not that I’m complaining, but it’s just the three of us, right?” He eyed the four extra-large pizzas she’d had delivered.
“Wylder likes food. She always over orders.” Logan poured Coke into each of their glasses. “Which kind do you want?” He turned to Wylder.
“One of each. And don’t be stingy on the sizes.” She took her seat beside Luke.
“And she eats like a stoned truck driver.” Logan loaded her plate up and handed it to her before he made a plate for himself.
“Thanks for the pizza, Wylds.” Luke grabbed his plate and his drink. “But I’m not the best company tonight so I’m going to go hang out in the guest room, if you don’t mind.”
“Go for it.” Wylder tucked into her pizza and ignored the one Cook brother she still wasn’t sure she even liked.
“Sorry about him. He’s really not taking this well.” Logan took his brother’s vacant seat.
“Any news?” Wylder asked.
“Not yet. We should be hearing something about the interview the PR team wants Luke to do soon. But other than that, it’s been a quiet day. A little too quiet.”
“Do you know how you’re going to handle it yet?”
Logan sighed, taking a sip of Coke. “Not even a little bit.”
“What do you want, though? Just you. What matters most to Logan Cook?”
“Honestly, Wylds. I don’t know.”
20
The drive back to school seemed like it took twice as long as the trip up to Nashville had. None of them felt as though they’d accomplished anything. But at least Luke was with Becks and Nicky now and not trapped inside his huge house all by himself. Wylder just worried how this was going to affect Logan once it really hit him that he couldn’t do the one thing he loved anymore. The one thing he was good at.
Logan Cook was born to be a star. Music was in his blood. If they took that away from him, what would be left?
“I’ll drop you guys off at the dorms.” Sebastian wiped a weary hand over his face as he crept through the school gates. “I have to meet with the headmistress before I go home, but try to get some sleep, Logan. You should be focused on school and not all this music drama. You’ve got college to think about.” Sebastian slowed to a stop in front of the dorm. “Thanks for all your help, Wylds.”
“Thanks for the ride.” Wylder slid out of the back seat, slinging her overnight bag across her shoulder.
Logan stood on the curb, watching his brother dive away.
“You okay?” Wylder grabbed his arm, turning him to face her. He wore a stunned expression. “Hey, Logan.” She shook him to get him to snap out of it. “What’s wrong?”
“Did he say college?” His brown eyes lit with confusion.
“Yes. Though, I’m of the opinion it’s not as big of a deal as everyone likes to make it. Like it’s this thing that has to happen the moment you graduate high school or the world will come to an end.”
“College?” Logan blinked. “I never even thought about it.” He hitched his bag up on his shoulder.
“Is that a good or bad thing?” Wylder asked.
“I don’t know. It wasn’t ever an option before. I had a career.”
“Pretending to be Luke?”
“No. Yes. I mean the songwriting and recording. Luke and I split everything fifty-fifty. I never thought about another career or college. It didn’t seem worth the trouble when I already had my dream job.”
“And now? What would you do if you went to college?”
Logan walked toward the entrance to Thomas Hall. He glanced back over his shoulder. “I have absolutely no idea what I’m going to do with my life.”
The weary tone of his voice broke something inside her. Wylder wasn’t sure she’d ever heard anyone sound so devastated before.
“I can’t believe we have to sing this ridiculous song.” Logan shoved a hand through his messy hair. “It’s so bad.”
“Beyond bad.” Wylder looked up from her copy of the lyrics and the less than stellar music they’d managed to cobble together in the days after their return from Nashville. Nothing they did would salvage this song.
“We aren’t going to be ready to perform in a half hour. It’s just not possible.”
Mrs. Shepherd had gathered and reassigned the songs their classmates had written more than two weeks ago, but with everything they’d had going on, neither Wylder nor Logan had given their cheesy pop song much thought. They had till the end of the class period to finish preparing for it before they were expected to perform the song for the class, and they weren’t ready.
“I think I fixed the music.” Logan tapped out a beat on the floor where they sat. “But that’s not saying much.”
“I can’t believe someone got our super awesome tractor song, and we got this piece of fluff about shopping for prom.”
“I get crippling anxiety about performing professionally written songs that top the charts… performing this… I can’t do it, Wylds.”
“I’m with you on that.” Wylder shook her head. “It’s too humiliating.”
“We’re going to have to do it, though, aren’t we?” Logan banged his head against the wall.
“Yep. And the only way to get through it and keep our cool cards is to own it. We’ve got to get out there and totally sell this piece of garbage.”
“In the next thirty minutes.”
“Twenty-five.” Wylder groaned.
“Let’s run through it again.” Logan picked up his guitar.
At least this wasn’t a full-on performance on stage with costumes like last time. This time it was just a classroom assignment.
Wylder stood beside Logan, gripping her mic as they ran through the lyrics again.
“I’m a shopping girl. Oh yeah, oh yeah!” She pranced across their makeshift stage, ending the first line with a high kick and some jazz hands.
“I’ve got to get my curls. Oh yeah, oh yeah!”
“Because we’ve got prom to-night. Oh yeah, oh yeah!”
Logan joined her on the choppy chorus, and they managed to get through the awful song without too many hiccups.
“I think that’s as good as it’s going to get.” Logan scribbled a few more notes in his notebook.
“At least we didn’t laugh that time.” Wylder heaved a sigh. “Or cry.”
“If anyone records this, I’ll break their fingers.” Logan twisted the tuning pegs on his guitar, strumming a few chords until he was satisfied with the sound.
“And I’ll put out a hit on them.” Wylder sank to the floor. “I know people.”
“I’m serious. We can’t take a
nother viral video scandal.” Logan lay on the floor beside her. “Do you think Mrs. Shepherd would agree to collect everyone’s phones until we’re done with this stupid assignment?”
“Probably, but you shouldn’t call her assignment stupid if you want her to agree.” Wylder turned her head to look into his eyes. “Are you worried about Luke’s interview?”
“Terrified.” Logan sighed.
“He’ll do fine. No matter how he decides to answer the questions, he’s got the charm to make a good show of it. And the PR team is prepping him, right?”
“Yeah.” He sighed again.
Wylder sat up to lean on her elbow so she could get a better look at him. “What aren’t you telling me?”
Logan leaned toward her. “They want Luke to sing.”
“Who wants Luke to sing?”
“The Los Angeles Daily Show with Marigold Martin. They want Luke to perform live after the interview.”
Wylder sat up straighter, crisscrossing her legs. “She’s interviewing Luke?” It would be a disaster. That woman would dig and dig until she got what she wanted.
Logan shook his head. “Not if they want him to sing the way they expect him to. He won’t agree.”
Wylder’s eyes widened in horror. “You’re going to have to do it?”
Logan nodded. “We don’t know what else to do. This career means so much to Luke. We don’t know how to do anything else. And his PR team has already made a statement about Luke being the one to sing with you on that video. I don’t think we have any choice but to go along with it.”
“But what will happen after? Now that the label knows the truth?”
“They’ll wait till the storm blows over, and then they’ll give us the boot. Either way we look at it, it’s over.” He shrugged. “At this point, we’re just trying to decide how we want to go out. In a fiery blaze of destruction? Or do we want to make a quiet exit and save what’s left of our dignity?”
“There’s always the truth.” Wylder glanced at him through the veil of her lashes. “A version of the truth that shows your fans how talented you both are and how hard you’ve worked to get where you are, despite the circumstances that led to your arrangement.”
“I just don’t know, Wylds. It ends badly no matter which way we look at it.”
“Maybe the Cook brothers need to find a new angle?”
“Logan?” Sebastian burst into the empty classroom where they were practicing. “Good, Wylder’s here too. Headmistress Jones has called us to her office.”
“I didn’t do it,” Wylder blurted.
Sebastian’s mouth quirked into a reluctant half-smile. “They found out who uploaded the video to YouTube.”
“Who was it?” Logan took a step toward his brother.
“I don’t know yet. They’re waiting for us in the headmistress’s office. Wylder, your parents are waiting too.”
“Then let’s go.” She grabbed her coat and followed Logan and Bash into the hall. “If it’s someone I know, I’m going to tear their face off for causing such a mess.” Wylder stomped across the quad toward the admin building. The walk was just long enough for Wylder to get good and mad, but the closer they got to Ms. Jones’ office, the quieter Logan grew.
“You ready for this?” She reached for his hand, hesitating when she caught Sebastian’s gaze. But this was bigger than her Cook-boy problems. She grasped Logan’s hand and gave it a squeeze.
He just nodded and stepped into the headmistress’s office where Wylder’s parents sat waiting.
“There she is.” Her dad stood up and pulled her into a big dad bear hug. She gave him so much crap for those hugs, but they were the best thing about her dad. His hugs were magic.
“Hi, sweetie.” Her mom joined them. “I hope this news will put all this to rest for all of you.” She gave Logan and Sebastian her best supportive mom look.
“If you’ll all join the headmistress in the conference room, this way.” The school secretary led them through a set of double doors to a corridor Wylder had never seen before. She still couldn’t shake the feeling she was in trouble.
“Please everyone, take a seat,” Ms. Jones held the door open for them. Lawyers and official looking detective-type people sat around the glass table where Wylder, Logan, and their guardians joined them.
“With cooperation from YouTube and some good old-fashioned detective work, we’ve been able to track the source of the original upload of the video,” the lead detective said. “We have a physical address associated with the IP address at the time of the original upload.” He passed a sheet of paper to the headmistress.
“Do either of you recognize this address?” Ms. Jones asked, passing the paper to them.
Wylder stared at the paper over Logan’s shoulder. Webster Avenue. She recognized that road. “It’s a Nashville address,” Wylder whispered. “I’d have to ask my brother if he recognizes this address.” She’d seen it somewhere before.
“It’s Luke’s,” Logan said in a raspy voice.
“You know who lives here?” Ms. Jones asked, picking up the sheet of paper with the address.
It hit Wylder then. The street was in the same neighborhood as Becks’ home. She turned to Logan, and a fire of recognition shone in his eyes.
“My brother did this.”
Epilogue
“So, Luke, is there anything you’d like to tell my viewers?” Marigold Martin of the Los Angeles Daily Show stared at Logan. She knew he wasn’t Luke, and she was giving him a chance to come clean about it.
Logan wiped his clammy hands against his knees, chancing a glance at the edge of the stage where Sebastian stood, giving him the moral support he desperately needed right now. And beside him stood Wylder. The girl who chased his stage fright away.
Logan zeroed in on his brother’s gaze. Sebastian gave Logan a single nod. The brothers had always been close, and Sebastian was a big brother and father all rolled into one. That nod told Logan to do what he thought was best. To think about himself for once.
“Well, Marigold.” Logan took a deep breath and found Wylder’s eyes, taking strength from her calming presence. “A very wise and often underappreciated friend once asked me what really mattered to me. I’m not sure I could have given him an answer that day, Luckily, he seemed to understand that and didn’t wait around for me to come up with something lame. He just put his ridiculous hat on and left me to figure it out on my own.”
Marigold smiled and leaned forward in her chair. “And do you have an answer for him now, Mr. Cook?”
“I do.” Logan nodded. “The truth matters more than anything. I don’t think I even realized how much until now.”
“Are you saying it’s all been a lie, Logan?”
Logan shook his head. “No, Marigold. It’s not all a lie. My brother, Luke Cook is an amazing singer, but he happens to be an even more amazing guitarist. Better even than you all know.”
“But your voice was better? More attractive to the music executives looking for the next great solo act.”
Logan jerked his head back to look at the woman interviewing him. Was she on their side? “I have the stronger voice, yes, but did you also know I have crippling stage fright?”
“Not from what we’ve seen of you in that amazing video of you and Beckett Anderson’s little sister.”
“Wylder. Her name is Wylder.” Logan smiled. “And she gets me through my stage fright. But before her, I couldn’t do it. I tried, but even when we lived in Memphis and our older brother, Sebastian dragged us all over the city to sing in bars and gigs to get some experience on stage—and earn enough to buy groceries—I couldn’t always get through a set with my brother.”
Marigold turned toward her silent audience. “But together, you made one perfect musician?”
“Yes, that’s it exactly.” Logan took a sip of the tepid water in his mug.
“Who came up with the idea to… merge your talents?”
“Our uncle. He’s an entertainment lawyer in Nashville. It w
as only supposed to be a way to get us in front of the right people.” Logan leaned forward. “You see, we were flat broke, on the verge of living in our car in Memphis. Our mom died when we were twelve, and Bash did the best he could to raise us on his own, but he wasn’t much older—and our uncle wasn’t the fatherly type. Nothing against him, but that was just the way it went for us.”
“So you were desperate when you moved to Nashville?” Marigold asked.
“Yes, Ma’am.” Logan let out a breath. “Like I said, it was supposed to be kind of a gimmick to get our foot in the door. To let Luke wow them with his charm and stage presence, while it was my voice on the demo.”
“And what happened when you finally had your chance?”
“It snowballed.” Logan sat back, remembering those early days when they were barely fifteen. “They had us in the recording studio so fast, there was never an opportunity to come clean. You have to understand, we had nothing. We were living in a motel when the label signed Luke. They threw so much money at us, it was like we could finally breathe.”
“So you kept up with the façade, thinking…”
“Thinking we could get the first album out and then tell the label. We knew they’d drop us after that, but at least then we’d have something to show for it. I think we were all too young and naïve to realize the consequences.”
“How did you handle tours? How did no one never find out?”
“Our manager was in on it. Luke could handle sound checks on his own. He sounds enough like me that most people wouldn’t pick up on it in that environment. But during concerts, we relied on the smoke and mirrors to mask the lip-syncing.” Logan sat back with a frown.
“You seem almost angry, Logan. What’s going through your mind right now?”
“My brother is an amazing musician.” Though Logan wanted to strangle his twin for putting him in this position, he still believed in Luke’s talent. “He has a great voice, and he slays it on guitar. In any other circumstances, he should have had his own career. If we hadn’t been so desperate…”
Wylder and the Almost Rockstar (Reluctant Rockstars Book 2) Page 16
